System and method for monitoring wildlife
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring the location of a wildlife target that vocalizes, the vocalizations of the target being within a selected range of frequencies, said system comprising:
- a sound receiving unit for receiving the vocalizations from the target, said sound receiving unit including a parabolic reflector having a focal point, a center microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector and located at said reflector focal point, a first offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, and a second offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, said first and second offset microphones being mounted to said parabolic reflector at diametrically opposite positions relative to said center microphone;
an audio signal processing circuit connected to said center microphone and said first and second offset microphones including a first subtractive signal representative of the difference in signal strength between the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone and said first offset microphone, a second subtractive circuit that produces a second subtractive signal representative of the difference in signal strength between the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone and said second offset microphone, and a vocalization signal based on the period of the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone;
an angular detection circuit connected to said audio signal processing circuit for receiving said subtractive signals that, in response to receiving said subtractive signals, generates an angular direction signal representative of the directions from which the received vocalizations originated relative to said sound receiving unit; and
a central processing unit connected to said audio signal processing circuit for receiving said vocalization signals and to said angular detection circuit for receiving said angular direction signal, said central processing unit, in response to receiving said vocalization signals and said angular direction signal determines the frequencies of the vocalization, and generating a frequency profile of the vocalization emitted by the target, said frequency profile including an indication of the angular direction relative to said sound receiving unit from which the vocalization was received.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for conducting surveys of vocalizing wildlife by determining the direction species of wildlife that emit vocalizations is disclosed. The system includes a sound receiving unit (12) with a set of three microphones (14, 16, 18) for monitoring the vocalizations. The signals received by the microphones are supplied to an audio signal processing circuit (20) that produces a set of subtractive signals indicating the relative signal strength of the received signals and a digital signal representative of the period of the received vocalizations. The signals produced by the audio signal processing circuit are supplied to a central processing unit (22). The central processing unit calculates the frequency of the vocalization based digital signal representative of the period of the signal and based on a set of these signals determines the species that emitted the vocalizations. A angular detection circuit integral with the audio signal processing circuit determines the angular direction relative to the sound receiving unit of from where the vocalization originated based on the subtractive signals.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A system for monitoring the location of a wildlife target that vocalizes, the vocalizations of the target being within a selected range of frequencies, said system comprising:
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a sound receiving unit for receiving the vocalizations from the target, said sound receiving unit including a parabolic reflector having a focal point, a center microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector and located at said reflector focal point, a first offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, and a second offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, said first and second offset microphones being mounted to said parabolic reflector at diametrically opposite positions relative to said center microphone; an audio signal processing circuit connected to said center microphone and said first and second offset microphones including a first subtractive signal representative of the difference in signal strength between the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone and said first offset microphone, a second subtractive circuit that produces a second subtractive signal representative of the difference in signal strength between the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone and said second offset microphone, and a vocalization signal based on the period of the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone; an angular detection circuit connected to said audio signal processing circuit for receiving said subtractive signals that, in response to receiving said subtractive signals, generates an angular direction signal representative of the directions from which the received vocalizations originated relative to said sound receiving unit; and a central processing unit connected to said audio signal processing circuit for receiving said vocalization signals and to said angular detection circuit for receiving said angular direction signal, said central processing unit, in response to receiving said vocalization signals and said angular direction signal determines the frequencies of the vocalization, and generating a frequency profile of the vocalization emitted by the target, said frequency profile including an indication of the angular direction relative to said sound receiving unit from which the vocalization was received. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for monitoring a given geographic area for a wildlife target from a species that vocalizes, the vocalizations of the species occurring within a specific range of frequencies and having a specific frequency profile, said system comprising:
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at least two sound receiving units for receiving vocalizations from the target, each said sound receiving unit including a parabolic reflector having a focal point, a center microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector and located at said reflector focal point, a first offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, and a second offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, said first and second offset microphones being mounted to said parabolic reflector at diametrically opposite positions relative to said center microphone; an audio signal processing circuit, each said audio signal processing circuit being connected to said center microphone and said first and second offset microphones for producing for each sound receiving unit a first subtractive signal representative of the difference in signal strength between the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone and said first offset microphone, a second subtractive signal representative of the difference in signal strength between the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone and said second offset microphone, and a vocalization signal based on the period of the vocalizations monitored by said center microphone; an angular detection circuit connected to each said audio signal processing circuit for receiving said subtractive signals that, in response to receiving said subtractive signals, generates an angular direction signal for each said sound reflector representative of the directions from which the received vocalizations originated relative to said sound receiving unit; and a central processing unit connected to said audio processing circuits for receiving said vocalization signals and to said angular detection circuit for receiving said angular direction signals, said central processing unit upon receiving said angular direction signals for said at least two sound receiving units determines the geographic location from which the vocalization originated. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of monitoring wildlife to determine the species and location of a wildlife target in a study area by listening to the vocalization produced by the target, including the steps of:
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monitoring the vocalization produced by the target with a sound receiving unit, said sound receiving unit including a parabolic reflector having a focal point, a center microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector and located at said reflector focal point, a first offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, and a second offset microphone mounted to said parabolic reflector, said first and second offset microphones being mounted to said parabolic reflector at diametrically opposite positions relative to said center microphone; generating a first subtractive signal representative of a difference in received vocalization signal strength between said first offset microphone and said center microphone and generating a second subtractive signal representative of a difference in received signal strength between said second offset microphone and said second offset microphone and said center microphone; determining the angular direction from which the vocalization was emitted relative to said sound receiving unit by reference to the relative magnitudes of said first and second subtractive signals; generating a frequency profile of the vocalization monitored by said sound receiving unit; and comparing said generated frequency profile of the received vocalization to a preestablished vocalization frequency profile of the target species and generating an indication of the species presence when the received target vocalization substantially matches said preestablished vocalization profile, said species presence indication including an indication of the angular direction of the target relative to said sound receiving unit when it emitted the vocalization. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification