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Wildlife Drones

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Wildlife Drones is an Australian company specialising in drone radio-telemetry, offering radio-tracking and thermal imaging services. The company is headquarters in Canberra, Australia, and its technology is used by researchers, wildlife biologists, government agencies, and environmental consultants to collect data for wildlife conservation and management.

History

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Wildlife Drones

Wildlife Drones was founded in 2016 by Debbie Saunders, a conservation ecologist, following her doctoral research at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU. Saunders' work on the winter habitat use and movements of the Swift Parrot led to the development of a radio-receiver payload designed for use with drones. This innovation included real-time signal processing, analytics, and mapping software.[1][2][3][4]

Product

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Wildlife Drones has developed a radio-receiver system for drones, which consists of two main components:

  1. Payload, which includes a radio-receiver and a VHF directional antenna, which can be mounted onto various drones. The receiver processes signal data in real-time and sends it to a base station.
  2. Wildlife Drones product
    Base station: The base station receives signal data from the drone payload and maps tracking data in real time, without requiring internet connectivity.

The system allows for tracking of radio-tagged animals by detecting signals from VHF radio-tags, providing location data in real time. It can be used in conjunction with other sensors, such as thermal imaging cameras, to locate and monitor animals in various environments, including challenging terrains.

Applications

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The technology is applied in various wildlife conservation efforts, such as tracking endangered species, studying animal behaviour, and monitoring populations in hard-to-access areas. It has also been used in research on human-wildlife conflicts, and to combat illegal wildlife trade and poaching.

Publications

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  • Radio-tracking wildlife with drones: a viewshed analysis quantifying survey coverage across diverse landscapes[5]
  • Wildlife Drones - innovative radio-tracking capabilities

Further Publications by Dr Debbie Saunders and contributions:

  • Wildlife Research in Australia[6]
  • Online Localization of Radio-Tagged Wildlife with an Autonomous Aerial Robot System[7]

Awards

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  • Tech23 Deeptech Festival[8]
  • Australian Government Entrepreneur Program - Accelerating Commercialisation Award[9]
  • 2023 Business Women of the year - ACT[10]
  • 2023 Women and Drones Hall of Fame[11]
  • Airwards [12]
  • Canberra women in business (Finalist[13]

Projects

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Partners

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References

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  1. ^ "World-first tracking drones developed by ANU researchers". ABC News. 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  2. ^ "Canberra Wildlife Drones start up company secures Uniseed grant". ABC listen. 2018-12-13. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  3. ^ Staff, A. G. (2015-08-31). "Drone used to track wildlife a world first". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  4. ^ Thistleton, John (2015-08-24). "ANU's radio-tracking drone can locate radio-tagged wildlife". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  5. ^ Saunders, Debbie; Nguyen, Huyen; Cowen, Saul; Magrath, Michael; Marsh, Karen; Bell, Sarah; Bobruk, Josh (2022-02-04). "Radio-tracking wildlife with drones: a viewshed analysis quantifying survey coverage across diverse landscapes". Wildlife Research (peer-reviewed). 49 (1). Wildlife Research: CSIRO: 1–10. doi:10.1071/wr21033. ISSN 1035-3712.
  6. ^ PUBLISHING, CSIRO (2022). Wildlife Research in Australia. CSIRO. pp. 96–106. ISBN 9781486313440.
  7. ^ Cliff, Oliver; Fitch, Robert; Sukkarieh, Salah; Saunders, Debbie; Heinsohn, Robert (2015-07-13). "Online Localization of Radio-Tagged Wildlife with an Autonomous Aerial Robot System" (PDF). Robotics: Science and Systems XI. Robotics: Science and Systems Foundation. doi:10.15607/rss.2015.xi.042. ISBN 978-0-9923747-1-6.
  8. ^ "The Tech23 – Tech23.2019". Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  9. ^ "Grant Award View - GA62719". November 19, 2019.
  10. ^ Treasury, ACT Government; PositionTitle=Director; SectionName=Corporate Management; Corporate=Chief Minister and (2024-06-20). "Businesswoman of the Year flies high". Our Canberra. Retrieved 2024-08-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "2023 Hall of Fame". Women And Drones. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  12. ^ "Wildlife Drones". Airwards. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  13. ^ Media, Newstime (2023-10-27). "Dr Debbie Saunders named 2023 Businesswoman of the Year". Canberra Daily. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  14. ^ "Wildlife Drones helping to protect endangered species". Agrifood Innovation Institute. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  15. ^ Network, Canberra Innovation (2020-01-29). "Wildlife Drones Tracks Critically Endangered Pangolins in Vietnam". Canberra Innovation Network. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  16. ^ Australia, Atlas Advisors. "Atlas Advisors Australia – Opening Soon". Atlas Advisors Australia. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  17. ^ Perkins, Miki (2020-09-08). "Pioneering tracker drone keeps high eye on endangered animals". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  18. ^ Brard, Emeric (2020-05-23). "Revamping The BIIP Could Help Organisations Save The Environment". Women Love Tech. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  19. ^ Editor 1 (2022-05-27). "Wash. State Scientists Hoping to Wipe out Murder Hornets w/ 1,000 Traps". Headline USA. Retrieved 2024-08-21. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Square, Brett Davis | The Center (2022-05-26). "Washington state scientists to set 1,000 traps for 'murder hornets'". The Center Square. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
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