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Gregersen T, Wild TA, Havmøller LW, Møller PR, Lenau TA, Wikelski M, Havmøller RW. A novel kinetic energy harvesting system for lifetime deployments of wildlife trackers. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285930. [PMID: 37196042 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Wildlife tracking devices are key in obtaining detailed insights on movement, animal migration, natal dispersal, home-ranges, resource use and group dynamics of free-roaming animals. Despite a wide use of such devices, tracking for entire lifetimes is still a considerable challenge for most animals, mainly due to technological limitations. Deploying battery powered wildlife tags on smaller animals is limited by the mass of the devices. Micro-sized devices with solar panels sometimes solve this challenge, however, nocturnal species or animals living under low light conditions render solar cells all but useless. For larger animals, where battery weight can be higher, battery longevity becomes the main challenge. Several studies have proposed solutions to these limitations, including harvesting thermal and kinetic energy on animals. However, these concepts are limited by size and weight. In this study, we used a small, lightweight kinetic energy harvesting unit as the power source for a custom wildlife tracking device to investigate its suitability for lifetime animal tracking. We integrated a Kinetron MSG32 microgenerator and a state-of-the-art lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) into a custom GPS-enabled tracking device that is capable of remotely transmitting data via the Sigfox 'Internet of Things' network. Prototypes were tested on domestic dog (n = 4), wild-roaming Exmoor pony (n = 1) and wisent (n = 1). One of the domestic dogs generated up to 10.04 joules of energy in a day, while the Exmoor pony and wisent generated on average 0.69 joules and 2.38 joules per day, respectively. Our results show a significant difference in energy generation between animal species and mounting method, but also highlight the potential for this technology to be a meaningful advancement in ecological research requiring lifetime tracking of animals. The design of the Kinefox is provided open source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Troels Gregersen
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Section for Engineering Design and Product Development, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Timm A Wild
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Product Development Group Zurich (pd|z), ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Linnea Worsøe Havmøller
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peter Rask Møller
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Torben Anker Lenau
- Section for Engineering Design and Product Development, Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Martin Wikelski
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Rasmus Worsøe Havmøller
- Section for Zoology, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
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Advance Energy Harvesting Technologies. ENERGIES 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/en15072366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Energy harvesting is the conversion of unused or wasted energy in the ambient environment into useful electrical energy [...]
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