Maybe one day it will be possible to find Wi-Fi in the countryside by searching for the nearest sheep! In fact, an experiment carried out in the United Kingdom by Lancaster University plans to equip flocks of sheep with electronic Wi-Fi collars that could be transformed into Internet access points.
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After airships, military drones or solar drones, perhaps flocks of sheep will also be used to create Wi-Fi access points: a very serious idea proposed by Professor Gordon Blair of Lancaster University (United Kingdom). It is part of a broader project that consists of exploring the possibilities that the Internet of Things would offer to the rural environment. This could make it possible, in particular, to avoid certain problems of agricultural pollution, droughtdroughtoffloodflood but also to follow the cattle.
Thanks to a grant of just over £171,000 (about €217,000 in current prices), Professor Blair and his team will carry out an 18-month experiment in the county of Conwy, located in North Wales. It began in early December with the deployment of a network of sensorssensors installed on the banks of rivers. These are associated with monitors precipitationprecipitation to prevent the risk of contamination or flooding.
In addition, flocks of sheep will progressively be equipped with electronic collars to be able to follow their movements and better understand their habits and needs. But these collars can also be used to create as many Wi-Fi access points as there are equipped animals.
“Sheepcams” for the Tour de France
These collars transmit at frequencies between 900 and 144 MHz for data transmission and their range is five kilometers. This could help improve or create Internet access in isolated rural areas. But before considering any applicationapplication general public, the vocation of Professor Blair’s project is above all scientific. “The campaign faces specific challenges such as environmental changes or natural disastersnatural disasters. The possibilities of the Internet of Things applied to this field are unlimited”he explains.
The UK is not new to combining new technologies with farm animals. Last summer, five sheep were equipped with Sony mini camcorders controlled remotely by their shepherd. Ian Hammond. These “sheep chambers” (sheep which means sheep in English) were used to film the passage of the peloton during the stage of the Tour de France that passed through the town of Harrogate, in Yorkshire. Some will find the idea original or stupid, it depends…
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