Semi-Autonomous Field survey device for monitoring Endangered Species (SAFE Species)

Trained biologists are required to perform manual field surveys to collect data on Endangered Species that inhabit Department of Defense (DoD) owned land, as mandated by such regulations as the Endangered Species Act, Sikes Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Lacey Act. Conducting wildlife and field surveys is a time-intensive process that incurs high costs and severely lacks scalability, as the demand to cover vast expanses of military land drastically outweighs the supply of specialized, costly biologists qualified to lead the efforts. A semi-autonomous field survey device that is capable of autonomous navigation through rugged environments, autonomous identification of endangered species and their unique environmental characteristics, and extended duration missions would significantly reduce the burden placed on biologists and increase survey persistence. We propose SAFE Species, a Semi-Autonomous Field survey device for monitoring Endangered Species. SAFE Species is an intelligent endangered species monitoring appliqué that augments an existing robotic platform with autonomous navigation and mapping, automatic vision-based identification of endangered species activity, and extended mission duration capabilities that will significantly reduce the costs associated with performing field surveys and free biologists to perform other critically important work.