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

Ohio University, Athens OH

Investigators

Abstract

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.