Online Data Collection Module for PyMouseTracks (Raspberry Pi recording module)

To clone the repository, run the following in terminal. The recursive tag is required for the RFIDTagReader submodule to work correctly.

git clone --recursive https://github.com/tf4ong/tracker_rpi.git

To install the setup scitpt by running in the cloned folder

sudo chmod 777 setup.sh
sudo ./setup.sh

To run the tracker cage, enter the command in the cloned folder

sudo python3 main2.py

For full video tutorial on setting up the software and editing recording settings, please refer to this link

To setup a Raspberry Pi, please refer to the following links

Basic Concept and Essential Hardware

Any Pi compatible camera can be used as long as there is an over headview of all mice
Timestamp of each frame is written to a csv file
RFID readings and their corresponding timestamps are also written in a csv file
Most of the hardware can readily purchased on distributing sites such as Amazon

To identify and validate mice
ID-20LA RFID tag readers setup at the custome locations at the bottom of the cage
Locations of the readers must be sparse enough to minimize electromagnetic interference (approx 12cm)
RFID reader details
RFID reader base details
RFID tag reader module developed by Jamie Boyd
Aprroximate cost for each reader is 86 CAD
Tags cost about 6 CAD and can be reused after cleaning with solutions like ethanol

Fully python based
Yolov4 Detection and SORT tracking
RFID matching methods based on Pandas framework
More information can be found on the following github link
To ensure efficient processing speeds in the offline analysis, it is recommended that each recording do not exceede 12 hours.
If longer recordings are needed, a simple restart will be best
Sample video can be found at Youtube

Simple Open Field Build tutorial