A very useful PREDNET planning meeting took place at Inria Lille Nord Europe on 7 &8 Aug recently. It was attended by Inria and SU researchers headed by Dr Nathalie Mitton and Dr Riaan Wolhuter respectively. Also attending, were the two SU postgrad students doing research on the Inria test platforms. SP le Roux presented his rhino tag design and explained his classifier approach. Viktor Toldov gave some information regarding his radio tests in South Africa, as well as an overview for his first network strategy. It was decided that:
1. The network strategy would be completed, simulated and evaluated
2. Practical network testing should be done as soosn as possible
3. Miniaturation of the tag is definitely possible and would be a next step
4. Attention should very soon be given to the packaging aspects of the rhino tag. Fixing it to the animal is a a difficult problem
5. Funding is an important aspect. Without that we cannot make any progress. Previously, we did not have too much to show to potential funders. However, there has been some good progress in the interim. As soon as we have a practical network going, some potential funders will be approached to attend a demonstration.
