GROUND Lab Presentation at WCS

Open Conservation How to get more from your trac king t ools without paying more for them!

Who We Are GROUND Lab

GROUND Lab is a Research and Developmentcompany focused on creating innovative sustainablesolutions for social, environmental and humanitarianchallenges.GROUND Lab has designed and fabricatedprototypes and solutions for a wide range of clients,ranging from large organizations like UNICEF andUniversities, to smaller NGOs, Researchers,Conservationists and Artists.

Some Of Our Projects Device X And open, mobile, networked device for collecting and computing medical data in real time from remote health clinics in Uganda. In collaboration with: Shared Solar An open source hardware platform to be included in a smart cellphone controlled solar system to power 20 homes in remote villages in Mali. In collaboration with:

Remote Solar SystemA system of solar panels developedand installed in southern Kenya toprovide power to the new Living withLions research camp. Solar Powered Tree House Built to provide living quarters for the Living With Lions research team.

Open Source What is it, really?

Open Source Definitions• “Open source hardware is hardware whose design is made publicly available so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make and sell the design or hardware based on that design.” From Open Hardware Summit Definition.• “Open source hardware gives people the freedom to control their technology while sharing knowledge and encouraging commerce through the open exchange of designs.” From Open Hardware Summit Definition.• “Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.” From Open Source Initiative.

“Monkey See Monkey Do” Open source is just a more informed practice of “monkey see monkey do”. This social interaction is what has allowed our species as well as numerous others to quickly adapt and implement survival strategies.Open source leverages the same interaction and knowledge sharingwillingness, and builds on the practice of learning from watching others.

Biologist Carel van Schaik observed this interaction in Sumatranorangutans and noticed how the most proliﬁc tool-using populationswere the ones where the population at large supported the ability towatch tool-use among individuals.

Wikipedia and Wikis• Wikipedia is a collaborative, web-based encyclopedia. It creates a space where knowledge is shared in order to be expanded upon, used, modified for any purpose such as profit, non profit, research or passion.• Wikis are websites, like Wikipedia, that allow the easy creation and editing of interlinked web pages. They are often used to create collaborative websites, for remote note-taking or for corporate knowledge management and sharing.

Open Software• Linux is a free Operating System that can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers and video game consoles to supercomputers. It runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world and lots of netbooks and smartphones thanks to embedded Linux. The development of Linux is one of the greatest examples of open source collaboration.• MySQL is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi- user access to a number of databases.

Open Hardware• Arduino is an open source electronics prototyping platform based on ﬂexible, easy to use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects and environments.• SparkFun is a for proﬁt company founded with the goal of ‘Sharing Ingenuity’. SparkFun sells electronic components and offers easy documentation and tutorials that help artists, engineers, designers and hobbyists build their own projects.

Open vs. FreeR ProjectR is a software environment forstatistical computing andgraphics. It runs on a wide varietyof operating systems. It is opensource, has many donors,contributors and a largecommunity of users.Cyber Trackeris a free software for GPS ﬁelddata collections. It can run onsmartphones or computers thatrun Windows. It only has onecontributor and limited donors.

Open Source Beneﬁts• Open Innovation has often out-paced and challenged the more traditional development strategies.• The Open Source approach creates an active community and central knowledge base, which is self-sustaining and supported through continued use of the information contained.• Open Innovation often leads to the creation of tools that can be more reliable and stable.• This method can be very cost effective since a multitude of applications and projects are driving the development. The ability to create a physical prototype early, by building on the shoulders of others, is also a great resource for more successful fundraising.• Peer review and accessible documentation provide a deeper understanding of how the tools function and therefore allow more ﬂexibility and freedom in customization and repair.

Open Technologies Applied to Wildlife Conservation

Field ObservationsThe Open Source Lion Tracking Collar project resulted fromobservations made while building a research camp for the TheLiving with Lions and Lion Guardians Program in Kenya.• The most effective conservation techniques are those that look at the ecosystem as a whole, putting an emphasis on data sharing between multi ﬁeld research. Open Source development enhances data sharing by implementing shared knowledge bases and common protocols.• All information gathered about the local environment - from elephant data, to cattle and soil moisture data - is being collected with similar processes and tool chains. When using common tools, peer-driven open development becomes viable because there are enough users to support the creation of new technologies.

Speciﬁc Applications

Speciﬁc Applications1. High cost of current technologies reduces the population that can be tracked and limits the application of the tools.

Speciﬁc Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.

Speciﬁc Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Hard to customize for a speciﬁc application.

