Accelerometer Features
GPS Duty Cycles
Tri-axial Accelerometers are sensors that measure their acceleration relative to earth’s gravity separately in the X, Y, and Z directions. Each CTT® tracking device includes a tri-axial accelerometer to equip you with the necessary tools to answer fine-scaled behavioral questions. In addition to raw acceleration data, we collect and summarize activity which allows us to perform more complex operations such as detect mortality, identify behaviors, or change sensor duty cycles.
We believe data should be available at your fingertips, so all of our accelerometry data is transferred over the cellular network where it can be visualized and/or downloaded from our data portal.
Researchers now have the option to collect accelerometer data with respect to three axes of the tracking device. This means that for every data sample, an X, Y, and Z measurement in Gee’s or m/s^2 is stored. Dependent on the needs of your application, we can take multiple samples per second over a configurable length of time. Acceleration data can be acquired on a schedule, following a GPS fix, or while the bird is flying!
You don’t want to deal with accelerometer data analysis, or you want a more convenient way to identify behavior? CTT provides an activity index that summarizes acceleration data collected by the tracker. The user specifies what acceleration threshold constitutes interesting behavior, and how frequently they want the summary. We then aggregate activity, temperature, and solar information at a scheduled interval. All of this data is sent over a cellular data connection! Researchers can now associate specific behaviors with environmental factors.
Regular interval sampling of accelerometry and GPS data has been an industry standard for years. As researchers ourselves, we recognize the limitations of this type of sampling (Missing interesting locations, collecting redundant data for stationary birds, etc). We are shifting the paradigm from interval, to behavior/point of interest sampling using activity! If you are interested in capturing takeoffs, landing, flight, foraging, or any other type of behavior, now you can. We pair activity with GPS data collection, giving the researcher better information to answer their questions.
Unfortunately birds die. Its great to be able to determine when this happens in order to retrieve your unit. Using a combination of GPS and activity information, we can now determine with reasonable certainty if your bird is dead, or ill. This is great for endangered birds such as whooping cranes or California condors because they can be saved! Contact us for how we can set up an illness detection system for your project.
Of all positioning technologies, the GPS data point is the single most important data element a scientist can have. Cellular Tracking Technologies has always been a pioneer of high frequency GPS data coupled with modern-day mobile network technology. We completely revolutionized wildlife telemetry in 2007, and continue to do so now.
In 2016, we continue to develop new ways to collect telemetry data. We have also have more sensors available than ever before. We can also process this sensor data to drive data collection behavior in ways that were never before possible.
By combining triaxial accelerometry, sophisticated geofences, triggers, rules and duty cycles in our Third Generation devices, we can turn the antiquated “Where am I every X minutes” question into the ultimate high frequency data tracking experience for any energy budget.
It’s been 15 minutes where am I? Standard mode answers this question. If you need the most energy efficient GPS location, this is the method for you. We can collect data as frequently as 10 seconds in this mode, or as infrequent as a few fixes per day.
When a GPS fix is acquired, a certain amount of time is necessary to lock onto navigation satellites. This consumes power, thus reducing the potential to get fixes at a later time. Burst mode was created to get more bang for your buck by collecting multiple consecutive fixes.While this mode still answers the “Where am I every X minutes” question, it also answers a new question “Where am I going every X minutes?”.
Have you ever started analyzing GPS data and realized my bird has been in the same tree all day? Flight mode gives you the option to collect data (exclusively, or with a more rigorous duty cycle) while the bird is in flight. We are also able to detect takeoff events and acquire a GPS fix within 10 seconds of the event.
Interval based duty cycles are just one method we use to telemetry data. Our latest feature allows the user to collect data for interesting animal behaviors such as takeoffs, landings, foraging, and impacts. If you still require the standard sampling, but don’t want to miss important events between the data collection interval, simply add behavior mode as an additional feature!
Many research projects have a study area where high frequency data collection would be beneficial, but outside the area isn’t as important. A great way to conserve battery power would be to only collect flight or foraging data while the bird is within the study area. We can easily handle this by using specific duty cycle modes within or outside of a geofence.
Additional Features
Our device will check in at the first of the month, regardless of duty cycle, if cellular signal is available, with detailed device health and position information. This will let you know that your tracking device is still operational and healthy.
Get new features and modes on your devices as we develop them! Similar to nearly any modern mobile phone, we routinely push new updates and features to your device — right over the air — whether your animal is in the air or on the ground!
Before your device is deployed, it will be placed in a deep freeze duty cycle. This allows researchers to keep their inventory on hand until it needs to be deployed. Our network operations center will monitor the health of your devices to make sure batteries are fresh and ready when you are ready to deploy.
Your cell phone has temperature protection to prevent damage from direct sunlight and hot climates, wildlife trackers are no different. CTT® Temperature Projection automatically protects the battery pack while still collecting data in the safest way possible.
As new features are developed for our wildlife trackers, you benefit from future software updates as part of your CTT® Data Service Plan. This means you will always have access to the latest cutting edge software during the life of your wildlife tracking device.
Cellular Tracking Technologies monitors thousands of our wildlife trackers. Very rarely, problems come up in the field. While most issues can be rectified remotely, we will also contact you if trouble arises so you can make the best informed decision.
Your data is very important to us. We ensure your data is collected safely and securely using the most advanced redundant cloud data storage and security available.
