Archive of posts from 2015
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Airborne Radio Collar Tracking: Summer 2015 REU
Posted on Oct 15, 2015
(Above) 2015 Radio Collar Tracker during Desert Testing, Mojave Desert. Photo Credit: Engineers for Exploration
Many wildlife ecology studies look at population size, location, and density to understand animal behavior and population movement. One common method for locating individuals of a population is radio collar tracking, or radio telemetry. The traditional method for radio collar tracking involves going out in the field and, using a large directional antenna, following the pulses trans...
Stereo QX1 Control
Posted on Oct 6, 2015
In the past, we’ve interfaced with the Sony QX series of cameras with custom software and hardware, but we were unable to control 2 cameras at once, as the QX camera hosts its own Wi-Fi access point. When we came across a reference to “Multi Camera Control”, we had to take a look.
As it turns out, there is very little documentation on this. The suggested option from the PlayMemories Mobile application is to enter in the SSID and passkey on the camera, but the QX1 has no screen, nor any entry...
Intelligent Camera Trap: Summer 2015 REU
Posted on Oct 5, 2015
A camera trap is a recording device that captures images or video of wildlife. Current camera trap technology is used by biologists and researchers to obtain population data about animals in a region of interest. However the scope of such data collection is limited by the fact that existing camera traps have a static field of view and often receive false positive triggers. This means that researchers often end up with hours of video containing no animals, or videos in which only part of the a...
Aerial LiDAR: Summer 2015 REU
Posted on Sep 28, 2015
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a technology that generates a point cloud by using an array of lasers to measure distance. For archaeologists, a LiDAR scan can be extremely useful for surveying and mapping an unexplored area. Though LiDAR scanning services are available, hiring a pilot and renting the equipment necessary to generate one data set will generally cost a year’s worth of funding for an archaeologist.
LiDAR System
A more reasonable alternative is the Velodyne Puck LiDAR...
Fall 2015 Recruiting
Posted on Sep 27, 2015
If you’re interested in joining, our fall kickoff meeting will be at Atkinson Hall 4004 (Calit2) this Thursday 10/1/2014 from 1:30-2:30. We’ll be discussing what projects we have and how you can get involved.
Elephant Monitoring: Summer 2015 REU
Posted on Sep 21, 2015
Though there is already a range of commercially available deployable autonomous recording units, many are expensive, or consume too much power to be deployed for desirable periods of time. Their cost and need for heavy battery units make deploying them in remote locations difficult. We’re working with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research to develop a more cost-effective unit that can be sent on similarly long deployments.
A similar unit developed by the Cornell Lab of Orni...
Bird Nest Tracker: Summer 2015 REU
Posted on Sep 14, 2015
The scientific research and study of birds often requires ornithologists to spend days at a time observing their behavior. These efforts are made with the goal of obtaining population data critical to the preservation of nesting animals, and to improve our understanding of the many species of birds that inhabit an area. Engineers for Exploration is currently devising a solution that would allow scientists to use their time more efficiently and concentrate on research rather than data gatherin...
First Tests of SphereCam and Mariner for Expedition Vaquita
Posted on Sep 4, 2015
This weekend we completed initial field testing of the Mariner quadcopter and the SphereCam, two of the technologies that we are deploying to capture media and scientific data of the vaquita, a critically-endangered porpoise in the Gulf of California.
On the first day of field testing, we completed initial flight tests and tuning of the Mariner, a customized off-the-shelf waterproof quadcopter that we will fly from a fishing boat in Mexico to take aerial footage of the vaquita. Our Mariner i...
2015 Summer REU
Posted on Sep 3, 2015
Photo (left to right): advisor Albert Lin, Otavio Paparidis, Emily Ubik, Bruno Motta, Raymond Zheng, Samuel Bauza, Ihab Salameh, environmentalist John Francis, Blake Apatow, Annie Christy, Jacob Junker, Tevon Walker, Jorge Pacheco and Elioth Fraijo
The 2015 Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program has come to an end. The 10 week program brought students from several universities across the United States and Brasil to work on challenging engineering projects that require in...
Flight Testing for Vaquita Aerial Surveys
Posted on Aug 7, 2015
We recently completed initial flight testing of the fixed-wing aerial platform we will deploy in Mexico to survey vaquita, a critically-endangered porpoise. Our platform consists of a modified 3D Robotics Aero plane outfitted with a Sony QX1 camera for taking high-resolution aerial imagery of the vaquita habitat. This approach will allow scientists and conservationists to perform aerial transects for population studies at a much lower cost than with manned aircraft.
Aero being tested in th...
Underwater Tablet Interface for Stereo Diving Rig
Posted on Mar 14, 2015
For the last quarter we’ve been working on developing a tablet-based diver interface for our Stereo Diving Rig. The goal of this interface is to allow a diver to see images and sensor data streaming from the rig in real-time, as well as allow them to control the parameters and settings of the onboard cameras to adapt to changes in underwater lighting conditions.
Most tablets use a capacitive touch-screen interface, which doesn’t work underwater because water is conductive and thus changes th...
Applications for Summer 2015 REU are Open!
Posted on Feb 17, 2015
We are now taking applications for our 2015 summer REU! If you are interested in spending the summer in San Diego and working on cool engineering projects and exciting fieldwork, please apply to be considered for our summer REU program. Submit your application (before March 15)!
IMPORTANT: Make sure to apply to the REU application on REUManager.com. The Google Forms application on this site is only for UCSD students to register their interest during the school year. If you fill out that form...