Definition and description of all OpenCollar tracker use cases
The device is built as a global tracker for wild-life animals. It is attached to the animal that moves in constricted space, such as national parks, with LoRaWAN network coverage. The device can track an animal using low power passive GPS data scanning with an LR1110 solution from Semtech. Raw GPS data is sent to the Semtech proprietary cloud solution, using the LoRaWAN network, where GPS position is calculated. In addition to LoRaWAN data collection and configuration, the device also has Bluetooth LE connectivity so it can have the same features for users that are near the device. In addition to that device firmware can also be upgraded over Bluetooth, while this can not be done using LoRaWAN.
Accelerometer
Gyro/Magnetometer - IMU
Microphone
Elephant Health monitor
Using activity to detect health
Elephant contact monitor
COVID style contact tracing though BLE
Semtech LR1110
Tracker internal temperature
WD memory
RF scanning
Wet/Dry sensor
Data
Information
Raw GPS position
Data is sent to Semtech server where the position is calculated
Battery status
Current battery status of the device
Configuration
Information
GPS scan period
LoRaWAN send period
BLE advertising period
Use-case
Sensor
Comment
Poaching Risk monitor
GPS data, motion data to indicate stress
Human Elephant Conflict
BLE/WiFi scan data for proximity of people, GPS data
Elephant Musth detection
Accelerometer data, sound
Elephant Activity monitor
Accelerometer/IMU to detection walking/sleeping/drinking...
Features described individualy
Feature
Description
Device location
The device track location using:
LR1110 quick tracking
uBlox GPS tracking
Bluetooth connectivity
The device is able to connect over BLE to:
send log data
set device configuration
upgrade device firmware DFU
LoRaWAN connectivity
The device communicates over LoRa with a gateway to:
send current data status
send log data
set device configuration
Movement detection
The device detect movement with an accelerometer so the device knows when it is moving.
Battery status
The device periodically measures the battery level for a status report.
Device configuration settings
Device settings are divided into three layers. This is enabling easier user configuration and still providing full control over the device.
This is the highest level of device settings available to the user. Here the user can define the purpose of the tracker and all the settings for the device will be generated based on the device profile and several mail parameters. This can be done from a Web/Mobile application and then the configuration can be uploaded with a precompiled binary image when manufacturing, over the Bluetooth, when deploying, and over LoRa, remotely when the device is in the field. An example of the application user interface is in the picture below. The user can change High-Level settings of each profile by expanding the advanced configuration in the user application if it is something that does not suit its needs.
Shadow settings in the second level L2 are changed by the Device profile and device profile setting. Every Device profile has the same set of High-Level settings and has its own default values that are stored on the device in the separate default configuration. This config from the default configuration will be overwritten if the device shadow config has value. This layer has a maximum of 30 settings IDs.
All the settings in the L2 are in relation to the physical device. Settings in the second level L2 are changed by the L1 level setting, when user change the device profile, or manually by the manufacturer of the devices.
All the settings currently are just for demonstration, the real need to be determined
when sending LoRa -> ID, LEN, VAL
decoder TTN same as in the BLE app
10 sec
10 days
120 sec
BLE advertising period
0x003
Advertising period of BLE data
20 ms
10.24 sec
2 sec
etc
etc.
Device profile
Description
Default tracker
Profile with default tracking values.
Lion tracker rechargable
Profile for wild-life Lion tracking
Basic settings
Update interval precise (per hour)
ublox fix interval
almanach update
...
Update interval low-power (per hour)
Motion trigger (threshold or disabled)
Advanced only: true
Advanced setting
z thresholds
motion x z
Cargo tracker
Profile for ship container tracking
Wisent tracker
Profile for wiled-life Wisent tacking
Custom profile
One profile left for the user to customize it as preferred.
High-Level Settings
ID
Description
Min
Max
Default
GPS scan period
0x002
Scan period of GPS data for the tracker device.
10 sec
1 day
60 sec
LoRaWAN send period
0x002
Low-Level Settings
ID
Description
Min
Max
BLE adv strength
0x020
The signal strength of BLE advertising data
8dBm
-20dBm
UART Baud
0x021
UART baud rate speed
9600
etc.
Send period of position data and battery level over LoRaWAN network
115200
{
"version": {
"major": 0,
"minor": 1
},
"settings": {
"setting_name_1": {
"id": "0x001",
"enabled": true,
"default": 50,
"min": 0,
"max": 100,
"length": 4,
"conversion": "uint32"
},
"setting_name_2": {
"id": "0x002",
"enabled": false,
"default": "asd-asd-asd-asd",
"min": "0",
"max": "1234567890123456",
"length": 16,
"conversion": "string"
}
}
}
OpenCollar solutions are modular trackers built to be used in most advanced nature conservation use-cases, pushing the technology further and enabling new applications. Overall design is based on a single electronics solution and single firmware solution, which are then configured into full or partial feature implementations. The design choices are to be made such that simplicity is favored over complexity to allow for a minimal barrier to entry for forking or modifications.
Very good user experience and reliability
System simplicity
Re-usability and community support
OpenCollar tracker advanced is the evolution of the Lion tracker with additional new features and a solution for long term evolution. Particular hardware implementation of the solution may add or remove various features.
