Peace Parks Rhino implant update

A short update on the RhinoEdge development

Peace Parks Rhino implant and rhino horn tracker technology update.

Peace Parks Rhino horn implant and Rhino sub-skin implant are solution under development by Smart Parks and IRNAS with the latest bleeding-edge technology to provide a next generation tracking experience. The core technology used in the Semtech LR1110 LoRa/GPS/WiFi transceiver for low-power positioning introduced in 2020 and just reaching scale production on the market and suitable technical maturity in 2021. Such technology unlocks 10 times lower power consumption for positioning solutions.

The extensive experimentation has demonstrated a number of blocking issues over the past 9 months, however Semtech (the provider of the LR1110 chipset and owner of the LoRa protocol) has in June 2021 opened up the support channels to IRNAS and Smart Parks, such that a more rapid development process can take place.

The following product parameters when suitably optimized will enable a good quality low-power tracker configuration:

• GPS antenna orientation towards the sky

• GPS antenna gain (subject to dimensions, larger is better)

• GPS antenna efficiency (subject to dimensions and surrounding material)

• LR1110 almanac up to date (known GPS satellite orbits)

• LR1110 supplied accurate time

Given these requirements and to build tracker resiliency, LR1110 has undergone a validation process to enable standalone operation with LoRaWAN messages carrying almanac and precise time, which however requires permanent device network coverage. This may be problematic in remote area LoRaWAN networks like PPF is using.

Further optimization and testing has however shown, that an addition of a true on-device GPS receiver from Ublox can be combined in a compact form-factor. This also unlocks a set of unique options, such as precise time acquisition on device and in the future (subject to Semtech) generating almanac data from Ublox gps position, removing the need for downlinks. Note there is a substantial effort required for implementation.

In July 2021 Semtech shared with IRNAS the documentation on almanac update payload structure as the first partner company in the market. This allows for creating of a unique solution described above.

Status

• Implant:

  • Schematic prototype validated and tested as Open Collar Cat tracker

    • LR1110 GPS performance optimization in process

    • UBlox GPS performance goal achieved

  • Firmware has all the required features implemented

    • BLE proximity is implemented (horn to implant proximity)

  • Form-factor:

    • Square EVE battery option has proven to give poor performance

    • Round Saft battery is a good option, but rather large for the application

  • Hardware layout:

    • Draft completed, subject to battery size configuration and adjustment

• Horn:

  • Schematic completed and tested as Open Collar Cat tracker

    • LR1110 GPS performance optimization in process

  • Firmware has all the required features implemented

    • BLE proximity is implemented (horn to implant proximity)

  • Hardware layout:

    • Pending LR1110 optimization