The idea came from working with local trackers in Zimbabwe. These footprint-reading experts can identify individual black rhinos from the shape of their feet and, when visible, the impressions left by cracks in the animals’ heel pads, which are as distinctive as a human fingerprint. “We probably wouldn’t even have looked at the footprints in the first place if we didn’t have Indigenous trackers,” says Sky Alibhai, co-founder of conservation organization WildTrack and study co-lead.
To use the system, scientists gather rhino footprint images with a smartphone application and upload the pictures to a global database. FIT software analysis can then identify the individual animal and determine its age and sex with up to 99 percent accuracy. Researchers can also estimate the number of black rhinos in an area and watch their movements.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
