Detection of burrowing animals in Australian desert

Hello RS community,

I am looking to monitor/detect the digging noise/vibration of marsupial moles in the deserts of Australia. This species is a small (approx 90g) marsupial that is apparently very abundant throughout Australia’s arid zone, but no one can actually find it as they spend almost their entire lives underground. They live is very remote parts of the country but I regularly travel to these parts of the country for my work as an ecologist.

It has been suggested to me that an accelerometer like a Raspberry Shake may be able to help detect the animals digging underground. I am looking to get some advice around this and if a Raspberry Shake may be suitable for this application?

The frequency range I am aiming for is 160-2000 Hz. A technical assistant from another company also told me that I would need a sensitivity of at least 1000 mV/g and a sensor with a low noise floor to enable me to resolve the low signal levels of the model digging underground.

I am the most novice of novice can be when it comes to the field of acoustics and vibration, so any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

Pat

Hello Pat, and welcome to our community!

Wow! This is probably one of the most interesting proposals we have ever had regarding the use of a Raspberry Shake.

Our instruments, however, do not meet the required frequency ranges and sensitivities you listed (you can check our full technical specifications here), so you’ll have to explore a bit more to find the best that are suited to your specific research.

My best wishes for your project (which, as a personal note, sounds really cool!) and if you have any other questions, just let us know.

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Bummer, thanks very much for the reply!

Pat

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