Specific Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Open documentation and open design allow the user to change targeted parts of the tool chain to fit the needs of a specific project.

Specific Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Open documentation and open design allow the user to change targeted parts of the tool chain to fit the needs of a specific project.3. Data sharing is limited or impossible.

Specific Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Open documentation and open design allow the user to change targeted parts of the tool chain to fit the needs of a specific project.3. Thanks to shared knowledge bases, it is easier to reach a common protocol for data aggregation and sharing.

Specific Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Open documentation and open design allow the user to change targeted parts of the tool chain to fit the needs of a specific project.3. Thanks to shared knowledge bases, it is easier to reach a common protocol for data aggregation and sharing.4. No ability to personally or locally repair the tools.

Specific Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Open documentation and open design allow the user to change targeted parts of the tool chain to fit the needs of a specific project.3. Thanks to shared knowledge bases, it is easier to reach a common protocol for data aggregation and sharing.4. Peer review, in the form of Wikis, forums and open documentation make the tools easier to understand, repair and troubleshoot.

Specific Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Open documentation and open design allow the user to change targeted parts of the tool chain to fit the needs of a specific project.3. Thanks to shared knowledge bases, it is easier to reach a common protocol for data aggregation and sharing.4. Peer review, in the form of Wikis, forums and open documentation make the tools easier to understand, repair and troubleshoot.5. No scalability of projects due to high costs.

Specific Applications1. Through open documentation, projects can consolidate resources, lowering development costs and challenging market prices for existing products.2. Open documentation and open design allow the user to change targeted parts of the tool chain to fit the needs of a specific project.3. Thanks to shared knowledge bases, it is easier to reach a common protocol for data aggregation and sharing.4. Peer review, in the form of Wikis, forums and open documentation make the tools easier to understand, repair and troubleshoot.5. Open source reduces development cost making it possible to track and study a larger population.

Lion GuardiansThe ﬁrst applications we are focusing on for the LionGuardians Program are:• Tracking the Lion Guardians while they gather observation data;• Tracking livestock in the Southern Kenya Maasai Land.

Technical Overview Of The Tracking Project

System OverviewOur goal is to develop a low cost tracking device to trackwildlife, transmit the location data via cellphone network tothe web in real time, with the possibility of contactingMaasai herders if lions are approaching their livestock.

System Overview

System OverviewGPS SATELLITES CELLPHONE NETWORK MAASAI TRACKING DEVICE RESEARCHERS

Open Tracking HardwareThe tracking devices that we arecurrently developing use a Sirfstar IIIsatellite-based GPS module to trackposition location.The device/collar connects to acellphone network (like AT&T, T-Mobileor Safaricom in Kenya) through a TelitGSM module via SMS or GPRS datatransfers.An Atmel microchip provides powersaving capabilities and logic control,allowing the researcher to modify thedevice and add sensors in futureimplementations.

Open Tracking SoftwareAn Open Source C/C++ Library for Atmel An easy to use MySQL database and servermicrocontrollers as well as for the Arduino script that pulls the data uploaded to theplatforms to access the GPS and GSM/ network from the devices and aggregates itGPRS functionality of these modules. in an easy to use way.

Open Tracking OnlineA Java based online visualization tool thatimplements Google Earth/Maps to retrieveand graphically represent the location datastored in the database.A second visualization tool will come at alater date and will focus on implementing anARC GIS or R plug-in to address the needsof the researchers community.Wiki & Online ResourcesA Website www.opensourcetracking.org, Wiki and Forum are also being developed todocument the technology and provide a shared space where people can ﬁnd tutorialsand where they can ask questions, troubleshoot and share their experiences and reviewsof tracking technologies in use.

How To Help Us Help U?This project began as a self-started, self-funded project to make anaffordable and customizable tracking device. Thanks to the greatinterest it received we realized it could it could be fruitful and beneﬁcialto the community at large and for many different applications.How to help: • We are still compiling resources, therefore if you are interested in these technologies please share your thoughts with us. We are particularly interested in: - How people use these technologies and their current issues. - How documentation could be better formatted. - What information is important for you to visualize. • We are always looking for places and projects we can apply these technologies to. • Any suggestions on Grants or other resources for the development of tracking applications would be really appreciated. • Spread the knowledge!

Thank You! From Justin & Benedetta www.opensourcetracking.org www.groundlab.cc feel free to email us@grndlab.com Living With Lions www.lionconservation.org

GROUND Lab Presentation at WCS

by GROUND Lab LLC on Mar 03, 2011

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