[Task] Build 6 identical containers

[gsvidaurre]

Build 6 identical containers for validation of the tracking system.

Nest container details: Given the last 2 tests of the container setup, I'd like these containers to be tall, have smaller holes for airflow, a RFID antenna placed in the center of the circular entrance, and both pairs of beam breakers placed outside of the nest chamber (one pair placed before the RFID antenna and the other behind).

Justification: I'm pretty sure that the birds' neophobia in the last round of testing with different RFID antennas was due to 1) the camera being too close to the nesting area in the shorter nest container, 2) the rear beam breakers physically inside the nest chamber, and possibly 3) the many larger holes I drilled for air. Since the birds didn't start nesting in the last test, we don't know for sure if the RFID antenna placement inside the nest chamber works well. But given what I've seen for the PIT tag / antenna read range and also how the birds perch in the circular entrance, my gut feeling is that placing the RFID antenna in the center of the circular entrance will be our best bet for detecting movement in/out of the nest container. Another reason I want to switch back to the taller container / RFID in entrance design is that a taller container should push the birds to hop down from perching in the entrance, and also hop up and perch in the entrance before leaving. This setup should also lead to better RFID detections, since the birds will have to perch on the RFID antenna to enter or leave the container. In a shorter container, the birds could fly in / out without touching the RFID antenna, leading to more missed detections.

Planning to work on these containers from May 24th - June 3rd.

[gsvidaurre]

To do list to make 6 identical nest containers:

Nest container hardware tasks:

• [x] Make RFID antennas with ~2 1/8'' outer diameter and 2 coats of Plastidip
• [x] Cut 3'' diameter PVC
• [x] Drill ~ 2'' diameter entrance with circular hole saw
• [x] Mark and drill mounting holes for the lead and rear beam breaker pairs
• [x] Attach 3D-printed beam breaker mounts
• [x] Make identical nest shields with laminated plastic
• [ ] Mark and drill holes for plastic shields, then remove shields and 3D-printed mounts for now
• [x] Mark and drill holes for air in 3'' PVC and cap (smaller drill bit than before)
• [x] Mark and cut out doors
• [x] Drill holes for door fasteners
• [x] Sand down circular entrances for RFID antenna placement
• [x] Drill 4 small holes evenly around circular entrance for attaching RFID antenna with cable ties
• [x] Sand down sharp edges and burrs inside each container
• [x] Sand down the 3D printed cap for the IR camera if the camera doesn't fit right
• [x] Clip sharp screws that stick out into the nest chamber
• [x] Cut holes in the tupperware container for the electronics cables as well as holes to connect power and mini HDMI cables to each Pi
• [x] Wipe down or rinse all plastic pieces with water to remove plastic dust and let dry
• [x] Attach doors with hinges
• [x] Cut additional cages and seal open gaps with 5mm laminated plastic and cable ties
• [x] Attach RFID antennas with either hot glue, cable ties, or a combo
• [x] Attach screws for door fastener
• [x] Make door fastener loops out of thin wire

Electronics tasks:

• [ ] Set up 3 more Raspberry Pis and external hard drives for parental care tracking
• [x] Make cable harnesses with crimped connectors for the beam breakers (long), temperature sensor (short), and RFID reader (short)
• [x] Solder each perma proto board with a Raspberry Pi GPIO pin header and pin headers / cables for attaching all the tracking devices, plus the video recording LED
• [x] Set up each Raspberry Pi in the heatsink / acryclic case with a fan. Make sure to connect the GPIO cable harness and the video ribbon cable before too many acrylic layers are added, and also switch the orientation of one of the early acrylic layers to make sure the mini HDMI and power cables can be connected to the Pi

Setting up the system for experiments:

• [x] Attach the infrared beam breakers and mounts to the nest containers with screws
• [x] Place the nest shield with screws
• [x] Attach each temperature probe inside the same side of each container with a cable tie
• [x] Attach a 2m ribbon cable to each camera
• [x] Attach each camera to each 3D-printed nest container cap with screws
• [x] Attach the GPIO ribbon cable to the perma proto board
• [x] Attach the cable harnesses to each device and perma proto board (including the fan)
• [x] Attach each external hard drive to each Pi
• [x] Place each Pi and hard drive inside the tupperware container
• [x] Place the nest container inside the cage that was cut/sealed with laminated plastic
• [x] Secure the bottom of the nest container with a series of large cable ties
• [x] Connect each Pi to power and a display with the mini HDMI cable, and do a dry run of the tracking system to make sure everything was connected and set up correctly
• [x] Add a feeder with seed, full water bottle, 1 natural perch, 2 dowel perches, nest hair material and holder, cuttlebone and holder, and circular swing to each cage. Place one natural perch in front of the entrance of each container, and some nesting material inside each container too. Place all perches as similarly across cages as possible
• [x] Bring each setup to the 1st floor of the Chalet after a successful dry run
• [x] Make sure each recording chamber is clean and has a floor mat to protect the sound foam
• [x] Remove the camera from the 3D-printed cap and also remove the ribbon cable from the camera
• [x] Deattach the temperature sensor cables from the resistor piece
• [x] Feed the temperature sensor cable through the 3D printed cap
• [x] Deattach the cable harnesses from the infrared beam breakers
• [x] Deattach the RFID antenna leads from the reader
• [x] Feed the infrared beam breaker cable harnesses, the temperature sensor cable, the RFID antenna leads, and the camera ribbon cable (always last since it's delicate) through a hole in the left side of each recording chamber
• [x] Reattach each camera ribbon cable to each camera
• [x] Reattach each camera to the 3D-printed cap with screws
• [x] Reattach the cable harnesses to each beam breaker pair
• [x] Reattach the temperature sensor cables to the resistor
• [x] Reattach the RFID antenna leads to the RFID reader
• [x] Connect the power supply to the Pi and to a surge protected extension cable (ideally also an uninterruptible power supply or UPS)
• [x] Turn on the Pi power supplies
• [x] Connect remotely to each Pi
• [x] Mount each external hard drive to each mount location
• [x] Start the tracking system on each Pi
• [x] Turn on the air pump to circulate fresh air through the chamber
• [x] Place a pair in each cage
• [x] Monitor activity daily through the log per system and .csv files with data, videos

[gsvidaurre]

See Issues #148, #203, #286, #304, #314, #318, #323, #324

[gsvidaurre]

I placed 4 pairs in 4 nest containers with the tracking system on 30 Dec 2022