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$10,105
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on May 11, 2010.
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You will receive the GRND Lab email newsletter + acknowledgment of your donation on our blog/website + a customized pet collar with an electronic tag that stores your pet's information.
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You will receive the GRND Lab email newsletter + acknowledgment of your donation on our blog/website + an original bracelet handmade by the local Maasai herders.
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You will receive the GRND Lab email newsletter + acknowledgment of your donation on our blog/website + a coffee table book of color photos of wildlife, taken by Justin during field testing in the Southern Maasai land.
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You will receive the GRND Lab email newsletter + acknowledgment of your donation on our blog/website + a cast made from an authentic lion's paw print from the camp site in Kenya.
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GRND Lab (ground lab) is a complete consulting, design and fabrication resource. Located in Brooklyn, New York, GRND Lab consists of a collaborative studio/shop specializing in prototyping, open source hardware and software development, interaction design and specialty fabrication. Known for networking embedded devices with real time online visualization, GRND Lab is focused on creating innovative sustainable solutions for environmental, social and humanitarian challenges.
Thanks Benedetta and Justin :-)
Curious to know the status of the project. Could not get to GRNDLab.com.
Is it open sourced yet?
Thanks,
Chris.
THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED US MEET OUR GOAL!!!!!! GRAZIE A TUTTI PER IL VOSTRO SUPPORTO E AIUTO!!!!!
The GRND Lab Team
Congratulations on reaching your funding goal! I am excited to hear about how everything works in the field. Great project!
Hi! We are working on battery life at the moment and on systems and techniques to save energy within our circuit, sleep modes and such. Nowadays, the existing collars use a different technology than ours and the battery lasts up to one year or so and you can't access the circuitry so you cannot change the battery when it runs out, but have to purchase a new collar or send it back to the manufacturer. We do include a battery in our collar design and with some more research we will make sure that you don't have to replace the battery often especially in the desert. We also have extensive experience in recharging batteries via solar, so I suspect after the first round of prototyping we will probably integrate a similar solution.
I think I understand how the technology works but how long can you track a lion with the tag given current battery technology ? I suspect adding a battery to the tag is is not something you want to do every week :-)
Hi! Thanks for the comments.
About the stolen bikes, once the technology is open sourced people will be able to use the same tracking system for an application like the one you mentioned. We actually have been toying around with the idea of tracking systems for bicycles for a while and have bikers and biker mechanics on the team, so i think that would be a great idea!
About poaching, it's a totally legitimate concern. Our technology, in this case, is meant to cause no harm. Tracking via GPS is something that has already invaded our lives, it's in our cell phones, computers and other devices which we often don't have any control over and are often systems that do not require signing in. So I believe those technologies are far more dangerous than what we are creating. And as far as someone taking our board design and replicating it, that's the purpose of our Open Source model. With the advent of the internet, every piece of knowledge that is shared can be used and exploited by poachers and people with ill intentions, and that unfortunately is something that will always be a threat. Also, on a side note, depending on what application and what environment, using cell phone modules often requires certifications and permission, so there will be some level of restriction imposed by the local government and its laws. I hope this answers your questions!
Thanks a lot!
The GRND Lab Team
Way cool project. Suspect there could be significant benefit in deploying the tech you're creating/developing for purposes such as helping owners track their stolen bicycles. ( which is a huge problem in London where I reside) I think cyclists/the green audience would get major satisfaction out of using a product/service that supports a cause & reduces crime rather than just funding yet another corporate money making machine.
I'm curious: couldn't this open approach also be exploited by poachers? What's the risk of that?