Jagd+

Starting point / motivation

Wildlife hunting is discussed controversially in Austria, although hunting traditionally has a high priority on the one hand and is a major economic factor on the other. More than 120,000 hunters in Austria ensure an industry turnover of € 500 million a year. Adding Germany, these figures triple.

Over the centuries, traditional hunting techniques have developed. Especially stand hunting and driven hunts have a great tradition. The proper exercise of these specific hunting skills is of great importance, especially when hunting in a group. Nevertheless, accidents related to hunting events occur again and again.

Above all, drive hunts represent the biggest potential risks that frequently led to serious injury or death of hunters or drovers. Numerous media reports document all too often these hunting accidents.

Contents and goals

Knowledge of other hunters positions during a drive hunt can bring a significant increase of safety for all participating persons. Satellite based technologies (GNSS) like GPS or Galileo are well-suited to provide this information.

The now possible lock of firearms whenever a person is within its range can prevent many hunting accidents. The development of the security system "SAFE GuN" by the consortium partner Gruber Mechatronik GmbH, which locks the arm when detecting untypical movement patterns (e.g. after an overthrow, tilting of the arm, ...) is a first step in preventing accidental firing. But other participating persons in a drive hunt still have to trust in the acting hunters.

The extension of the security system "SAFE GuN" with additional sensors (GNSS, Bluetooth, compass,...) can help hunters as well as other groups handling with arms (security staff, police, military, ...) to prevent unintentional firing on colleagues or uninvolved persons („Friendly Fire").

Methods

The system "Jagd+" is a combination of the arm itself and a control unit, commonly represented by a smartphone or a tablet PC.

A smartphone application shows the positions and the risk areas of the participating actors during the drive hunt. Therefore three different variants of such a system should be investigated in "Jagd+": 

• In variant A the sensor system for determining the position and direction of the hunter should be integrated into the weapon itself.
• In Variant B an external sensor modul should be developed, which should be mounted on the weapon.
• And variant C tries to use the smartphone as an integrated control unit (sensors, data processing and GUI).

Expected results

Should the system detect that the rifle is unsecured and there is a person in the risk area, the shooter will be warned by haptic, optical or acoustic signals. The adapted system of "SAFE GuN" could also perform an automatic lock of the weapon.

The triggering of a shot is prevented and accidents that result in serious injury or even death can be avoided. „Jagd+" can therefore help to prevent hunting accidents within a drive hunt and can thus save health and lives of all involved persons.

Coordinator

PS mapping services OG

Project partner

• Gruber Mechatronik GmbH
• Graz University of Technology

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A-8042 Graz-St.Peter
Tel.: +43 (664) 127 74 48
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