Animal Rack Monitoring Assembly With Pre-Aligned Beam Arrays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing animal activity systems require tedious and time-consuming manual installation and alignment of multiple emitter/receiver arrays, leading to uncertainty in height adjustments and limited study throughput.
Innovation Solution
An animal activity rack system with integrated two-dimensional arrays of emitters and receivers, allowing automated beam tracking and reduced setup time, enabling efficient monitoring of horizontal and vertical rodent activity without manual adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual installation and alignment of multiple emitter/receiver arrays is performed, then the system can be set up for rodent activity monitoring, but the process becomes tedious and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into modular rack units, each containing integrated emitter and receiver arrays pre-aligned together. These modular segments can be independently installed and configured, reducing the overall complexity and time required for system setup while maintaining measurement accuracy through pre-calibrated modular components
Solution Approach 2:
Emitter and receiver arrays are pre-aligned and integrated into rack modules during manufacturing before deployment. This preliminary alignment eliminates the need for time-consuming manual alignment procedures during installation, allowing researchers to simply install pre-configured modules rather than aligning individual arrays on-site
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual height adjustment of emitter/receiver arrays is performed, then the system can be adapted to different rodent sizes, but uncertainty in measurements increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rack system incorporates adjustable height mechanisms that allow dynamic reconfiguration of emitter and receiver array positions. These mechanisms provide precise, repeatable height adjustments with defined stopping positions, enabling adaptation to different rodent sizes while maintaining measurement precision through controlled, reproducible positioning rather than manual estimation
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables change of the vertical positioning parameter of emitter/receiver arrays to accommodate different rodent species and developmental stages. By providing discrete, calibrated height positions rather than continuous manual adjustment, the system maintains measurement precision while achieving versatility across different experimental subjects
3Productivity
If multiple animal activity systems are installed for concurrent rodent studies, then more rodents can be evaluated simultaneously, but the number of arrays to install increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple emitter arrays and multiple receiver arrays are merged into integrated rack modules, where each module contains a complete set of arrays pre-aligned and interconnected. This combining reduces the number of separate installation operations required, as entire functional modules are installed as single units rather than individual arrays, thereby increasing productivity without proportionally increasing installation complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The rack modules are designed as universal, standardized units that can be replicated and deployed in multiple configurations. Each module serves multiple functions (horizontal activity monitoring, vertical activity monitoring) and can be arranged in various numbers to match study requirements, allowing scalable expansion of study capacity without increasing per-module complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances study throughput by minimizing setup time and reducing manual labor, while ensuring accurate monitoring of rodent activity with improved precision and consistency.
Implementation Method 1
a first two-dimensional array of first emitters... configured to emit first beams... a first two-dimensional array of first receivers... configured to receive emitted first beams
Data Source
AI summary
An animal rack system includes an animal monitoring assembly. The animal monitoring assembly includes a study region configured to receive an animal cage, a first emitter panel including a first two-dimensional array of first emitters, and a first receiver panel including a first two-dimensional array of first receivers. The first emitter panel and the first receiver panel are disposed on opposing sides of the study region. The first emitters are configured to emit first beams, and the first receivers are configured to receive emitted first beams from corresponding first emitters. The first receivers are further configured to generate first signals indicative of whether the first receivers received the emitted first beams. The animal monitoring assembly further includes a console configured to process the first signals to track an activity of a subject in the study region.