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

俄克拉荷马大学被授予开发一种高度适应性、低成本的射频识别(RFID)系统来监测动物。RFID是指在可唯一识别的小型应答器标签和询问器或读取器之间的一种简单、短距离的无线通信形式。当标签被贴在动物身上时，有策略地放置的阅读器可以检测并记录动物在关键位置的存在，如巢和食物来源。新的RFID系统基于目前世界各地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动物和实验室动物的生态和行为有了一些新的见解。通过对现有系统的改进，研发团队将创造出一种高度可定制的设备，而非工程师也可以使用。更具体的改进包括无线数据传输能力、可极大扩展RFID系统用途的一系列额外传感器和执行器，以及用于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向用户提供，包括在线说明、用户组装的读卡器套件和完全建造的单元，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系统不仅将作为生物学家的数据收集工具，还将作为STEM教育的载体。在该仪器的开发过程中，现有RFID硬件的变化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是一个免费可用的开源开发环境，基于许多业余电子系统(如Arduino)使用的相同框架。从RFID读取器输出的数据将被配置为直接上传到ETAG数据库，该数据库已由开发团队利用NSF生物信息学进展计划的资金建立。该项目将支持几个学生主导的项目，这些项目既涉及测试RFID系统，也涉及创建附件设备，如电子天平或红外运动探测器，这些设备可以与RFID系统接口，以提供额外的数据收集能力。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仪器，在几乎任何严肃的研究工作的背景下都是负担得起的，可定制的程度允许广泛的现场和实验室部署方案，适应其他形式的数据收集，并可供非工程师使用，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.