Backyard Brains, in conjunction with previous MDP projects, has developed a device to collect and store audio data from the wild to detect and differentiate between birdsongs, insects, and rainfall. Students on this team will optimize the device to make it more manufacturable, user friendly, and ready to ship to Ecuador for field trials.
Abstract:
More than half of U.S. bird species are threatened by climate change. In order to track migrations and monitor population numbers, there is a need for large scale data collection on songbirds both in the U.S. and in remote regions of the world. Documenting the activity of songbirds remains a challenge, given the high cost of accurately collecting and storing song data. There are options for affordable, high-quality, and inexpensive microphone systems on the market. What is missing, however, is a system that will autonomously perceive, identify, store and report bird song from its native environment. Backyard Brains has sponsored multiple MDP projects in the past to design and develop a device to collect and store audio data from the wild to detect and differentiate between birdsongs, insects, and rainfall.
Students on this team will work in two sub-teams to make the concept more manufacturable and effective. One subteam will optimize the weather proof packaging of the existing battery operated device for improved functionality and low cost efficient manufacturability. The second subteam will develop a user friendly app to control the device. The final product should be ready to ship to Ecuador to collect data in the wild.
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