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Lewisburg, Pa. (PRWEB) June 07, 2012 Since the invention of land mines some seven centuries ago,activists, researchers and government officials have tried to rootout the indiscriminant and deadly weapons with everything frommetal detectors and robots to dogs, bees and rats. The methods have, however, proved dangerous, labor-intensive andtime-consuming. Two Bucknell University professors are working with a U.S.Department of Defense contractor to develop faster and moresophisticated technology and methods to detect land mines. The teamhas devised a system to train rats to recognize and respond to theexplosives, using materials that can be delivered anywhere withinstructions that anyone can use. "This is something that could drop out of the sky and give youeverything you need to train rodents to sniff out land mines, evenif the people who are using it cant read or write," said KevinMyers, an associate professor of psychology who studies learning,memory and motivation as it relates to appetite and foodpreferences in rats. Myers and Joe Tranquillo, associate professor of biomedical andelectrical engineering, are working with Coherent TechnicalServices Inc. (CTSI). The U.S. Army Research Office has awarded thecompany and Bucknell $100,000 for Phase I of the project. Suchcontracts are designated for small businesses and academic researchpartnerships that address real problems with marketable technology. Land mines are especially dangerous because they are often buriedthen lay concealed for years. The International Campaign to BanLandmines describes land mines as indiscriminate weapons that killand injure thousands of people each year, instilling fear andserving as a barrier to development. The project is an "innovative yet low-tech solution" to address aproblem in developing areas of the world, Myers said. The bigadvantage to training rats rather than larger animals is that therats are small and light and do not trip the land mines, which canremain dangerous for years after they are installed. "Some people think we are sending off rats to blow up mines, andthat's absolutely not the case," Myers said. In his lab at Bucknell, Myers is training rats to respond to thescent of land mines by doing a simple task: turning in circles. "The process is similar to how bomb-sniffing dogs are trained," hesaid. "There is a distinctive odor from the explosive in landmines, which diffuses in the soil. We have to train rats torecognize that. Rats' olfactory sensitivity is orders of magnitudehigher than that of humans. We need to train the rats to regardthat odor as significant by associating it with a food reward." The project is a combination of psychology, animal behavior andengineering, Myers said. "I think about how animal perception, memory and behavior fit intothe problem, but the task is to design apparatus and a procedure todo this more efficiently," he said. "How do you design a Skinnerbox so it can be used by someone who doesn't speak English, ordoesn't have academic training in behavioral psychology? How do youmake it rugged so you can drop it out of a plane?" To answer those questions, Myers asked Tranquillo to collaboratewith him on the project. Tranquillo is working with student Matt Young Jr. in theUniversity's new Richard J. Mooney Innovative Design Laboratory todevelop the electrical, mechanical and thermal technology andsoftware for the project. Graphic illustrations will provide userswith step-by-step instructions on how to train and work with therats in areas where land mines are present. "It's a complicated problem," Tranquillo said. "The projectinvolved devising a way to monitor and track how the rat isperforming as well as developing an icon-based laptop to guidepeople who have little experience with technology or animaltraining," Tranquillo said. The rats will be outfitted with miniature backpacks and wirelesstransmitters that track their positions and movements. During thefirst part of their training, the rats learn to associate a mildbuzz in the backpack much like the "vibrate" setting in a cellphone with getting a food reward. Eventually, the buzz itself actsas a reward that may be triggered when the rats complete certaintasks. In the next phase of training, the rats are prompted to sniffvarious odors and are rewarded for doing something specific inresponse, such as turning to the left rather than the right, whenthe land mine odor is present. Eventually, the rats learn to behavemore distinctively when they detect that odor. "Because the rat associates the buzzer with food, you can use it toreward the rat for initiating some kind of action," Myers said. "Wechose to teach them to turn in circles because that is notsomething they would do spontaneously. And it's easy to detect whenthey're doing it with a couple of motion sensors in the backpack." The wireless transmitter also enables the trainers to communicatewith the rats in the field, Tranquillo said. "We'll be able to constantly track the rat'slocation as it sniffs around a field and take note where the ratstarts circling to tell us it smells a mine." If the project is successful, the contract could be extended fortwo years with an award of up to $750,000. In Phase II, the Armywould provide support for recruiting private investors for thefinal phase, product development. Read the full story at releases/2012/6/prweb9581343.htm . We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Portable Speakers For Laptops Manufacturer , NFC Speaker Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Bluetooth Stereo Speakers.
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