WILDLIFE IMAGING SYSTEMS LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: C56-17a

Description

There are many issues that a wind developer must consider when siting a wind project, but one that has become increasingly pressing in the U.S. is the effect of turbines on local wildlife. New onshore wind development is occurring across the entire the U.S. and has brought wind plants into greater conflict with wildlife, especially bats. The burgeoning U.S. offshore wind industry is also contending with these wildlife conflict issues. This creates significant barriers for the wind industry to hit the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) goal of a 100% clean electricity grid (defined as zero net greenhouse gas emissions) in 2035 which would put the United States on a path to economy-wide net-zero emissions by 2050.To reduce those barriers, we propose a cost-effective 3D wildlife tracking system based on stereo cameras and advanced processing software. The goal is to create accurate 3D wildlife tracks so that the size and the flight speed of the animal can be determined. This allows for better differentiation between groups of wildlife and species, increasing the accuracy of our classification model. The innovation proposed is to develop a hardware and software package to monitor the air space around the turbine to directly quantify the spatial and temporal characteristics of these wildlife interactions. The result will be a field-ready system that can provide 24/7 monitoring.During Phase I, we will design and prototype a field-ready 3D camera hardware kit appropriate for both onshore and offshore wind turbines. We will then develop methods and algorithms to self-calibrate the paired camera systems in the field, using only the video footage captured normally. Finally, we will implement these algorithms into a working software prototype and validate it using GPS tracked drone flights through the field of view of the paired cameras.This product would be offered directly to wind developers and operators. Customers will use this information to make more informed decisions about how to minimize their impact on wildlife. As an example, customers use our bat activity metrics and their correlation with meteorological conditions to enable smart curtailment at their wind farms. Offshore wind developers are interested in recording avian movement near offshore turbines to provide local 3D tracking of species around the rotor swept area to allow estimation of micro- and meso-scale avoidance, attraction, and collision rates. Both onshore and offshore, tracking volant wildlife is a critical issue.