Rovers minimize human disturbance in research on wild animals

Maho, Yvon Le; Whittington, Jason D.; Hanuise, Nicolas; Pereira, Louise; Boureau, Matthieu; Brucker, Mathieu; Chatelain, Nicolas; Courtecuisse, Julien; Crenner, F.; Friess, Benjamin; Grosbellet, Edith; Kernaléguen, Laëtitia; Olivier, Frédérique; Saraux, Claire; Vetter, Nathanaël; Viblanc, Vincent A.; Thierry, Bernard; Tremblay, Pascale; Groscolas, René; Bohec, Céline Le

doi:10.1038/nmeth.3173

Cited by 42 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Indeed, numerous studies showed that disturbance can lead to increased heart rates and/or corticosterone levels in birds that do not react behaviourally [10]. It is therefore also essential to perform studies of drone impacts in captive or wild birds for which physiological parameters can be recorded along with behaviour patterns [11]. Such stress levels should then be compared for birds censused using drones versus other techniques (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaching birds with drones: first experiments and ethical guidelines

et al. 2015

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Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones, are being increasingly used in ecological research, in particular to approach sensitive wildlife in inaccessible areas. Impact studies leading to recommendations for best practices are urgently needed. We tested the impact of drone colour, speed and flight angle on the behavioural responses of mallards Anas platyrhynchos in a semi-captive situation, and of wild flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) and common greenshanks (Tringa nebularia) in a wetland area. We performed 204 approach flights with a quadricopter drone, and during 80% of those we could approach unaffected birds to within 4 m. Approach speed, drone colour and repeated flights had no measurable impact on bird behaviour, yet they reacted more to drones approaching vertically. We recommend launching drones farther than 100 m from the birds and adjusting approach distance according to species. Our study is a first step towards a sound use of drones for wildlife research. Further studies should assess the impacts of different drones on other taxa, and monitor physiological indicators of stress in animals exposed to drones according to group sizes and reproductive status.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaching birds with drones: first experiments and ethical guidelines

et al. 2015

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“…University of Kansas is developing robotic vehicles under a project called PRISM to utilise them for measurement of thickness of ice-sheets and establish bedrock conditions in Greenland and Antarctica 5,6 . An International team of scientists led by Maho 7 at University of Strasbourg, France has developed a small remote controlled wheeled rover to study the behavior of penguins in Antarctica. The rover was fitted with an RFID device to read the heart-rate monitors, already fitted in the penguins.…”

Section: Review Of Unmanned Ground Vehiclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Unmanned Tracked Vehicle for Snow Research Applications

2016

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Lightweight robotic vehicles can be designed for over-snow mobility to carry out a variety of snow and glacier related studies like carrying out ground penetrating radar and global positioning system surveys, collecting snow samples, and carrying out sub-surface experiments on terrain that are dangerous for human movement. Sinkage, resistance to snow compaction, loss of traction and ingestion of snow into the driving system are some of the challenges that an unmanned lightweight tracked vehicle faces in snowbound terrain. In present work, a lightweight and unmanned remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is conceptualized and developed as a technological solution. In this study, design and features of this vehicle, named HimBot, are presented along with the results obtained from tests carried over snow at one of the field research stations of SASE. The outcome of this work will help in developing an optimised design of an ROV for over-snow mobility for a variety of applications.

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“…It is for these reasons that the use of mobile robotic devices to study the behavior of animals in their natural environments (Maho et al 2014) and in laboratory research is increasing. The behavior of animals can be observed by such robots and, depending on their design, can also be influenced by them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Closed-loop interactions between a shoal of zebrafish and a group of robotic fish in a circular corridor

et al. 2018

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Collective behavior based on self-organization has been observed in populations of animals from insects to vertebrates. These findings have motivated engineers to investigate approaches to control autonomous multi-robot systems able to reproduce collective animal behaviors, and even to collectively interact with groups of animals. In this article, we show collective decision making by a group of autonomous robots and a group of zebrafish, leading to a shared decision about swimming direction. The robots can also modulate the collective decision-making process in biased and non-biased experimental setups. These results demonstrate the possibility of creating mixed societies of vertebrates and robots in order to study or control animal behavior.

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Rovers minimize human disturbance in research on wild animals

Cited by 42 publications

References 23 publications

Approaching birds with drones: first experiments and ethical guidelines

Approaching birds with drones: first experiments and ethical guidelines

An Unmanned Tracked Vehicle for Snow Research Applications

Closed-loop interactions between a shoal of zebrafish and a group of robotic fish in a circular corridor

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