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US 11,891,179 B2Granted
Method and system of remote egg oiling
AssigneesHardshell Labs, Inc., Sundance Biology, Inc.
InventorsTimothy Allyn Shields, Roy Adair Haggard, Mercy Lynn Vaughn
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for remote egg oiling to control avian pest species population through reduction in nesting success. A fluid application system including an oil reservoir, an oil nozzle, a pressurization source, a camera and a targeting laser is provided for accurately dispensing oil onto a clutch of eggs in a nest that is located in hard-to-reach areas such as cliff faces, rock outcrops and artificial structures. Two aerial embodiments are disclosed.
Claims16
A conservation method, comprising:
- oiling bird eggs by a remote fluid application system (RFAS) to control avian pest species population, the RFAS coupled to an aerial vehicle, including:
- loading an oil reservoir of the RFAS with oil and pressurized air;
- operating an RFAS camera coupled in the RFAS;
- flying the aerial vehicle to a position near an egg target, the aerial vehicle having a drone camera distinct from the RFAS camera;
- remotely operating a gimbal motor of the RFAS to adjust a position of a nozzle and the RFAS camera of the RFAS to the egg target;
- determining, based on images from the RFAS camera of the egg target, whether and to what extent the egg target is to be sprayed with oil;
- dispensing oil on the egg target by fluidly coupling the oil reservoir to the nozzle, the dispensing based on the images from the RFAS camera of the egg target;
- and
- determining an oiling efficiency based on the images of the egg target acquired by the camera of the RFAS, the images transmitted by the aerial vehicle to a ground monitor, and adjusting subsequent dispensing of oil responsive thereto.
6 more elements
A conservation method, comprising:
- oiling bird eggs by a remote fluid application system (RFAS) to control avian pest species population, the RFAS coupled to an aerial vehicle, including:
- loading an oil reservoir of the RFAS with oil and pressurized air;
- operating an RFAS camera coupled in the RFAS;
- flying the aerial vehicle to a position near an egg target, the aerial vehicle having a drone camera distinct from the RFAS camera;
- remotely operating a gimbal motor of the RFAS to adjust a position of a nozzle and the RFAS camera of the RFAS to the egg target;
- determining, based on images from the RFAS camera of the egg target, whether and to what extent the egg target is to be sprayed with oil;
- and
- dispensing oil on the egg target by fluidly coupling the oil reservoir to the nozzle, the dispensing based on the images from the RFAS camera of the egg target, wherein oiling bird eggs includes oiling raven eggs of ravens preying on desert tortoises by the RFAS to control raven population, and the flying includes flying the aerial vehicle to the position near the egg target, the egg target being a nest with raven eggs of the ravens preying on desert tortoises.
5 more elements
A conservation method, comprising:
- oiling bird eggs by a remote fluid application system (RFAS) to control avian pest species population, the RFAS coupled to an aerial vehicle, including:
- loading an oil reservoir of the RFAS with oil and pressurized air;
- operating an RFAS camera coupled in the RFAS;
- flying the aerial vehicle to a position near an egg target, the aerial vehicle having a drone camera distinct from the RFAS camera;
- remotely operating a gimbal motor of the RFAS to adjust a position of a nozzle and the RFAS camera of the RFAS to the egg target;
- determining, based on images from the RFAS camera of the egg target, whether and to what extent the egg target is to be sprayed with oil;
- dispensing oil on the egg target by fluidly coupling the oil reservoir to the nozzle, the dispensing based on the images from the RFAS camera of the egg target;
- operating a laser, including providing a visual marker of a point that will be sprayed by the nozzle;
- and
- moving the point over an entire clutch of eggs while dispensing oil, wherein the nozzle is mounted on the gimbal motor, the RFAS camera is mounted on the gimbal motor, and the laser is mounted on the gimbal motor such that they share a common gimbal pivot point and form a nozzle-camera-laser assembly, and wherein the method further includes operating the motor driven, remotely controlled gimbal motor to aim the nozzle-camera-laser assembly at the eggs in the clutch.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.