Generally bears are a shy species but they can also be a little too curious. Often times bears tend to feed on corn crops or linger around family campgrounds eager to explore. Luckily, our team is on the case and we can bear-ly contain our excitement! Alarm Innovations has taken on the challenge of constructing a drone to gently sway bears from potentially harmful situations. With the help of the VA Department of Game & Inland fisheries we have formulated a solution. Follow our journey in discovering the most effective way to put just a little pep in their step!

Meet the Team

Jonathan Popham

Jonathan Popham

Senior, Biology Major

John Nguyen

John Nguyen

Senior, Biology Major

Kristopher Goad

Kristopher Goad

Junior, Biology Major

Roman Pogoretskiy

Roman Pogoretskiy

Junior, Industrial Design Major

Gray Cline

Gray Cline

Senior, Engineering Major

Celina Wickham

Celina Wickham

Junior, WRTC: Technical Communication Major

Issue at Hand

Alarm Innovations was approached by David Kocka from VDIGF to address the increasing problem of bear and human conflicts. To maximize safety for both sides, we have proposed an unmanned system to deter bears, and condition them to stay away from these situations. Not only is this essential for ensuring safety, this will also reduce monetary loss for farmers who own large acres of land. Here are some statistics to conceptualize this ongoing issue.

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Decrease in some farmers' yearly income due to crop damage by bears

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increase in bear complaints since the 1990s

The Process

Scroll through the timeline below to get learn more about Team Alarm Innovation’s process this semester.

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Learn More

Team ALARM: From Concept to Design

Team ALARM: From Concept to Design

Initial Design As you can read in our last post, Team Alarm's task was to design an unmanned aerial system (or drone) to deter bears from encroaching on farmland and to help avoid harmful and potentially dangerous interactions between hams and bears. We...

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