R.A.M.S.

The emerging discipline of Road Ecology studies the impact of roads and traffic systems on natural ecosystems. Highways can cut habitats in halves, often resulting in decreasing populations and unpleasant and costly accidents. Still, little is known on the actual, wider effects that roads have. The Roadkill Alert and Mitigating System proposes to tackle both the lack of data as well as the increasing risk of vehicle-animal collisions through a smart system.

Collaboration with Andrew Slack

Service Design Structure

Through social media, hot zones can be identified. In these zones, independant devices are deployed to gather more information about wildlife populations and to warn drivers if animals are approaching the road.

Physical Computing

Using Tableau and the arduino platform, the system was demonstrated. The individual devices feature PIR motion sensors as well as infrared emitters and sensors. The established infrared bridges not only detect if there's something (i.e. an animal crossing the street) in between the devices but are also the communication channel among them.