Smart detection, smarter protection:BCMS® Ventur-E’s ai powered bat monitoring system
The BCMS VENTUR system provides a cutting-edge, automated solution to these challenges. Through high-resolution thermal imaging, AI-powered algorithms, and expert-curated biological datasets, BCMS Ventur can:
✓ Continuously monitor wind farm environments
✓ Detect bat presence in real time
✓ Log detailed data for population studies
✓ Identify high-activity times and zones
✓ Evaluate collision risk
✓ Automatically stop turbines when necessary
This approach aligns with the latest scientific research and complies with regulatory standards calling for automated monitoring and risk mitigation systems.
Environmental monitoring: A basic requirement! BCMS® VENTUR-E is the world’s first continuous monitoring system that uses optical artificial intelligence to identify, track, count and classify bird species and recognize bats in real time.
In most cases, obtaining authorizations requires monitoring activities in two phases: ✅ Pre-construction monitoring – to assess environmental impact before installation ✅ Post-construction monitoring – to verify effects after commissioning
An increasing number country require wind farm operators to use advanced instrumentation or employ specialized personnel to ensure constant and effective monitoring.
The species most vulnerable to wind farms are birds and bats, exposed to the risk of collision with turbine blades. However, manual monitoring on a large scale is difficult, expensive, and inefficient. A wind farm can extend over hundreds of km², making monitoring with field operators impractical.
🔹 For a facility with 60 turbines, approximately 20 qualified people would be needed, working in shifts, with difficulties during bad weather and high economic and management costs.
Guardian of the night: BCMS® Ventur-E’s Ai system for bat conservation
Studies conducted in Europe and North America have documented significant bat mortality at wind farms. According to Voigt et al. (2015), mortality rates range from 1 to 10 bats per turbine per year in Europe, with spikes of up to 40–50 individuals during migration seasons or in particularly sensitive areas.
The main causes of bat mortality include:
- Direct collision: Bats may fly into moving blades, especially during migration or in low-visibility conditions.
- Barotrauma: Sudden pressure changes near turbines can cause fatal internal injuries without physical contact.
- Attraction to turbines:
As noted by Cryan & Barclay (2009), bats may be attracted to turbines due to:
✓ Insect concentrations around the structures
✓ Mistaking turbines for potential roosting sites
✓ Curiosity about unfamiliar objects during exploratory behavior
Chiroptera—commonly known as bats—are mammals of critical ecological importance. Unfortunately, their populations have significantly declined in recent years worldwide, with many species now at risk of extinction.
While wind power is a vital component of the clean energy transition, wind turbines can pose a serious threat to bats due to several factors, including:
- Direct collisions with turbine blades
- Barotrauma (injuries from sudden air pressure changes)
- Habitat disruption or loss
- Barriers across migratory flight paths
BAT SPECIES MOST AT RISK
The species most affected in Italy and across Europe tend to be migratory and those that forage in open spaces, including:
- Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Common Pipistrelle)
- Pipistrellus kuhlii (Kuhl’s Pipistrelle)
- Hypsugo savii (Savi’s Pipistrelle)
- Nyctalus noctula (Common Noctule)
- Nyctalus leisleri (Leisler’s Bat)
- Miniopterus schreibersii (Schreibers’ Bent-winged Bat)
- Tadarida teniotis (European Free-tailed Bat)
How Does BCMS® Ventur-E Work?
BCMS® Ventur-E uses an advanced system of ultra-high-definition and thermal cameras, artificial intelligence algorithms, and a biological database of target species to ensure precise and reliable monitoring.
🔍 Main features: ✅ Real-time automatic detection, counting, and classification of birds ✅ Positioning in 3D space and calculation of arrival time in the risk zone ✅ Assignment of a customizable risk index for each species ✅ Automatic activation of blade slowing or stopping ONLY in case of real danger
🔹 Real-time monitoring with immediate access to data and detection videos 🔹 Compliance with environmental regulations and simplification of the authorization process 🔹 Reduction of environmental impact and optimization of energy production
MONITORING BATS: A LEGAL AND SCIENTIFIC REQUIREMENT
European and national regulations require bat monitoring both before (pre-construction) and after (post-construction) wind farm development, to ensure comprehensive environmental impact assessments.
