Another week down and the team is another week closer to finalizing a design for a prototype! We met with another industry expert on wildlife tracking, specifically an expert on the ARGOS satellite network for environmental monitoring. They provided us with some great insight into how satellite tracking is implemented and gave us tips on what we would need to achieve general data transmission capabilities and GPS functionality in our device. The possibilities discussed in the meeting inspired enthusiasm within our team for remote data collection, as this would be an ideal feature to include in our device. The ability to collect and analyze data remotely and in real-time while the device is attached to the animal would be a great benefit to researchers, as opposed to needing to retrieve the tag before viewing the data.

We are also narrowing down the possibilities for processing hardware, sensors, power needs, device housing and attachment methods that would be ideal for our device. A preliminary design report, where we are documenting our decision making process and progress to date on the project, is currently in the works. The team is preparing a comprehensive presentation to deliver to our engineering liaisons from Northrop Grumman. The feedback we get from them will allow us determine our path forward, as we move toward developing the system-level design of our device.