A better way to track (small) animals

Monitoring your animals can be a hassle. We make it easy, both for you and for the animal.

Website header with a small bird

A better way to track proximity

Explore animal behavior in harder to monitor species with our innovative biologging system. Seamlessly combining contact detection, coarse movement tracking and environmental monitoring with loggers starting from less than 1 gram, this state-of-the-art technology equips you with high resolution insights at hyper-local spatial scales about your study subjects.

Rechargeable

Unlike other tiny trackers, our trackers are rechargeable, with the additional option for solar-charging on select (bigger) models to remove the need for charging altogether.

Extremely lightweight

Our tracking-devices start at just 0.9 grams, perfect for monitoring mammals and birds weighing 20 grams or more.

Wireless data retrieval

The data gathered by the animal-trackers is wirelessly transmitted to nearby gateways , so that data is always safe and up to date, even when you lose the tracker.

The ProxLogs-system

Welcome to our innovative Proximity Logging system, a breakthrough in tracking animal behaviors and interactions with habitats.
Our Mobile Loggers, weighing as little as 0.9 grams, provide proximity tracking within 5 meters, offering a close-up view of animal interactions. Our Stationary Loggers expand this view up to 20 meters, even further in certain habitats, revealing movement patterns and habitat associations.

All data is relayed to a Gateway, which collects and stores information over a range of 60 meters, depending on the environment. This Gateway also records environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and air pressure. For easy access, you can retrieve your data directly from the Gateway, or use our mobile app which sends your data to the cloud. Discover the potential of your research with our cutting-edge proximity logging system.

In the palm of your hand

Easily control every aspect of our tracking system from the convenience of your smartphone. With our mobile app, you can set up and label a tracker, adjust its tracking resolution, perform firmware updates, and view collected data – all from the palm of your hand.

Mobile notifications

Receive mobile notifications informing you of critical events happening in your tracking system, such a tracker leaving the area of a gateway (eg. geofencing), a tracker coming near another tracker, or a tracker that has stopped moving at all.

Tweaking on the go

Change your tracking parameters instantly without going through a complicated process. Just flick a virtual switch in your app and your tracker responds immediately.

Customizable app

There is the possibility to request a branded app which can be used in for various use-cases such as citizen-science to allow public engagement.
screenshot of our mobile app

Stay on top of your animals

We're in the process of finalizing our first prototype of our cloud-platform which can be used to monitor your animals remotely and in real-time. Perform firmware-updates, get notifications on important events and manage your tracking devices from your couch.

iosa cloud screenshot

Remote data-retrieval

Get instant access to your data from anywhere in the world. Manual data-retrievals often can influence the behavior of your animals and by streaming data straight to the cloud the days of data-loss are over.

iosa cloud screenshot with details
Lucinda kirkpatrick

We started with a miniaturised proximity logger which acts as a contact tracer for smaller animals like birds and mice. But this is just the beginning – as a team we are hugely passionate about creating devices that provide insights into animal behaviour that can help us protect and conserve animals.

Luci Kirkpatrick, CEO at IoSA

On a mission towards sustainable tracking

IoSA is a spin-off of IMEC and the University of Antwerp, with the aim to use the recent developments in IoT to make animal tracking more sustainable.

To conserve, protect and improve the conditions for animals, we need to understand their movements and behavior, not only from a biodiversity angle, but also for domestic animals such as livestock animal behavior provides valuable information about the animals’ health. However, the tools to effectively monitor animal behavior have been lacking, particularly for smaller wild animals. To meet this need, IoSA (the Internet of Small Animals) aims at developing an ultralight highly accurate monitoring tool that can be used to gather new insights in wild animal behavior and health, but also in early warning systems for live stock health.

IoSA combines the expertise of engineers of imec-IDlab, and ecologists of Antwerp University to create logging tools, focusing on gathering and processing relevant behavioral information, focusing on ultra-low power, ultra-light miniaturized solutions. IoSA’s solutions will provide new valuable insights to researchers, wildlife and conservation organisations, zoos and farmers on how animals interact and move.

Meet our Team

Ecologists and engineers brought together...

  • Lucinda kirkpatrick

    Dr. Luci Kirkpatrick

    Co-Founder / CEO

  • Ivan Herrera Olivares

    Ivan Herrera Olivares

    Co-Founder / CTO

  • Maarten Weyn

    Prof. Dr. Maarten Weyn

    Co-Founder

  • Herwig Leirs

    Prof. Dr. Herwig Leirs

    Co-Founder

Some recent projects

Natterjack Toads

In partnership with Natuurpunt and the University of Antwerp, our Bluetooth Low Energy loggers are currently employed in the study of the Natterjack toad at the Port of Antwerp. These loggers, designed to be as unobtrusive as possible due to the toad's small size, collect data on movement and behavior, especially in relation to human-made barriers such as roads. Volunteers utilize a specialized IoSA app for locating the toads, while our stationary loggers gather ongoing data that is then sent to our central gateway. This collaborative project aims to provide insights that could be crucial for the future conservation of this threatened species.

Multimammate mice

PhD student Anna Pia Piscitelli is using our loggers to explore how contact behaviour in the multimammate mouse influences disease transmission, and the role that personality may play in this. Using large enclosures that mimic wild conditions for the mice, she tracks their contacts and movement before and after an infection challenge. Multimammate mice are relatively small (30-70g) and only active at night, which makes observing them using other methods a challenge. The small size and relatively long operation times of our loggers, as well as their ability to collect data remotely means that they are providing new insights into small rodent behaviour.

Galapagos Sealion pups

We're supporting an innovative study on Galapagos sea lions that aims to explore their early social behaviors. Using our specialized loggers, the research will span three pupping seasons (2023-2025) and track interactions among young sea lions. Key questions include the onset and stability of early social bonds. This data will not only validate existing research but also provide valuable insights for long-term studies, including the animals' eventual return to reproduce. A step forward in marine mammal research, this project holds significant implications for future conservation efforts.

From the blog

Latest insights in the worlds of animals

Marine

Sea lion pups in the galapagos

In the past few weeks, our proximity loggers went aquatic! Alexandra Childs is using our proximity logging system on sea lion pups in the Galapagos to discover their early social behaviours. Data coming out of this will not only validate existing research but also provide valuable insights for long-term studies. Quite possibly the cutest animal in our start-up journey so far 😄

Ivan Herrera Olivares

Co-Founder / CTO

Contact us

Interested in working with us? Send us a message using the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

UAntwerpen
IMEC
VLAIO
University of Antwerp