caidespries.github.io/project5.html at main · CaideSpries/caidespries.github.io · GitHub

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Camera Trap Monitoring System</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/css/projects.css">
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
    <header>
        <h1>An Advanced, Remotely-Accessible Camera Trap for Wildlife Research</h1>
    </header>
    <main>
        <section id="project-overview">
            <h2>Project Overview</h2>
            <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 90%; margin: 0rem auto;">
                <p>Standard camera traps are invaluable for wildlife research, but they often require researchers to
                    perform dangerous and disruptive tasks, like climbing trees, to retrieve data. This project
                    addresses this challenge directly by redesigning a camera trap system for an ornithologist studying
                    Marshall Eagles in the unforgiving environment of the Kruger National Park.</p>

                <p>Our solution is a robust, two-part system designed for long-term, autonomous deployment. It consists
                    of:</p>
                <ul style="text-align: left; display: inline-block;">
                    <li><strong>A Tree-Top Sensing Unit:</strong> A compact, weatherproof module that captures
                        high-resolution images, detects motion, and records ambient temperature.
                    </li>
                    <li><strong>A Ground-Level Base Station:</strong> A central hub that wirelessly receives data from
                        the sensing unit, stores it, and hosts a web server for easy, remote access.
                    </li>
                </ul>

                <p>The primary goal is to eliminate the need for physical data retrieval from the nest, while enhancing
                    the system with multi-sensor data collection and ensuring data integrity through a dual-storage
                    design.</p>
            </div>
        </section>
        <section id="system-architecture">
            <h2>System Architecture: A Two-Part Solution</h2>
            <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 90%; margin: 2rem auto;">
                <p>The system's architecture is split to solve the core problem of inaccessibility. The lightweight
                    Sensing Unit, built around an ESP32-CAM, lives in the tree with the nest. It acts as a smart sensor,
                    capturing images and temperature readings while using a PIR sensor to detect motion and increase the
                    capture rate during periods of activity. All data is saved to an onboard microSD card as a crucial
                    backup.</p>

                <p>The Base Station, built on a Raspberry Pi, remains at the base of the tree. It creates a local Wi-Fi
                    hotspot, allowing the Sensing Unit to automatically and wirelessly transmit its images. This creates
                    a primary data store that the researcher can access without disturbing the nest.</p>

                <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; justify-content: center; gap: 20px; margin-top: 2rem;">
                    <figure style="max-width: 30%; min-width: 100px;">
                        <img src="assets/img/Projects Docs/project5/front-view-complete.webp"
                             alt="Front view of the tree-top sensing unit" style="width: 100%; height: auto;">
                        <figcaption>Tree-Top Sensing Unit (Front View)</figcaption>
                    </figure>
                    <figure style="max-width: 30%; min-width: 100px;">
                        <img src="assets/img/Projects Docs/project5/back-view-complete.webp"
                             alt="Back view of the tree-top sensing unit" style="width: 100%; height: auto;">
                        <figcaption>Tree-Top Sensing Unit (Back View)</figcaption>
                    </figure>
                </div>

                <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; justify-content: center; gap: 20px; margin-top: 2rem;">
                    <figure style="max-width: 30%; min-width: 100px;">
                        <img src="assets/img/Projects Docs/project5/top-system-with-components.webp"
                             alt="Top system with labeled components" style="width: 100%; height: auto;">
                        <figcaption>Sensing Unit Components Overview</figcaption>
                    </figure>
                    <figure style="max-width: 30%; min-width: 100px;">
                        <img src="assets/img/Projects Docs/project5/complete-base-station.webp"
                             alt="The complete ground-level base station" style="width: 100%; height: auto;">
                        <figcaption>Ground-Level Base Station</figcaption>
                    </figure>
                </div>
            </div>
        </section>
        <section id="key-subsystems">
            <h2>Key Subsystems and Features</h2>
            <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 90%; margin: 1rem auto;">
                <p>Our final solution integrates four major subsystems, each designed and tested independently before
                    being combined into a cohesive whole.</p>

