Communications of the ACM
Could Sheep Solve the Problem of Poor Wi-Fi Signal in the Countryside? Animals With Digital Collars Could Act as Hotspots
Lancaster University researchers are exploring equipping sheep with digital collars that will act as hotspots.
Credit: Mula Eshet/Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis
Lancaster University researchers are launching a project that will take the Internet of Things (IoT) to a rural area of Wales. The project, led by Lancaster researcher Gordon Blair, is exploring equipping sheep with digital collars, placing sensors on riverbanks, and experimenting with rainfall monitors. The researchers will use IoT technology to address problems ranging from flooding and agricultural pollution to animal movements and drought.
Sheep equipped with digital collars acting as hotspots could be a solution to typically poor broadband speeds and network coverage in the most rural regions of the U.K. Riverbanks equipped with sensors could monitor river levels and warn of floods.
"Cities have been the focus of much of the boom in this type of technology--it has been used to keep traffic flowing on our roads, monitor air pollution, and even help us find a parking spot on a busy Saturday afternoon," Blair says. "But the countryside faces challenges of its own, from subtle environmental changes to catastrophic events such as flooding."
He says the next phase of research involves identifying precisely what will be of most use in the short term and how we will frame the project.
From Daily Mail (United Kingdom)
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