Decoy Tracking Signals to Protect Monitored Animals From Poaching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Poaching of endangered species is exacerbated by the use of tracking devices, as poachers can locate animals based on signals emitted by these devices, posing a risk to both the animals and conservationists.
Innovation Solution
A method using machine learning to generate decoy paths and signals from decoy transmitters that mimic the movement patterns of tracked animals, thereby diverting poachers away from the actual animals, while ensuring the decoy signals are convincing enough not to be easily identifiable from the real animal's signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If tracking devices are used to monitor endangered animals, then animal monitoring capability is improved, but animals become vulnerable to poaching as poachers can locate them via device signals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates decoy tracking devices that replicate the signal characteristics of real tracking devices. These decoys generate fake location data and movement patterns that mimic legitimate animal tracking signals, causing poachers to pursue false leads instead of actual animals. The copying principle resolves the contradiction by maintaining monitoring capability while eliminating the harmful localization effect through deception.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary layer between the real animals and poachers by deploying decoy devices as intermediaries. These intermediaries absorb the harmful targeting action by generating convincing fake signals, thereby protecting the actual animals from direct poaching threats while preserving the beneficial monitoring function.
2Reliability
If multiple decoy paths are generated to divert poachers, then anti-poaching effectiveness is improved, but system complexity increases when decoy transmitters cannot simulate all paths
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the number and configuration of decoy paths based on the actual capabilities of available decoy transmitters. Rather than attempting to pre-establish all possible decoy paths, the system adaptively generates and manages decoy routes in real-time, optimizing the use of limited transmitter resources while maintaining effective anti-poaching coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters such as the number of active decoy paths, signal transmission intervals, and path complexity based on transmitter capacity. By dynamically adjusting these parameters, the system maintains high anti-poaching effectiveness while avoiding the excessive complexity that would result from attempting to simulate all possible animal movement patterns with limited resources.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, a method, computer system, and computer program product for decoying poachers away from an animal equipped with a tracking device is provided. The present invention may include generating, based on machine learning and movement patterns of the tracked animal, one or more decoy paths; transmitting instructions to one or more decoy transmitters to simulate characteristics of the tracking device, and to simulate the decoy paths by moving to and/or transmitting decoy signals at sequential locations at corresponding times to imitate signals from the tracking device; and, responsive to determining that the one or more decoy transmitters are not capable of simulating all of the decoy paths, removing one or more decoy paths.