A Miniature Micropower Cell Phone for Tracking Migratory Animals

该奖项支持微型无线电标签的开发，该标签能够与蜂窝电话通常使用的蜂窝塔接收器进行通信。 该设备本质上是一个精简版的手机，质量足够低（2克），允许其附着在候鸟或其他小动物身上。为了节省电力，该装置中的计时器将使其休眠，直到预先编程的日期时，发射机将激活，并试图与附近的手机塔联系。由于该设备将在很长一段时间内保持关闭状态，然后仅激活足够长的时间以与最近的接收器进行接触，因此预计一个微型电池将在长达2年的时间内为几个接触提供足够的电力。 每个单位将传达一个独特的识别号码，使个别标记的鸟类可以链接到一个特定的位置。在联系之后，PI将通过电子邮件从蜂窝网络提供商接收标签身份和位置的通知。该标签将有助于研究迁徙和扩散，这两种行为几乎是动物，特别是鸟类的普遍行为。 尽管它们很重要，但这些行为对种群动态的影响仍然是生物学中未回答的主要问题，这在很大程度上是因为我们无法在整个年度周期中跟踪单个动物。该战略预计将在5公里半径内定位鸟类，这对于定位单个小型迁徙动物来说是前所未有的精确度。 该项目是生态学家和电气工程研究人员的合作，将涉及本科生和研究生的协作学习机会，包括仪器的设计和现场测试。

This award supports the development of a miniature radio tag capable of communicating with cell tower receivers normally used by cellular phones. The device is essentially a stripped-down version of a cell phone with low enough mass (2 grams) to permit its attachment to migratory birds or other small animals. To conserve power, a timer in the unit will keep it dormant until preprogrammed dates when the transmitter will activate and attempt to make contact with a nearby cell phone tower. Because the device will remain off during an extended period, and then activate for only long enough to make contact with the nearest receiver, a tiny battery is expected to provide sufficient power for several contacts over a period as long as 2 years. Each unit will communicate a unique identifying number, so that individual tagged birds can be linked to a specific location. Following the contact, the PI will receive notification of the tag identity and location from the cellular network provider by email. The tag will be useful in studies of migration and dispersal, both of which are nearly universal behaviors among animals, particularly birds. Despite their importance, the impact of these behaviors on population dynamics remain major unanswered questions in biology, in large part because of our inability to track Individual animals throughout their annual cycle. The strategy is expected to locate birds to within a 5 km radius, a completely unprecedented level of precision for locating individual small migratory animals. The project is a collaboration of ecologists and electrical engineering researchers that will involve undergraduate and graduate students in collaborative learning opportunities, including both design and field testing of the instrument.