BisonSense: Alberta researchers at NAIT and Lakeland College partner for special bison sensor

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A project created through a collaboration between NAIT and Lakeland College is shifting the methods researchers use to study bison.

In a field at Irish Creek Bison Ltd., roughly 200 kilometres east of Edmonton, sits the recently constructed BisonSense, a platform equipped with a series of cameras and sensors that has begun regularly tracking the health of the operation’s bison herd.

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BisonSense was the brainchild of Dr. Yuri Montanholi, a research scientist and instructor at Lakeland College and also the lead organizer on the project. Montanholi teamed up with NAIT’s Dr. Quamrul Huda, the JR Shaw Research Chair for industrial automation, who spearheaded a technical team to bring Montanholi’s vision to life.

The need for the BisonSense bison monitoring station was born out of a lack of data surrounding bison health during their lives. Montaholi explained that bison are more sensitive than cattle, and get stressed when they’re handled. Some, he said, won’t eat for days after being handled or moved in any way. Bison are often weighed at around seven to nine months, and then once again prior to going to the slaughterhouse, making for a health profile comprised of just two to three checkups.

“So, this whole period, from childhood to be ready to go to the slaughterhouse, there’s no measurement,” said Montanholi.

Montanholi wanted more data. He applied for funding through Alberta Innovates, which he was awarded, and later received other smaller matching grants to bolster his research, giving him the funding he needed to pursue the project.

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Attracting each individual bison to the monitoring station was the relatively easy part of the project. With strategically placed food and water, the researchers had the capacity to control each animal’s movements while it was scanned in the process. However, being able to get the data they wanted without having to be physically present was a challenge. That’s when NAIT’s Huda got involved.

“We saw it’s a great opportunity where we can contribute, not only on the technical aspect but also something in a new dimension that helps the industry and Alberta industry and economy all together,” said Huda.

“So that was a good win-win for them and for us to come up to this project and work together.”

Huda and his team were responsible for automating the BisonSense, and ensuring that it can operate remotely, while standing up to the harsh Alberta seasonal conditions, let alone the wear and tear from the bulky animal. Huda said that the technology that operates the BisonSense wasn’t particularly new or challenging. It could have even been assembled 10 years ago.

Montanholi’s vision to create the BisonSense now and to ensure it could be remotely operated and self-sustaining was the exciting part for Huda.

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Much of the tech the team organized was already readily available: proximity sensors, heat cameras, weight scales, etc. Montanholi sourced the products, and the technical group wired it in and programmed all of the scanners to work in conjunction with one another. They also set it up with a cloud-based collection software so that as the data is collected, it would be accessible from wherever the researcher is located.

The challenge, Huda said, was ensuring a constant power supply.

“We needed to simulate and calculate and then come up with a hybrid power model, which is a wind generator and solar altogether,” said Huda. “And that is a good outcome of this project because the same outcome can be applied to many other aspects, now that we are trying to get self-sustainable energy and reduce carbon footprint.”

The result was a self-powering data collection station that allows Montanholi to collect and view the data from anywhere.

“You can move that thing anywhere on the planet and put it to work,” said Montanholi.

Montanholi said he was never fond of the idea of buying something off the shelf, and appreciated the amount of effort that went into the BisonSense, explaining that the end product could be scaled up or down for different climates, animals, or budgets.

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It has also filled in a considerable gap in the bison data.

“Instead of getting three weights over the lifetime, now we get about 15 weights per day,” he said.

The data doesn’t just help Montanholi, it will also help his students. He intends to use the data as part of his curriculum to help further educate their bison.

All in, Montanholi estimates the roughly 200-part machine — which required each piece to be ordered and assembled individually — came at a price tag of roughly $200,000 and took about 14 months to build.

zdelaney@postmedia.com

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