Specifications

1.5. PROJECT CHALLENGES
Figure 1.3: Penguins at SANC COB showing steel identifier tags.
These tags are non-electronic. Picture courtesy of Simon Katz.
Remote Operation It is inconvenient and costly to have to visit the
device for maintenance. It should thus be fully autonomous: self-sustaining
and self-diagnosing. Remote administration and reconfiguration would be a
significant advantage.
Power Supply The island does not feature mains AC power outlets in
all locations where these loggers are likely to be installed. Furthermore, the
supplies that do exist are unreliable. For this reason, the device will need
to have a battery backup with the option of powering the system from an
alternate ene rgy source, such as a solar panel.
Communications It is inconvenient to have to visit the device regularly to
recover the captured data. It should be possible to deliver this data to a more
convenient location for collection. Robben Island does not, however, have
a traditional wired telecommunications network infrastructure where the
devices will be installed. Thus, data delivery poses an additional challenge.
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