A. Exploratory Research

Guardian LF1
  1. Project carriers
    Robots in Service of the Environment (RSE)
  2. Beneficiaries
    Marine ecosystems, coral reef species, crustaceans, fishermen/tourists by reselling the captured fish
  3. Users
    -non-professionals
    -fishermen
    -tourists
  4. Need
    Lionfish are indiscriminate and voracious predators that do not stop feeding. They gorge on at least 70 different species of reef fish and crustaceans and are capable of eating prey up to half the size of their own body. A single lionfish can reduce the fish biomass on a reef by 80% in just one month.This apex predator has almost no natural predators of its own in the Atlantic. With no apparent limit to their population growth, other than water temperature, lionfish pose a huge threat to the fish stock of the western Atlantic Ocean
  5. Principle
    The Guardian LF1 device is driven by a controller similar to a gaming controller and is very user-friendly and lightweight at about 20 pounds. This device is special because it is the first to reach, stun, and capture lionfish that are found very deep below safe depths for diving. At this depth, lionfish reproduce quickly and unchecked by any predators -
  6. Main technologies involved
    -Visual Recognition software
    -Stunning panels
    -Fish enclosure
    -Remote controlled underwater vehicle
  7. Sources
    8. Robotside - The Guardian Solution
    RSE unveils lionfish Guardian LF1
    Ecological impact lionfish
  8. Other info
    Optional
RFCX
  1. Project carriers
    Rainforest Connection
  2. Beneficiaries
    Rainforest ecosystems, endangered tropical species, indegenous reserves , urban populations close to rainforests (such as Sao Paulo, Rio)
  3. Users
    - Rainforest Conservationists
    - Locals
  4. Need
    Illegal deforestation is a gateway activity to clearing rainforest, one of the primary causes of climate change. According to the UN up to 90% of logging in tropical rainforests is illegal Illegal logging also accounts for 17% of total GHG emissions (ahead of transportation with 13%) The reason we start with a focus on stopping illegal logging is because, in case after case, we have seen first hand that if you can protect the trees, you end up protecting everything else.
  5. Principle
    Exploiting used cell phones powered by solar panels, placed in canopy to signal illegal logging, and prevent deforestation : phone picks up chainsaw noise → signal is sent to a cloud API which sends an alert → humans on the ground can intercept illegal loggers and stop them from cutting down trees
  6. Main technologies involved
    -Solar powered batteries
    -Cell Phone Service
    -Acoustic recording
    -Cloud API
  7. Sources
    Rainforest Connection
    Lutter Contre la deforestation avec des smartphones recyclés
  8. Other info
    Optional
Boar-Buster
  1. Project carriers
    BoarBusterTrap
  2. Beneficiaries
    Farmers, ranchers, golf course maintenance teams, livestock
  3. Users
    Farmers
    ranchers
    national parks maintenance workers,
    agricultural companies
  4. Need
    Feral hogs cause approximately $2 billion in damage to U.S. land and crops each year. Farmers, Ranchers, Hunters, National and State Parks, and Golf Courses all feel the effect of this damage. They pose risks for disease transmission among livestock, pets and humans, while competing for resources with native wildlife and contaminating water supplies.
  5. Principle
    The BoarBuster is a research-based, cutting-edge trapping system developed as a solution for managing the nation's exploding feral hog population. It is a remote controlled metallic trap that can capture as many as 20 hogs in one trap drop, thus reducing the numbers very efficiently.
  6. Main technologies involved
    Mobile App
    Live Video (low-light camera in the dark)
    Motion sensors
    Remotely activated trap
    Cellular access
  7. Sources
    Boarbuster.com
    Farmranchstore.com/boarbuster
  8. Other info
    Optional
The Wilds
  1. Project carriers
    Zooniverse
    Columbus Zoo
  2. Beneficiaries
    Native Species from the Wilds conservation center
  3. Users
    The wilds team
    Zooniverse community (identifying species)
  4. Need
    The Wilds is a 10,000 acre conservation center located in southeastern Ohio. Together with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium we work to conserve animal species. Historically, this area was surface mined for coal during the 1940's to the early 1980's. As a result, The Wilds is a mixture of unmined remnant forest, abandoned mined lands, and reclaimed prairie and grassland. The area is currently protected and much of it is being restored for native plants and wildlife. However, many of the reclaimed areas and abandoned minelands are characterized by invasive species and acid mine drainage. We are working towards removing invasive species and planting a variety of native species, both in prairies and in forests, to help improve the habitat at The Wilds for all of Ohio's native wildlife.
  5. Principle
    At The Wilds we have set up 48 wildlife cameras in our forested areas. These cameras are standard, motion-sensored trail cameras that many people use for hunting and monitoring wildlife. This is a non-invasive way to monitor wildlife on our property. As you can imagine, we get quite a lot of pictures from 48 cameras. That's where you come in to help! We need to identify the animals in each picture. We have thousands of images, so every classification helps! Your input will be used to create a database of wildlife found at The Wilds. They will be analyzed based on camera location for species density and richness.
  6. Main technologies involved
    48 Motion-sensored cameras
    Zooniverse Website
    The Wilds Database
  7. Sources
    The Wilds Project
  8. Other info
    Optional

