A research team at KAUST has developed a low-cost, AI-powered drone system that can detect and track camels from the air, offering herders a cheaper alternative to costly GPS collars and satellite trackers.
The system, created by Professor Basem Shihada and his team, uses standard commercial drones and onboard cameras to monitor camel movement. Researchers recorded aerial footage of herds in Saudi Arabia and trained a machine-learning model to identify camels in real time.
According to KAUST’s Chun Pong Lau, the AI revealed clear migration patterns: older camels travel long distances while grazing but still return to their herders by sunset. The team kept drones above 120 meters to avoid disturbing the animals, which react to drone noise.
Camels play a major role in Saudi culture and contribute over SR2 billion annually to the economy through food, textiles, and tourism. Herders, however, face challenges as roaming camels cover up to 50 km per day, causing losses, overgrazing, and road accidents.
The researchers now plan to expand their dataset using footage from larger and more diverse herds to further enhance system accuracy.
