Improve the efficiency of wildlife control in forests using IoT to solve issues in rural areas
Development of extended low-layer data communication technology to implement in IoT terminals

News Highlights:

Tokyo - March 22, 2024 - NTT Corporation (NTT), VirtualTech Japan Inc. (VirtualTech Japan), Japan Multi-Hunters Co., Ltd. (Japan Multi Hunters), and the non-profit organization Odawara Inoshikanet (Odawara Inoshikanet) have implemented NTT's extended low-layer data communication technology in outdoor IoT terminals provided by VirtualTech Japan in the forests of Odawara City, where wildlife control measures are being implemented by Japan Multi Hunters and Odawara Inoshikanet. By combining these IoT terminals with traps, NTT has confirmed that they are effective in improving the efficiency of daily trap patrols, which used to be dependent on the manual labor of hunters.
　The results of this demonstration experiment are expected to improve the efficiency of wildlife control work by utilizing data acquired by various IoT terminals, to reduce damage to crops and people caused by wild animals such as boars, deer, and bears, which are becoming a problem in rural areas.

1. Background

The amount of crop damage caused by wild birds and animals in FY2022 was estimated to be 15.6 billion yen, of which 10.1 billion yen was caused by deer and wild boar, accounting for about 65% of the total*. In recent years, bears that appear in areas where people live have also caused many casualties, and this has become a major problem in rural areas where wild birds and animals coexist near humans. It has been pointed out that the increase in the number of wild birds and animals that appear in human living areas is related to environmental changes associated with climate change and the overpopulation of their natural habitat in forests. To create an environment where wild birds and animals and humans can coexist in harmony, the population of wild birds and animals in forests must be properly managed. In rural areas, wildlife control is mainly carried out by hunters belonging to local hunting clubs, but the aging of hunters, the shortage of hunter leaders, and the lack of efficient technology usage have been problems.
　On the other hand, in terms of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which is being implemented in society, various data (temperature, humidity, video, etc.) obtained from IoT terminals are being used to make various industries such as farms, factories, and distribution warehouses smarter, and the various data obtained from IoT terminals is being used for on-site operations. It is known that the settings and installation environment of IoT terminals affect the reliability of acquired data when analyzing and utilizing such data, and it is necessary to collect and utilize additional information (device model, installation location, network connection status, etc.) of IoT terminals and networks with limited resources under low load and efficient manner.

2. Details and results of the demonstration experiment

The following three main tasks: (A) Trap Installation, (B) Patrol, and (C) Capturing are required for wildlife control. While information on the area where traps are set (A) is generally shared within the hunting association, the actual points and number of traps to be set in the field are determined by the hunters who set the traps, based on the condition of the animal trails and feces of wild birds and animals at the site and the tracks. In addition, with the aging of hunters and the shortage of skilled personnel, it is necessary to reduce the burden on each hunter using technology to realize more sustainable measures against wild birds and animals by local hunters. To reduce the burden on hunters in the future, it will be necessary for many hunters to share the daily patrols conducted (B), and in some cases, a different hunter from the one who set the trap will be required to conduct the patrols. Therefore, a system is needed that allows hunters who do not know the details of the trap location to efficiently find traps at the trap location points in the mountains and forests, and to efficiently reinstall traps that have been inactive for a certain period. There have been reports of cases where off-the-shelf IoT terminals have been used to improve the efficiency of wildlife control, but there were operational issues such as the need to manually input settings for each trap and the complexity of IoT terminal settings (Figures 1, Figure 2).

Figure 1 Current Status of Wild Birds and Animal Damage and Image of Demonstration Experiment

Figure 2 Hunting Point in the Forest (Left: Hunting point, right: Trap installation)

To evaluate the efficiency of wildlife operations, we examined the effects of efficiency improvements on (1) trap search and (2) trap re-installation during daily trap patrol operations (Figure 1, Figure 3, Figure 4). In this demonstration experiment, in the forest of Odawara City, where Odawara Inoshikanet and Japan Multi Hunters hunt, NTT implemented the extended low-layer data communication technology for IoT on the outdoor IoT terminal of VirtualTech Japan. A trap sensor and a trap search kit that displays the installation direction based on the location information sent from the trap sensor were prepared, and work efficiency was evaluated.
　(1) In the evaluation of the trap search operation, we compared the time required for a subject who did not know the location of traps to find traps using the conventional technology (search using BLE beacons and existing applications) and this technology (NTT's proposed technology and search kit) under the condition that four trap sensors were set in the trap installation area. The average time to find all four traps with the conventional technology was 32 minutes and 56 seconds, whereas with the proposed technology, the average time was reduced to 14 minutes and 7 seconds, resulting in 57% improvement in work efficiency.
　(2) In the evaluation of the time required to reinstall traps that have been inactive for a certain period, the time required to reinstall each trap was reduced to 1 minute and 30 seconds per trap using this technology, compared to 10 minutes per trap using the conventional manual method, resulting in an 85% increase in work efficiency.

Figure 3 Daily Patrol Workflow

Figure 4 Demonstration Experiment (Left: Trap search by hunters using the proposed technology, right: trap search kit)

3. Key points of technology

Development of extended low-layer data communication technology utilizing the extended area of Layer 2 frame

To efficiently collect additional information (device identifier, location, status, settings, etc.) of IoT terminals installed in various environments, it is necessary to have a low load on the network resources connected in the installation environment and a simple configuration that can be implemented even by IoT terminals with limited processing power. The extended low-layer data communication technology developed this time enables data communication by storing additional information in the extended area that developers have defined as implementable in the Layer 2 frame, which is specified in data communication, to collect additional information without affecting the main communication exchanged in Layer 3 frames or higher. This makes it possible to collect additional information without affecting the main communication over the Layer 3 frame (Figure 5). By implementing such a data communication function in a Layer 2 frame in an IoT terminal, it is possible to collect additional data when a network connection for general data communication over Layer 3 frames has not been established. In addition, by storing IoT terminal configuration data in the extended area and distributing it simultaneously, it is possible to automate the batch submission of settings for multiple IoT terminals connected to the network.

Figure 5 Extended Low-Layer Data Communications Technology for IoT

4. Roles of each company

NTT: Provide extended low-layer data collection technology and evaluate in demonstration experiments
VirtualTech Japan: Provision of outdoor IoT sensor terminals and support for outdoor IoT terminal operation
Japan Multi Hunters: Evaluation and verification support in demonstration experiments
Odawara Inoshikanet: Provide a hunting ground

5. Outlook

Through this demonstration experiment, we were able to identify the possibilities of using IoT technology to provide concrete solutions to issues in rural areas, such as measures to control damage by wild birds and animals. We will continue to evaluate and conduct R&D for use cases where many IoT terminals are installed, such as smart farms, factories, and warehouses.

^*"Nationwide Survey of Crop Damage by Wild Birds and Animals" by the Rural Development Bureau of MAFF.
URL:https://www.maff.go.jp/e/data/publish/attach/pdf/index-224.pdf

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