Collaborative Research: IDBR: Type B: An Open-Source Radio Frequency Identification System for Animal Monitoring

俄克拉荷马州大学获得了一个奖项，以开发一个高度适应性，低成本的射频识别（RFID）系统，用于监测动物。RFID是指一种简单的，短距离的无线通信之间的小型可识别的应答器标签和一个RFID阅读器。当一个标签贴在动物身上时，战略性放置的阅读器可以检测并记录动物在关键位置的存在，如巢穴和食物来源。新的RFID系统基于目前全球数十名研究人员正在使用的现有设计，该设计使人们能够对自由生活和实验室动物的生态和行为进行新的见解。通过对现有系统的改进，研发团队将创建一种高度可定制但非工程师也可访问的设备。更具体的改进包括无线数据传输的能力，为大量额外的传感器和执行器提供住宿，这可以大大扩展RFID系统的实用性，以及设计定制天线线圈以满足特定用户需求的在线工具。RFID系统将通过多种途径提供给用户，包括在线说明、用户组装的阅读器套件和完全构建的单元，所有这些单元的成本都将低于50美元。有了这些低成本的自组装选项，RFID系统不仅可以作为生物学家的数据收集工具，还可以作为STEM教育的工具。在开发该仪器时，对现有RFID硬件的更改将包括更复杂的微控制器和新的RFID集成电路（以取代已过时的设备）。该设备的固件将被重写，并从专有语言（Picbasic Pro）转移到Energia，Energia是一个免费的开源开发环境，基于许多业余电子系统（如Arduino）中使用的相同框架。RFID阅读器的数据输出将被配置为直接上传到ETAG数据库，该数据库由开发团队在NSF生物信息学进展项目的资助下建立。该项目将支持几个学生主导的项目，涉及测试RFID系统和创建辅助设备，如电子天平或红外运动探测器，可以与RFID系统接口，以提供额外的数据收集功能。最终，新系统将消除在生物研究中使用RFID技术的所有障碍。系统改进的总和将产生一种在几乎任何严肃的研究工作中都负担得起的仪器，可定制到允许广泛的现场和实验室部署场景的程度，适应其他形式的数据收集，并且非工程师可以访问，以便生物学家能够自己建立系统。

An award is made to the University of Oklahoma to develop a highly adaptable, low-cost Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system for monitoring animals. RFID refers to a form of simple, short-distance wireless communication between small uniquely-identifiable transponder tags and an interrogator or reader. When a tag is attached to an animal, strategically placed readers can detect and record an animal's presence at key locations such as nests and food sources. The new RFID system is based on an existing design currently in use by dozens of researchers around the world that has enabled several new insights into the ecology and behavior of both free-living and lab animals. With improvements to this existing system, the research and development team will create a device that is highly customizable yet accessible to non-engineers. More specific improvements include capacity for wireless data transfer, accommodations for a wide array of additional sensors and actuators that can greatly expand the utility of the RFID system, and an online tool for designing customized antenna coils to meet specific user needs. The RFID system will be made available to users through multiple avenues, including online instructions, user-assembled reader kits, and fully constructed units, all of which will cost less than $50 per unit. With these low-cost self-assembly options, the RFID system will serve not only as a data collection tool for biologists but also as a vehicle for STEM education.In the development of this instrument changes to the existing RFID hardware will include a more sophisticated microcontroller and a new RFID integrated circuit (to replace a device that has become obsolete). The firmware for the device will be rewritten and transferred from a proprietary language (Picbasic Pro) to Energia, which is a freely available open-source development environment based on the same framework used in many hobbyist electronic systems, like Arduino. Data output from the RFID reader will be configured for direct uploading into the ETAG database, which has been established by the development team with funding from the Advances in Biological Informatics program at NSF. The project will support several student-led projects that involve both testing the RFID system and creating accessory devices, such as electronic balances or infrared motion detectors, that can interface with the RFID system to provide additional data-collection capabilities. Ultimately, the new system will eliminate all barriers to the use of RFID technology in biological research. The sum total of the system improvements will give rise to an instrument that is affordable in the context virtually any serious research effort, customizable to an extent that allows for a wide range of field and lab deployment scenarios, accommodating to additional forms of data collection, and accessible to non-engineers such that biologists are able to establish systems themselves.