An Infrared Activity Monitoring System

by Derek Brader

Abstract: An infrared monitoring system was designed for use in the lab of Dr. Howard
Howland. Through a series of experiments on young chickens, Dr. Howland is studying
the development and control of eyes and vision. To conduct these experiments, a device
is required which is capable of measuring the relative level of activity in a number of
chicken cages. Infrared light beams are shown through the cages, and the level of
activity can be approximated by the number of times the beams are broken. At the heart
of this configurable and adaptable system is an Atmel 90S8515 microcontroller. Data is
stored in the microcontroller's memory, and can be downloaded to a personal computer
over an RS-232 serial data link. The goals of this project include ease of use, cost
effectiveness, and the ability to configure and generalize the system.

Full Report in PDF format (For reasons I don't understand, you may need to save this file, then view it locally).