Old smartphones are being used in unexpected ways to protect nature

Smartphones give users the power to search the Internet, make phone calls, send direct messages, and take a photo in seconds. It’s a powerful piece of technology that provides a little more convenience in everyday life. Yet in the hands of a professor and research team at the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, smartphones are being used in a rather unique way. Old smartphones that no one uses are transformed into cameras and sensors to analyze the environment.

The technology will be used to detect and track the impact of climate change on nature, such as trees and rivers. This is a partnership with the PhenoCam network at Northern Arizona University and GaugeCam at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. This is done in a way that respects the environment and nature. The phone’s batteries are removed and replaced with a case powered by a battery-free system. In its place is a capacitor array powered by solar and wind harvesters built into the case itself. The capacitor array and housing are also designed to be biodegradable. It’s a nifty way to reuse your old phone and helps scientists track data without purchasing expensive surveillance cameras.

Created by Vice President Nguyen, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the goal is to use recycled smartphones as cameras to monitor the environment. With a $600,000 grant from the US National Science Foundation, the project focuses on using renewable energy and battery-free devices to detect changes in nature. More specifically, by observing trees, scientists seek to obtain information that will help preserve and restore the planet. The research focuses on monitoring the health of individual trees to see what effect climate change is having on them.

This data can be used to obtain more precise details to analyze the environment. Alongside using old smartphone cameras, the project seeks to develop implantable sensing networks, wearable tree devices, long-range communication, and ways for AI to provide continuous calibration, all focused on plant health. Nguyen says it is an important factor in conserving agriculture, horticulture and the environment. The project aims to better protect the environment, and researchers are studying different ways to make everything sustainable, in the same way as self-consumed plastic to reduce waste. With the average American changing phones about every two years, Nguyen wants to avoid a lot of technology waste.

Using old smartphones to help protect the environment isn’t a new concept, but it’s no less important. Rainforest Connection uses technology to monitor the ecosystem, preventing illegal logging, poaching and even tracking wildfires. Engineers have developed a way to use smartphones to listen to the forest by adding solar panels, external microphones and custom software. This created a network of smartphones capable of hearing throughout the rainforest in a way that people couldn’t hear.

By placing smartphones in the tree canopy, they are able to capture a wider range of sounds. Building what was called the Guardian 1 (G1), the phones provided real-time bioacoustic monitoring that spanned a three square mile radius. Not only can Guardians detect the sound of chainsaws, engines or gunshots, but technology like this is also used to discover new species and has recorded over 300 million minutes of audio in the rainforest in an effort to better protect it. As people hold on to their smartphones longer, older phones are being put to good use. Technology can endure into another life thanks to the efforts of researchers who help prevent potential waste by using it to better serve and protect the planet.