Four Colorado Teens Create Innovative ‘Project Deer’ Device

Over the past 10 years, approximately 3,300 wildlife collisions have been reported to the Colorado Department of Transportation each year, with another 2,000 to 4,000 collisions that go undocumented. Most wildlife vs. vehicle accidents on Colorado's roadways involve deer and elk.

These types of collisions are not uncommon elsewhere in the country either.

However, four female students at STEM School Highlands Ranch in Colorado have designed an innovative device specifically to help prevent wildlife collisions. The groundbreaking device called 'Project Deer' has the potential to save thousands of animals from being hit by cars each year.

Project Deer uses infrared cameras, an algorithm, and machine learning to alert drivers when an animal may be nearby. The infrared cameras detect the animals' body heat, even in compromising conditions like darkness or inclement weather. The algorithm tracks the heat and motion, and AI machine learning categorizes the data and logs it as an animal. By knowing the surroundings on the streets, drivers with the device installed in their cars are warned ahead of time with a light and sound. The hope is that the warning will cause them to slow down and hopefully avoid a collision.

CDOT has been using stationary wildlife sensors along some of Colorado's roads since 2009, but Project Deer takes the safety measure to another level.

The device is cheap, requiring only four $5 infrared sensors. That means it should be widely accessible and affordable if it ever makes it to market. Although the product has yet to be sold, the teen inventors from Colorado have already caught the attention of major players in the automotive industry, including Audi. The ultimate goal would be to engineer something that everyone can easily put on their cars.

The girls from Highlands Ranch won the state contest for Colorado, which came with a prize of $12,000 to help continue building their prototype for Project Deer.