B. Deepening

I. Guardian LF1


  1. Carriers and actors of the project

  2. Research question
    3. How can we incentivize fishermen, local coastline populations to participate in the large scale removal of the invasive Lionfish species from the Atlantic Ocean ?

  3. The reason you selected this project

    4. The reason I selected this project is because it was the most relevant and fun project I came across during my research about technological solutions towards invasive species. Furthermore, I found the technology implemented behind this project very impressive. Specifically the integration of image recognition within the ROVs (Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle) which greatly simplifies the task of identifying Lionfish in deep waters for the humans operating them.

II. User scenarios

  1. Users

  2. Persona


  3. Key Features

  4. UX Storyboard

III. Technical analysis

  1. General principle

    2. The Guardian LF1 is an ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) that is equipped with several features. The most significant features being an image recognition software, stun panels and power enclosures which allow it to reach deep-sea levels (that divers can't possibly reach), momentarily stun the fish and capture it thereafter.



  2. Technical overview - Database version

    3. No databases are involved in the existing Guardian LF1 project, however they could prove very useful in many ways if ever integrated to the project. A very impactful use of databases in this context would be to use the cameras and their image recognition capabilities to periodically monitor key areas in the deep Ocean levels. Such areas would have to be identified prior to the deployment of such a project according to specific metrics that interested parties (fishermen, sea conversavationists) would set. Those metrics could be for example the number of occurences of certain species, endangered fish, crustacae as well as the Lionfish, in order to accurately model the evolution of the ecosystems. The robot could also hypothetically measure other data types like pollution levels by looking for visible garbage near the ocean floor, or other visual indicators. The Guardian robot would be used just like it currently is in this scenario with one small addition, it would have to record and store videos from the deep sea-levels so as to be carefully examined later by its operators in order to accurately report the data collected. Identifying the various species in the videos could be a task for sea conservationist groups, with the help of image recognition technology obviously, but the videos could also be uploaded online on a dedicated website so that followers of these conservationist groups could help in the analysis of those videos to create a unique dataset of oceanic ecosystems. Then different types of data collected (like pollution levels vs diversity of endangered species) could be sorted according to their types to evaluate potential correlations or other statistical measurements. Reporting of the data collected would have to be done manually because of the absence of connectivity in the ocean's deep levels. Once the data is reported, it would then be uploaded to the Database, updated on a regular basis (eg. every 2 months) from which point it could be used to model ecosystems' evolution in almost real-time. The types of data to be collected in my proposal would only be useful if updated regularly to analyze the evolution, for example by filtering for data from one month and comparing them to filtered data from another month. Updates would also be necessary in order to create new data for new species, deleting data for species that were incorrectly identified etc..



  3. Added value thanks to databases

The added value of databases being integrated to the Guardian LF1 project would be very significant in that it would allow for consistent and accurate monitoring of oceanic ecosystems. The proper functioning of such a database would require a lot of research and organizational work but if possible, it would allow specialists to better understand oceanic phenomenons, and thus to take better informed action in order to maintain natural ecosystems.