Direct onboard feedback to the animals is the key
For decades, scientists have been tracking and tracing animals with telemetry attached to the animal to devise better protection strategies. But nobody ever imagined to directly use the information of the whereabouts and surroundings to feed back information to the animal directly. Why not? The animals already carry small electronic devices, sometimes for years. These may use GPS localization, as well as telecommunication and sensors, to transmit information to the human scientist. They have micro-controllers.
So why not warn the animal of imminent danger directly, by using a suitable "actuator", i.e. some signal like sound, light, vibration etc. that the bird can sense and react to, ideally even learn to interpret?
That's the fundamental idea behind bAWARE.
Watch: why a buzzer alone is not enough (1-minute video)
The same principle could also help large carnivores such as lions, wolves and bears, and other species.
What all bAWARE devices share
Information for situational awareness onboard
No matter if information about presence of mortal danger is sensed onboard, carried on an onboard map, or transmitted to the animal via telecom: The bAWARE device onboard the animal "knows" when the animal is in danger. No distance has to be overcome to transmit a warning to the animal.
Actuators which reliably change the animal's behaviour
Tailored to senses and sensitivity of the animal, light, sound, electro-tactile stimulation, vibration etc. actuators are used. They must be harmless and totally safe, yet be sufficiently intolerable so the animal learns how to avoid them from going off, instead of learning to ignore them.
Most infrastructure-based warnings such as flares, sirens and flashes quickly fail, because they are usually "always on", and even if not, animals simply learn to ignore them as they never suffer any consequence they would find intolerable.
Just consider birds who come to live on airports next to starting jet engines!
Rugged & Autonomous for lifelong protection and safe release
bAWARE devices come with autonomous energy supply, e.g. from solar energy, to ensure lifelong operation.
Their rugged construction withstands the environmental conditions and abuse by the animal, while being designed to be as non-obstructing and comfortable as possible. This not only includes aerodynamics, light weight, minimized snagging risk, but even considers how the device can be safely removed:
As a world’s first in avian tags, we have developed a remote deliberate drop off mechanism, safely freeing the bird completely when and where it becomes necessary.
Bird-centric logic: Make few remaining birds safe, not the sprawling infrastructure
Complementary to retrofitting and fully independent of utility companies
The bAWARE solutionEvery live wire has invisible electric fields around it, if the utility wants it or not: it is pure physics.
Zero additional hardware is needed on poles: the wires are already acting as transmitters themselves.
A custom-built sensor inside bAWARE tags detects the presence of any powerline at ~50 m.
That information triggers alarms inside the tag, which alter the bird’s behaviour.
An equipped bird is a safe bird
Unique advantages of such “active tags”
Two-Stage Alarm
- 1Buzzer warns at distance
- 2If the bird does not react, a harmless electro-tactile stimulus prompts it to turn away
- Two chances to save a life
- The bird decides what is enough
Works Anywhere
- No cooperation from utilities needed
- Works on every power line of any relevant voltage, mapped or not, globally
- Ideal for migrating species
“Vaccination” analogy
- Similar to an “individual vaccination against electrocution”, protection is portable and permanent
- Every equipped bird is safeguarded, everywhere it flies, for life
A bAWARE tag is an artificial 6th sense for danger
bAWARE tags integrate fully-featured classic tags by Druid
The combination allows to warn also of wind turbines by geofencing, and unlocks scientific proof of effectiveness.
Every event logged
GPS position, flight speed, accelerometer data: before, during, and after each alarm. Transmission by LTE-M, satellite and other modes, as the tag allows.
Prove effectiveness scientifically, beyond any reasonable doubt
Full behavioural record around every alarm event, made available on cloud servers for scientists. E.g.: Can birds learn to avoid approaching powerlines after having been alarmed several times?
One single device
What bAWARE adds- Detect deadly hazards
- Make the bird change course
What the Druid tag brings- Log all alarm events
- Transmit data to cloud servers
bAWARE powered by Druid, or Druid powered by bAWARE: both are true.
Inspired by the Internet of Things: the actuators and IoT analogy →
Designed with the bird’s welfare as first priority
Additional safety and ergonomic innovations
Deliberate drop-off
- Remotely or time-triggered harness release
- Tag falls away when no longer needed, no recapture required
Ergonomic design
- Internal antennas
- Light, sleek and aerodynamic
Intrinsically safe stimulus
- Physiologically harmless electro-tactile stimulus
- Yet reliably triggers an immediate withdrawal reflex
- Calibratable per species
The deliberate remote drop-off will be developed here, with pictures of the mechanism as soon as they exist.