Freaklabs for wildlife and conservation research is launching soon!
Building customised instrumentation specifically for wildlife and conservation research has never been more accessible. Like capturing a snow leopard on a camera trap, that’s something to get excited about.
However, creating your own instrumentation – that’s deployment-ready, reliable and power optimised – requires a broad skillset and the right tools. With all the platforms and elements that go into it, where’s a good place to start learning?
We’re devising a range of open source, Arduino-based boards, libraries, applications, tutorials, cheatsheets and resources to help wildlife and conservation researchers build their own instrumentation – from prototype to deployment.
Tutorial Series: Getting Started with Arduino: Building a Custom Data Logger with WildLogger
Our first tutorial, in collaboration with WILDLABS is ‘Getting Started with Arduino: Building a Custom Data Logger with WildLogger‘.
In the series, we’ll cover:
- Definition & Specs: Translating what you want into hardware, software and mechanical specifications
- Decisions: Choosing appropriate sensors, enclosures, connectors, cables and batteries for your design goals and deployment environment
- Design Stack: Understanding hardware and the full application stack (components, drivers, libraries and applications)
- Setup: Setting up the application development environment
- Programming: Writing the application (what software already exists, what do you need to write)
- Optimizing: Optimising the device for power and reliability
- Assembly: Building the devices (including crimping cables, modifying enclosures, testing)
- Pilot: Doing controlled test deployments to make sure they work before they go into the field
- Troubleshooting: Debugging in the field (including ‘must have’ equipment in your field kits)
Below is an introduction to the series plus Q&A we did as part of Season 1 of Tech Tutors series
Lots of good (and helpful) stuff coming soon – whoop!