Created August 21, 2020 © CC BY-NC

Elephant Tracker By Penteon

Full Elephant tracker solution .. Including Hardware ..Software ..Communications Solutions and Charging solutions

AdvancedFull instructions providedOver 8 days114

Story

Current Problems in Tracking and Sensors for Elephants

In thinking about this contest there are a few Problems that I could see and I will attempt to solve them.

A. BLE / WIFI and even LoRa are poor choices for data transport. the problems being that they all require a lot of Hardware to work effectively. LoRa( from experience) has an effective range of 1 KM Diameter to send the necessary data for tracking and health monitoring. Trees, Bushes , Mountains and Hills are all obstacles that create issues for effective monitoring. My solution will incorporate a Satellite Solution an LTE solution as well as a LoRa Solution built into one board to transport the health data , movement and location of all the elephants continuously.

B. Power and charging solutions for the collars to prevent the disturbance of the elephants as much as possible. I will design and build a linear Battery charger device that will provide enough power for the collars to be charged continually rain or shine from the movement of the elephants.

Finished 3D rendering of the First Layer Board for Power generation

Work In Progress

Final Result

The Final Product ready for production and testing. Things to do ...

A. Need to Build a linear Generator with 5VAC - 12VAC output

B. Order the PCB from PCBway.com

C. Purchase components and Solder the Board

Linear Generator BUILD

Power PCB Build

GPS & Controller Board

Controller Board

Main Features of the Controller Board

1. On Board GPS

2. SAMD21G18 Arduino Programmable MCU with USB connection

3. Headers for LTE Particle Electron http://www.particle.io

4. Murata CMWX1ZZABZ-078 LoRa Module

5. 3x Qwiik I2C Connectors for optional Sensors and sensor Testing.

6. 2 different audio devices for testing purposes

7. On Board Sensors: MP23ABS1 Audio Sensor , LIS2DH , LSM303C

8. Add-On Sensors: Spark-fun MemsMic ADMP401 , ‎STEVAL-MKI163V1 ,STEVAL-MKI135V1 .‎

ADMP401 Mems Mic

ST Evaluation Board

ST evaluation Board

GPS & Controller Board Build

The Enclosure

C. Water is a problem for the electronics and the audio sensors . For an audio Sensor to work efficiently it requires an open port to sense sound and Elephants tend to like to wallow in Water and mud. This is definitely a design challenge that will require thought. I can use a product that will shield 99% of the electronics but the open port of the Audio sensor is the Problem.

Audio Sensor

Audio Sensor Schematic

Land Pattern

There is no easy way to import the Footprint so I drew My own using this Drawing

Evolution Of the Schematics

Power Generation

Power Generation Schematics

Finished Schematics

The Following are links to resources in Building my Solution

https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Low-power-short-range-wireless/nRF52840

https://www.semtech.com/products/wireless-rf/lora-transceivers/lr1110

https://www.taoglas.com/