                <h3>Sensing and On-Board Storage</h3>
                <p>The core sensing module uses an ESP32-CAM with an OV2640 camera, a PIR sensor for motion detection,
                    and a DHT11 sensor for temperature and humidity. It intelligently adjusts its image capture
                    frequency based on motion, saving all images and sensor data with timestamps to a local 32GB microSD
                    card as a failsafe backup.</p>

                <h3>Wireless Transmission and Web Server</h3>
                <p>To eliminate the need for tree-climbing, the ESP32 transmits images over Wi-Fi to the Raspberry Pi
                    Base Station. The Raspberry Pi runs a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) web server, providing a
                    user-friendly graphical interface where the researcher can view, browse, and manage all captured
                    images remotely from a connected device.</p>

                <figure style="max-width: 80%; margin: 1rem auto;">
                    <img src="assets/img/Projects Docs/project5/webserver-images-esp32.webp"
                         alt="Web server gallery interface" style="width: 75%; height: auto;">
                    <figcaption>The Web Interface: Researchers can browse captured images remotely</figcaption>
                </figure>

                <h3>Custom Power Systems</h3>
                <p>Both the Sensing Unit and Base Station required custom, long-life power solutions. We designed and
                    prototyped dedicated power modules, performing detailed power consumption calculations (see Table
                    5.1/5.2) to select appropriate rechargeable Li-ion batteries and solar charging capabilities to
                    ensure the system meets the 100+ day deployment requirement.</p>

                <h3>Weatherproof and Robust Enclosures</h3>
                <p>The entire system is designed to survive the harsh Kruger environment. Using 3D modeling (Fusion360)
                    and 3D printing, we designed and produced custom, IP-rated weatherproof enclosures for both the
                    sensing unit and the base station. The enclosures protect the electronics from dust, water, and
                    animal interference while including features like mounting points and passive cooling.</p>

                <figure style="max-width: 80%; margin: 1.5rem auto;">
                    <img src="assets/img/Projects Docs/project5/3D-model-enclosure.webp"
                         alt="3D model of the weatherproof enclosure" style="width: 100%; height: auto;">
                    <figcaption>3D Model and Printed Prototype of the Weatherproof Enclosure</figcaption>
                </figure>
            </div>
        </section>
        <section id="conclusion">
            <h2>Conclusion: A Successful End-to-End Solution</h2>
            <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 90%; margin: 2rem auto;">
                <p>This project successfully delivered a complete, end-to-end engineering solution that directly
                    addresses the challenges faced by field ornithologists. By creating a robust, two-part camera trap
                    system with wireless data transmission, we eliminated the laborious and dangerous need to climb
                    trees for data retrieval.</p>

                <p>Our integrated design combines multi-sensor data collection, intelligent power management,
                    custom-designed enclosures, and a user-friendly web interface for remote data access. The project
                    serves as a powerful proof-of-concept for a modern, effective, and scalable wildlife monitoring
                    system, providing a foundation for future enhancements like real-time object detection and further
                    optimization.</p>
            </div>
        </section>
        <section id="project-document">
            <h2>Project Document</h2>
            <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 90%; margin: 1rem auto;">
                <p>For more detailed information, you can access the following resource:</p>
                <div style="display: flex; justify-content: center; gap: 20px; flex-wrap: wrap; margin-top: 1rem;">
                    <a href="assets/docs/Projects Docs/project5/Camera%20Trap%20Monitoring%20System.pdf"
                       target="_blank"
                       class="button-link"
                       style="display: inline-block; padding: 10px 15px; background-color: #3498db; color: white; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 4px;">
                        View Project Document (PDF)
                    </a>
                </div>
            </div>
        </section>
    </main>
    <footer>
        <a href="index.html">Back to Homepage</a>
    </footer>
</div>
</body>
</html>