Position Measurement System Using a Drone for Tsushima Leopard Cats

A position measurement system using a drone for a Tsushima leopard cat is proposed. A small oscillator designed for small animals is attached to the neck of a Tsushima leopard cat. A radio receiver placed on the drone is utilized to receive the amplitude of the radio wave from the oscillator. A small receiver, a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, computers, and a data transmission module are put to the drone. The information of the amplitude of the received signal and the position of the GPS sensor are transmitted to the receiver. From these data, the position of the Tsushima leopard cat is estimated at the receiver side. A demonstration experiment of the position measurement system is performed in Tsushima to test the operation of the proposed system. Practical problems of the system are also discussed.