Expansion modules are standalone units without processing that add extra features to the system:
RhinoEdgePCB
New product
ElephantEdgePCB
New product
ElephantEdgePCB
Industrial edge tracker
ElephantEdgePCB + AvnetIOTconnect
M3 RhinoEdge tracker initial prototype development with LR1110 with basic set of features
4w
Test: IRNAS field testing
M4 RhinoEdge tracker development of Horn and Skin implant
4w
Test: SmartParks field testing
M5 RhinoEdge tracker Horn and Skin implant RF tuning and optimization
4w
Test: PeaceParks field testing
M7 Consolidation of technology across all solutions
Firmware process/flow diagram and graphical representation
6w
TODO
M6
Low-power GPS acquisition for real-time tracking, implemented with LR1110
M1/M2
Standard GPS receiver enabling high-precision real time tracking, almanac updating and other advanced features. Used sparsely to conserve power
M1
WiFi receiver in LR1110 to implement beacon scanning to detect nearby WiFi hotspots for positioning
M3
Low-power VHF transmitter for legacy animal tracking applications, implemented with LoRaWAN transceiver LR1110
TODO
M2/M4
3 axis accelerometer to detect orientation and motion, triggering events based on results
M1
Monitoring of battery status
M1
Charging input if used with rechargeable batteries, enables precise voltage monitoring of the input voltage 5-30V DC
M2
Support for expansion sensor modules for example high voltage fence monitoring or other solutions (I2C+GPIO port)
M2
Memory to store measurements over a longer period of time
M2/M4/M6
BLE LoRaWAN message communication
Send a short message from the APP via BLE via LoRaWAN and receive it back
TODO
PAX counter
Enable monitoring of BLE, WiFi to determine proximity of humans
TODO
M2
Device-to-device proximity
Determine the proximity between two trackers to trigger actions on separation or contact. Implement with LoRa
TODO
M4
EdgeImpulse support
Machine learning EdgeImpuls sensor data processing and evaluation + Smartphone app for training and user workflow
TODO
M6
IMU support
9 axis IMU
M6
Microphone
On-board microphone to record sounds and use in conjunction with EdgeImpulse
M6
Avnet IoT connector
Connection with the platform
TODO
M6
Detect nearby cell-phone activity based on the RF input of LR1110 with advanced algorithms analyzing the data
Idea
HackThePoacher
S5: testing (vid, vojislav, eva)
28.08.
Solution
Status
Progress
Lion tracker basic
Production
Rhino tracker basic
Production
OpenCollar tracker advanced
Concept
Product
Description
Status
LionPCB
Current Lion solution
RhinoPCB
Current Rhino solutions
PangolinPCB
Current Pangolin tracker
Product
Version
Content
Wisent tracker
WisentEdgePCB + belt + drop-off
Rhino edge horn implant
RhinoEdgePCB
Rhino edge skin implant
RhinoEdgePCB
Elephant edge tracker
Milestone
Timeline
Status
M1 WisentEdge tracker initial prototype development with LR1110 with the basic set of features
6w
Test: IRNAS field testing
M2 WisentEdge tracker fully-featured device ready for deployment
4w
Test: SmartParks field testing
Feature
Description
Status
Milestone
Enables the tracker to be connected via BLE to smartphone and configured via an application. Enables reading logged data and configurations. Enables DFU firmware upgrade
M1
LoRaWAN connectivity for low power long-range communications, the primary means of data transmission
M1
Expansion module
Description
Drop-off controller
Drop-off controller implements necessary features to control mechanics of the drop-off mechanism, such that the trackers can detach.
HV fence monitor
High-voltage monitoring interface to monitor the electric fences
Marine monitor
Pressure sensor, salt water switch and other sensors
Biosensors
Sensors to monitor body temperature, heart-rate....
Camera
Camera to acquire images
Milestone
Due date
Deliverable
Milestone FW1
28.08.
Milestone FW2
19.10.
Basic device ready for field testing
FW1 Sprints
Due date
Deliverable
S1: Low-power DFU upgradable NUS firmware on nRF52840
upgrade software to NCS 1.3.0 (vojislav)
test all features with new NCS (NUS, DFU, LP) (vojislav)
main logic overview (vojislav)
31.07.
Codebase with BLE features on new SDK (NCS1.3.0)
S2: config and drivers:
configuration support development (vid and vojislav)
Unit testing setup (vid)
accelerometer driver (vojislav)
GPS uBlox driver (vid)
07.08.
Device configuration and driver code
S3:
battery status (vojislav)
LoRaWAN and GPS (LR1110) integration (eva)
Main logic (vid, vojislav and eva)
14.08.
Device with basic main logic and connectivity
S4: main logic and testing (vid, vojislav, eva)
FW2 Sprints
Due date
Deliverable
S1: HAL operation and settings
device LP mode
drive code rebase
settings development
application development
05.10.
Device working in low power mode with basic tracking and settings (set GPS interval via BLE and LoRaWAN) send data over LoRa and be low power.
S2:
application development
application debugging
application testing
19.10.
Device ready for customer field testing
Milestone
Description
Status
Upgrade of existing lion tracker with new cpu and lora module
TBD milestones
New product
Special case LoRaWAN connectivity to Lacuna satellite network with an additional antenna for this application
21.08.
