Sensors 2013, 13(3), 2862-2883; doi:10.3390/s130302862
Article

An Automatic Weighting System for Wild Animals Based in an Artificial Neural Network: How to Weigh Wild Animals without Causing Stress

Diego Francisco Larios 1,* email, Carlos Rodríguez 2 email, Julio Barbancho 1 email, Manuel Baena 3 email, Miguel Ángel Leal 1 email, Jesús Marín 2 email, Carlos León 1 email and Javier Bustamante 2 email
1 Department of Electronic Technology, University of Seville, 41011 Seville, Spain 2 Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), 41092 Seville, Spain 3 ICTS, Singular Scientific and Technological Infrastructure, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), 41092 Seville, Spain
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 17 December 2012; in revised form: 22 February 2013 / Accepted: 25 February 2013 / Published: 28 February 2013
(This article belongs to the Section Sensor Networks)
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [1280 KB, Updated Version, uploaded 21 March 2013 17:27 CET]
The original version is still available [1254 KB, uploaded 28 February 2013 09:09 CET]
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel and autonomous weighing system for wild animals. It allows evaluating changes in the body weight of animals in their natural environment without causing stress. The proposed system comprises a smart scale designed to estimate individual body weights and their temporal evolution in a bird colony. The system is based on computational intelligence, and offers valuable large amount of data to evaluate the relationship between long-term changes in the behavior of individuals and global change. The real deployment of this system has been for monitoring a breeding colony of lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) in southern Spain. The results show that it is possible to monitor individual weight changes during the breeding season and to compare the weight evolution in males and females.
Keywords: sensor network; habitat monitoring; neural networks; computational intelligence

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Larios, D.F.; Rodríguez, C.; Barbancho, J.; Baena, M.; Leal, M.Á.; Marín, J.; León, C.; Bustamante, J. An Automatic Weighting System for Wild Animals Based in an Artificial Neural Network: How to Weigh Wild Animals without Causing Stress. Sensors 2013, 13, 2862-2883.

AMA Style

Larios DF, Rodríguez C, Barbancho J, Baena M, Leal MÁ, Marín J, León C, Bustamante J. An Automatic Weighting System for Wild Animals Based in an Artificial Neural Network: How to Weigh Wild Animals without Causing Stress. Sensors. 2013; 13(3):2862-2883.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Larios, Diego F.; Rodríguez, Carlos; Barbancho, Julio; Baena, Manuel; Leal, Miguel Á.; Marín, Jesús; León, Carlos; Bustamante, Javier. 2013. "An Automatic Weighting System for Wild Animals Based in an Artificial Neural Network: How to Weigh Wild Animals without Causing Stress." Sensors 13, no. 3: 2862-2883.

Sensors EISSN 1424-8220 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert