Blockchain Based Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) for Wildlife Monitoring

Abstract

Climate change poses a significant threat to wild animals and their habitats, increasing the chance of human-wildlife conflict. Traditional camera-based imaging systems are centralized and require operators to install the camera and monitor the video recording constantly. However, manually processing the massive number of images and videos gathered from camera traps is expensive and time-consuming. In this article, we will develop a framework for wildlife monitoring systems that make use of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), and blockchain. A wildlife camera that uses AIoT to detect wild animal movement in real-time gathers the dynamic properties of animals. Cloud computing solutions are impractical for critical data management in wildlife monitoring due to their high latency and constant internet connectivity requirements. IPFS is a distributed file system that offers efficient data storage, distribution, and persistence, enabling offline-centric paradigms. In our framework, IPFS is used for permanent data storage, and the hash value of data is stored on a private blockchain. The data from multiple forest zones is stored on a consortium blockchain. A simulation is carried out using CNN and a method to improve the scalability of the framework is presented. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024.