Naevius Wildlife — open source
A low-cost drone to help rangers cover more ground at night.
Designed to be printed, repaired and flown by the reserves that need it, with the design files published as the work goes on.
The situation
Well-funded poaching, under-resourced patrols.
Poaching in South Africa is organised, financed and equipped. The reserves working against it operate with limited staff and limited equipment, and the difference is sharpest at night.
Existing aerial systems tend to be expensive, closed and difficult to repair a long way from a supplier, so they often end up unused. The intention here is the opposite of that.
The aircraft
Simple by design.
The first edition is not trying to be impressive. It needs to fly regularly, survive rough handling, and be rebuilt with a spool of filament. The figures below are the targets it is being designed against.
- Airframe
- 3D printed, field repairable
- Thermal
- 640 × 512
- Daylight camera
- 4K
- Endurance
- 60 – 90 min
- Cruise
- 60 – 70 km/h
- Control link
- 15 km goal · 5 km threshold
- Video link
- 2.5 km goal · 1 km threshold
- Flight
- Autonomous, with manual override
- Assembly
- Parts shipped in, built locally
- Licence
- Open, non-military use
Why in the open
Published as it is developed.
Publishing the files means a reserve elsewhere can build the same aircraft without needing anything from us, and it means the parts that do not work are visible while there is still time to correct them.
Naevius funds and runs the programme itself, alongside the commercial work. There is no cost to a reserve for taking part.
The evidence that technology on its own reduces poaching is mixed, and some expensive programmes have achieved very little. This is intended as a tool for people already doing the work, and the results will be reported either way.
Documentation
The build is filmed as it happens.
Design decisions, failed parts and flight testing are recorded and published as a video series, so the work can be judged on what it actually does rather than on a summary of it.
Getting involved
Three ways to take part.
Fly it on your land
Real terrain, real nights and real patrol patterns. What happens on the ground shapes the design more usefully than anything we can work out here.
Get in touch →Put your technology on board
Detection, optics, radios or power. Your system integrated by us and documented publicly, in conditions a demonstration will not reproduce.
Propose an integration →Support the programme
Funding covers parts, tooling and the filming. The series reaches engineers, founders and operators, and sponsors are credited in it.
Discuss sponsorship →Get in touch
If any of that is yours to offer.
A reserve, a component, an hour of expertise or a budget line. Say which and we will reply properly.