2018 was a busy year for Hardshell Labs. In this short video Tim Shields describes several of our projects and shows you a few of the tools we have in development for conservation: drones of various sorts for various missions; a semi-autonomous rover for tortoise surveys; a remotely controlled laser for bird repulsion (especially… Continue reading »
Recently Mike Austin and Tim Shields of Hardshell Labs, Inc. were interviewed for an article by Smithsonian Online’s Samantha Schipani. She was particularly interested in our ideas for conservation games involving internet players. Of course, the emphasis was on desert tortoises but our view is that the progress we are making toward the goal of… Continue reading »
The story of this episode is the rapid advance of technology in the service of conservation. In a short space of time the Techno-tortoise™ went from an intriguing idea through an initial “low resolution” version printed on a low end machine at Haines High in Alaska to a state of the art, highly realistic model… Continue reading »
Here is the first in a four part series of short videos about the Techno-tortoise™, Hardshell’s 3D printed tortoise model. Tortoises are under assault from ever increasing numbers of ravens. The young reptiles are essentially defenseless for their first 5-7 years. For all that time they must somehow avoid being spotted (and eaten) by the… Continue reading »
Kelley Moody of Palm Springs CBS affiliate KESQ interviewed Dr. Bill Boarman, our science director, and Tim Shields. Kelley did a really nice job of telling the story of the Techno-tortoise™ and the warm reception it is getting from a couple of important tortoise predators: the common raven and the coyote. Our friends at… Continue reading »
Hardshell Labs’ philosophy includes the idea that all of us need to get outside and explore our beautiful, one-of-kind planet. Less than a week ago this was me! I flew submerged over the second largest reef on the planet, the Great Mayan Reef! In case you can’t tell, I’m the one in the foreground with… Continue reading »
As Hardshell’s ex oficio media wrangler, I just had the simple thought that I could get a search results kind’a feeling for the current reach of Hardshell’s Guardian Angel Rover initiative. Using one of the well-known search engines, I queried the string, “guardian angel rover hardshell,” and got 7,200 results. Pretty good for startup which is… Continue reading »
September is pistachio harvesting time in Inyokern. Not coincidentally it is also the time when ravens do their worst damage to the crop. They descend by the hundreds, knock nuts from the trees and drop to ground to eat their fill. Pistachios are a major cash crop and one whose growers have a keen interest… Continue reading »
Watching ravens over the course of decades has attuned me to the many ways they take advantage of the changes our kind has made in the desert. Prior to the establishment of our cities the place was an unremitting solar oven with scant shelter from the baking rays of the sun. It was a very… Continue reading »
