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| Photo by Cindy Laine, courtesy USQ |
University of Southern Queensland researcher Mark Dunn has developed the world’s first embedded digital camera designed specifically for tough outdoor rural applications.
When Warwick-born IT and engineering graduate Mark Dunn set out to do his PhD on machine vision applications in agriculture, he hunted around for a tough, durable digital video camera that could stand up to extreme, isolated conditions. There were none in existence so Mark developed his own.
The result is the ROC (Rugged Outdoor Camera), a portable device which records motion video and performs image-processing tasks. Mark, who has been working with the National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture (NCEA) and is currently completing his PhD in engineering at USQ, said the system has applications for farmers all around the world.
"A ROC lets farmers remotely monitor livestock and farm assets because images can be transmitted to a home computer or laptop, saving unnecessary trips around the property and therefore saving time and labour," he said.
"The system can also perform intelligent tasks such as opening and closing gates and identifying and counting items and can be integrated with a NLIS (National Livestock Identification Scheme) Reader."
Mark said ROCs are also being used successfully in macadamia harvesting on the Sunshine Coast. Three ROCs are fitted to a harvester and in combination with a GPS (Global Positioning System) they record the size, condition and exact location of every macadamia nut, allowing the grower to make an accurate yield map.
"Previously, to know which were your best yielding trees or varieties, you had to pick up the nuts in a bucket and count them by hand!" Mark said.
The ROC System, which is also being trialled by the United States Department of Agriculture, can be powered by a solar panel the size of an A4 sheet of paper.
"While there are other systems that do the same sort of monitoring, they are not designed for extreme outdoor conditions and they can cost up to $10 000, while my ROC is much smaller and will be substantially cheaper," Mark said.
Last reviewed 29 January 2007