Wildlife conservation and rail track monitoring using wireless sensor networks

Abstract

In this paper we put forward an approach, first of its kind, to collectively address conservation of elephants by preventing their death being overrun by trains and monitoring the integrity of the rail track. It utilizes a unique method for deterring the elephants using infrasonic sound from crossing the rail track. For obtaining this output the sensing devices are placed in proximity areas of the rail track using a novel passive node mobility mechanism. These devices act as an input to the actual sensing nodes, that would emit the infrasonic sound. Utilizing a novel two -cycle communication and sensing check the integrity of the rail track is evaluated and the result is informed to the regional base station (RBS). The proposed approach offers a promising solution to the two issues, subject to field evaluation and validation.

Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare

“…A smart system [103] in Sri Lanka was to detect breakages in fences used to keep wild elephants away from humans for the protection of both humans and animals. Similarly, a WSN system that uses passive nodes and infrasonic sounds [104] was deployed in India to deter elephants from crossing railways. The use of IR sensors and seismic sensors was proposed in [105] for detection of wild elephants entering villages.…”

Improving Animal-Human Cohabitation with Machine Learning in Fiber-Wireless Networks

“…[18] proposed an interesting solution, which is also profitable, wherein authors employ bees to deter elephants from damaging the vegetation and trees in Africa. A few notable past works [1,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] have tackled the issues of animal behavior monitoring and proposed technical solutions, mainly warning systems.…”

“…Wireless sensor network (WSN) system has been widely used in the past to deal with the animal-human conflict problem. A WSN system that uses passive nodes and infrasonic sounds was deployed in India, as reported by [7] to deter elephants from crossing railways. The use of infrared sensors and seismic sensors was proposed in [8] for detecting wild elephants entering villages.…”

“…could be added to the smart hot zones near the roads/rails or adjoining areas (to human habitation) to detect the movement of animals and warn humans/vehicles in advance for a likelihood of animals forage. Although there are a few notable works that studied some aspects of the animal-human cohabitation problem [1,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]], a warning system that could intelligently process data at various layers of networking architecture-from Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, e.g., sensors, to fog-to-cloud-has not been integrated into the system. The processing of raw data near sensors can be helpful in some scenarios, where the energy consumption is an issue due to limited source of energy on the end devices.…”

Neglected effects of transport corridors: attractiveness to wildlife and role in conservation planning

“…Secondly, improved predictive modeling approaches, which include climate and weather variables, could facilitate more effective removal of spilled grain by focusing on areas predicted by the models. Thirdly, consideration of the potential use of animal repellents, such as ultrasonic sensors or devices emitting acoustic signals that create a fear reaction in animals, to repel wildlife from approaching tracks (Mathur et al ., ). An innovative scheme for the prevention of wildlife accidents based on the combination of predictive modeling of attractant accumulation, wildlife population ecology data and animal deterrence methods could provide new insights for conservation planning in protected areas.…”