An important experimental activity of the ‘Life Delfi’ project was carried out at Ridracoli Lake (FC) to validate a new model of intelligent acoustic deterrent (smart pinger). The deterrent uses artificial intelligence to detect the presence of dolphins interacting with fishing activities. The device, called AIDD (Artificial Intelligence Dolphin Deter), is designed to emit disruptive sounds only in the real presence of cetaceans, by CNR IRBIM of Ancona and LabMACS, Department of Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Marche with the collaboration of AnCybernetics srl .
The activity carried out was aimed at characterising AIDD in an ideal acoustic context. Lake Ridracoli is in fact an artificial basin, used for drinking water purposes, characterised by the total absence of anthropogenic noise. Its characteristics make it possible to study sound propagation in water over distances of up to 1500 metres.
The sampling, coordinated by Rocco De Marco of CNR IRBIM in Ancona and with the participation of Giovanni Novelli of the Marche Polytechnic University, was carried out using four AIDD devices and four additional commercial hydrophone systems used as reference. Using the service motorboat, made available by Romagna Acque, it was possible to carry out 24 test sessions at 8 separate monitoring stations located along the main branch of the lake, which leads towards Ca’ di Sopra. The data acquired will be processed to determine, by studying sound propagation in frequencies between 5kHz and 100kHz, the emission and reception operating ranges of the devices developed.
The experimental activity was made possible thanks to the precious availability of Romagna Acque, in the person of Technical Director Engineer Giuseppe Montanari, and thanks to the collaboration of Ivo Vasumini and Massimo Brachetti. The development of an ‘intelligent’ acoustic bollard is an absolute innovation on the world stage and a fundamental step towards solving the age-old problem of interactions between human activities and marine mammals. In fact, the technology developed is so flexible that further developments can be envisaged, such as affecting other mammal species, developing alarm systems that warn certain activities or areas of the presence of mammals, etc. The research is therefore entirely pioneering and of great interest for the conservation of biodiversity in the marine environment.
The development of an ‘intelligent’ acoustic deterrent is an absolute innovation on the world stage and a fundamental step towards solving the age-old problem of interactions between human activities and marine mammals. In fact, the technology developed is so flexible that further developments can be envisaged, such as affecting other mammal species, developing alarm systems that warn certain activities or areas of the presence of mammals, etc. The research is therefore entirely pioneering and of great interest for the conservation of biodiversity in the marine environment.