Low-Power Low-Cost Reconfigurable IoT Device for Remote Wildlife Monitoring

Resumen del trabajo presentado a la The LifeWatch ERIC Biodiversity & Ecosystem eScience Conference, celebrada en Sevilla del 22 al 24 de mayo de 2023.In this paper, we describe a prototype IoT platform designed under the principles of low power, low cost, and versatility. The objective was to endow this embedded platform with flexibility for adaptation to different application requirements related to wildlife monitoring in natural environments. Thus, the system comprises a datalogger, which also includes a microcontroller as the central control unit; a communication module connected through the mikroBUSTM socket standard to maximise expandability with a reduced form factor; up to five scalar sensor modules connected through Grove connectors; an expansion connector to incorporate acoustic and visual capabilities through embedded computers (e.g., Raspberry Pi); and an RS232-UART converter for interconnection with RFID readers. Different field tests have been conducted for bat and bird monitoring under diverse conditions, e.g., Ethernet and WiFi connectivity, and grid, battery, and solar power. We comprehensively report the results of these field tests from both a technical point of view (power consumption measurements, solar-power autonomy, animal identification accuracy, etc.) and the perspective of the biologists who make use of the platform for spatial-temporal long-term analysis of species. Strengths and weaknesses are identified for future evolution of the developed system. Finally, we also provide details about the full-custom panel created for analytics of the remotely collected data.Peer reviewe