Blue Devil Forest Divers plans to use drones connected via a custom RF data link to dive deep into Rainforests from above to collect images, sounds, data, and samples from the emergent, canopy, understory layers and the rainforest floor.
This video shows a flight down into a forest:
This video shows a flight up out of the forest:
The use of drones to fly down into rainforests safely collect data, leave devices, and take samples and then return with data, retrieved devices, and samples is not widely practised or generally considered possible. We have adopted this approach as it opens up a whole new rapidly deployed low cost methodology for researchers to explore the canopy and understory. Currently these areas of the forest are only accessible by tree climbing or from towers, neither of which are rapid to deploy or low cost in time and resources to implement.
Summer 2021 we ran an iNaturalist event to test some of our ideas
We have been practising in Duke’s Lemur enclosures:
Infra Red Lemurs Lemurs in the Canopy
Our larger drones for the RF data relay are still under development but there have been recent
successful test flights:
The placement of aerial traps by Anafi drones is being experimented with:
https://youtu.be/Iqi3Hq_7_Yw
We spent two weeks in Costa Rica testing our system in June 2023
https://instagram.com/dukexprize?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
and are now semifinalists headed to Singapore in June 2023 to compete against the remaining other 14 teams!