This post is also available in: Danish
In mid-November, the world’s leading biodiversity researchers gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the prestigious XPRIZE Rainforest competition. Among the participants was a research team with contributions from Aarhus University. Engineering lecturer Claus Melvad from the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering and Professor Toke Thomas Høye from the Department of Ecoscience played a key role together with their colleagues in the ETH BiodivX project.
When the XPRIZE awards were handed out in Rio de Janeiro, the Danish team received a prize of 250,000 dollars – around 1 million Danish kroner. Although they didn’t win the first prize, their invention was recognized.
“The treetops are a blind spot for us biodiversity researchers. It’s difficult for us to climb up there, so we actually know very little about what lives up in the foliage. That’s why we developed this solution,” says Toke Thomas Høye on Aarhus University’s website.
Discovered 40 new insect species
The team has developed an advanced technology that can be brought into the Amazon with drones and placed in the treetops. Here, the device can record video, detect sounds and measure wildlife in the area. The solution makes it possible to map the many species that live in the inaccessible canopy – including several undiscovered species.
“The device couldn’t be too heavy, because it had to be able to be flown in by drone and gently placed in the treetops. Not too light either, because then it would blow away. We therefore designed it to be deployed like a net umbrella with a pole in the crown,” says Claus Melvad.
With rainforests disappearing at an alarming rate, the need for this technology is urgent to detect biodiversity before it’s too late. The device has already yielded results. During the competition, 40 new insect species were discovered in the canopy alone where the technology was tested. The prize money will allow the research team to continue their work, and interest in the invention is already significant.
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