Pre-construction monitoring is essential to:
✓ Identify and characterize the local bat population
✓ Map roosting sites, foraging areas, and flight corridors
✓ Estimate species diversity and abundance
✓ Assess potential project impacts
Post-construction monitoring allows operators to:
✓ Evaluate the actual impact on bat populations
✓ Quantify mortality rates
✓ Measure the effectiveness of mitigation strategies
✓ Implement further corrective actions if necessary
MAP MODULE REAL TIME
The map updates constantly, show all the detection captured by BCMS Ventur in real-time. The BCMS give you the velocity and direction of the object. The solution provides a live dinamic risk index according to location of the detection, bird’s species and their direction.
Discover BCMS Frontend’s Powerful Features:
Precision Safety Mapping
– Define critical zones under 300 feet
– Customize protection areas
Advanced Real-time Monitoring
– Dynamic area selection
– Species-specific tracking
– Multi-parameter filtering
Intelligent Deterrence Control
– Species-based response profiles
– Automated threat assessment
– Strategic cannon activation
Flexible Risk Management
– Customizable risk parameters
– Adjustable safety thresholds
Plus many more cutting-edge capabilities!
LIMITS OF TRADITIONAL MONITORING METHODS
> Limitations of Traditional methods and Radar Systems for Bird and Bat Monitoring at Wind Farms
Monitoring wildlife activity at wind farms using conventional methods presents significant challenges that hamper effective conservation efforts. Human observers, while valuable for their expertise, face inherent restrictions including daylight-only observations, susceptibility to fatigue, and the impossibility of maintaining continuous vigilance. These constraints create substantial gaps in data collection, particularly during nocturnal periods when bat activity peaks and collision risks are highest.
Avian Radar systems offer technological advantages over human observation but come with their own set of limitations. Their prohibitively high cost represents a major barrier to widespread implementation, making them financially unfeasible for many wind farm operations, especially smaller installations. While radar can effectively penetrate through fog and some adverse weather conditions, they still frequently struggle to distinguish between species, making it nearly impossible to differentiate between birds, bats, and non-wildlife targets like insects or environmental debris. Their accuracy also diminishes considerably at the lower altitudes where many bat species typically fly, creating blind spots in coverage around turbine blades where collisions most commonly occur.
The data collection and analysis process suffers from inconsistent methodology across sites, making comparative studies problematic. Traditional monitoring approaches typically generate limited quantitative data suitable for rigorous scientific analysis, with sampling protocols frequently missing peak activity periods. This patchy data collection creates an incomplete understanding of wildlife behavior patterns and their correlation with environmental variables. Post-mortem surveys significantly underestimate mortality rates due to scavenger removal, further complicating accurate impact assessment.
From an operational perspective, conventional methods rarely provide the real-time data necessary for immediate protective actions. The gap between wildlife detection and implementing protective measures like turbine curtailment creates a critical delay during which collisions may occur. Large wind farm installations present particular challenges due to their extensive spatial requirements, which conventional monitoring struggles to cover adequately. Furthermore, integration difficulties between monitoring systems and turbine controls hamper efficient automated responses to wildlife presence.
These comprehensive limitations highlight the pressing need for advanced monitoring solutions that can overcome these constraints through continuous, accurate, and species-specific detection with automated response capabilities—precisely the gaps that modern AI-powered and thermal imaging systems like BCMS® Ventur aim to address.
CONTINUOUS SELF IMPROVEMENT
> BCMS® VENTUR-e CONSTANTLY STORES EVERY OBSERVATION IN ITS NEURAL NETWORK.
BASED ON THE DATA IT COLLECTS, THE SYSTEM’S DEEP LEARNING ALGORITHMS CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE ITS ACCURACY AND CAPABILITIES OVER TIME.
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