IceTag System for Animal Activity Recording User Manual Incorporating IceTag3D™ IceReader™ and IceTagAnalyser™ 2008 IceRobotics Ltd Bankhead Steading Dalmeny South Queensferry Midlothian EH30 9TF Scotland UK T: +44 131 541 2010 F: +44 131 541 2011 E: support@icerobotics.
IceTagAnalyser™ 2008 © IceRobotics Ltd 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of figures ........................................................................................................................ 3 Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 4 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 1.
TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1. Attaching an IceTag3D to an animal ....................................................................... 8 Figure 2. IceTagAnalyser Interface Window .......................................................................... 9 Figure 3. The pull-down menu for displaying IceTag3D device info. .................................. 9 Figure 4. IceTag3D Device Info dialogue box ......................................................................10 Figure 5.
FOREWORD This manual provides user information on the IceTag3D™ motion sensor for animal activity recording, including IceTagAnalyser 2008 software and IceReader™ desktop reader unit. The system is designed by IceRobotics Ltd, Logan Building, Roslin BioCentre, Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland, UK, EH25 9TT. The content includes detailed installation and operating instructions. SOFTWARE LICENCE AGREEMENT This is a legal agreement between you, the end user, and IceRobotics Ltd. Read this agreement very carefully.
1. INTRODUCTION The IceTag3D motion sensor, IceReader download unit and IceTagAnalyser 2008 software together provide a powerful tool enabling animal researchers and institutions to closely monitor, record and report animal activity. Mounted on the hind leg of an animal, the IceTag3D motion sensor incorporates accelerometer technology to monitor lying and standing/stepping behaviour.
2. ICETAG3D SYSTEM CONTENTS The IceTag3D system comprises the following components: 2.1 Hardware IceTag3D motion sensor IceReader wireless download unit USB interface cable Velcro leg straps for one-time use Velcro strap cutter 2.
3. INSTALLATION This section contains step-by-step instructions on how to install the IceTagAnalyser 2008 software onto your PC, how to activate and communicate with IceTag3D motion sensors using IceReader and how to attach and remove an IceTag3D device to an animal. 3.1 Installing the IceTagAnalyser 2008 Software Insert the IceTagAnalyser 2008 CD into the CD-ROM drive on your PC and follow the stepby-step guide to run the setup program on the IceTagAnalyser 2008 CD. 3.
Figure 1. Attaching an IceTag3D to an animal 3.5 Removing an IceTag3D from an Animal Using the supplied yellow safety cutter, hook the blade shield over the strap and with a downward motion cut through the yellow strap to remove the IceTag3D.
4. ICETAGANALYSER 2008 The IceTagAnalyser 2008 software and IceReader are used to activate the IceTag3D motion sensor device for use, to query device status and to download recorded data. This chapter introduces the most common actions performed with the IceTagAnalyser 2008 software. 4.1 Introducing the IceTagAnalyser 2008 IceTagAnalyser 2008, illustrated in figure 2, provides a menu driven computer interface for communicating with your IceTag3D devices. Figure 2. IceTagAnalyser Interface Window 4.
illustrated in figure 4. Any IceTag3D now swiped across the IceReader will show the IceTag3D information on the screen. Figure 4. IceTag3D Device Info dialogue box The IceTag3D Device Information dialogue box provides the opportunity to view details of any swiped IceTag3D. The Close button closes the IceTag3D Device Information dialogue box. Swipe an IceTag3D over the IceReader. The amber LED on the IceReader will flash to indicate that the IceTag3D has been read.
Figure 5. IceTag3D device activation dialogue box. Warning: Activation of an IceTag3D will clear any previously recorded data on the device. Swipe an IceTag3D over the IceReader. The amber LED on the IceReader will flash to indicate that the IceTag3D has been read. The IceTag3D in now active and will show a flashing LED. The IceTag3D device activation dialogue box is the same as the IceTag3D Device Info dialogue box but now the Device State field will read Active. 4.
The Download dialogue box is the same as both the IceTag3D device activation dialogue box and the IceTag3D Device Info dialogue box, but provides the following additional tick box: Create session file: When this box is ticked the data downloaded from the IceTag3D will be automatically turned into a session file. If this box is not ticked the IceTag3D will download a non-viewable compressed data file only.
4.5 Viewing Recorded Data The IceTag3D Analyser provides utilities for simple viewing of recorded data sessions. To view a downloaded IceTag3D session, select File > Open from the pull-down menu. Select a downloaded session to view from the Sessions folder. This opens a window in the display that shows a text view of the session, as illustrated in figure 8.
symbol. Click on the header data to bring up a dialogue box, as illustrated in figure10 that enables you to enter new header information. Figure 10. Changing session header information 4.5.2 Changing Session Start Time/Date In some experiments, it may be helpful to change the session times from different IceTag3Ds to start at the same point. Files must be changed from „read only‟ to read/write format. Section 4.5.1 explains how to change the file from „read only‟ to „read/write‟.
4.5.3 Graphical View Select View > Graphical View from the pull-down menu to view the recorded data in a graphical format. As with the Data View, the activity can be shown by the second, minute, hour, day, week or as a total. Figure 12 shows a screen shot of data in graphical view. Figure 12. Graphical data view Move the mouse pointer over the “Standing [%]” in the left section of the window. The mouse pointer changes to a hand to show that this area of the screen is clickable.
Click the Add button on the dialogue box to add a session to the report; this brings up a file selection dialogue box. Select a recorded session to add to the report; this brings up the Add Session dialogue box. The Add Session dialogue box, illustrated in figure 14, enables you to crop the start and end times to the times of interest. Click Add to add this session to the report. The „Include in report‟ tick box allows you to add or remove session header information from the cropped session file.
4.7.2 Exporting multiple files with Explorer Both „.ses‟ files and „.raw_bin‟ files can be exported using Windows Explorer. In the Session file folder right click on the session file you want to export and select Export. The file will be exported using the data granularity and separating characters specified in the options (see section 4.8). NB: More than one session file can be selected at once. Exporting multiple files with Explorer also applies to „.raw_bin‟ files in the Raw file folder. 4.7.
Figure 16 shows the export options, which enable you to include the line headers in the exported CSV files, to choose the data and line delimiters, the granularity of the exported data (by the second, minute, hour, day, week or data summary). Figure 16. Export options Figure 17 shows the “Device Probing” settings. Device probing is used to prevent conflicts with other serial devices that may be plugged into your PC and to speed up connection times.
5. INTERPRETING THE RECORDED DATA The IceTag3D analyses the movement of an animal‟s leg and defines standing, lying and step with a Motion Index. The Motion Index provides detail on how active the animal has been. For each second the Motion Index is typically a value between 0 and 30, with 0 indicating no movement and 30 indicating vigorous motion of the leg that second. Viewing the data perminute, per-hour or per-day, the program sums the Motion Index for each second of the given time period.
6. USING ICETAGANALYSER 2008 WITH ICETAG 1.X AND 2.X DEVICES IceTagAnalyser 2008 is provided ready enabled for use with IceTag 3D devices but can also be used with earlier generation IceTag devices. Use Device Probing in the options menu to choose different IceTag versions. To change IceTag versions, select File > Options and click the „Device Probing‟ tab. Click on „search following IceTag versions‟. This allows you the option of enabling or disabling IceTag versions as shown in figure 19. Figure 19.
Appendix A: Troubleshooting This section describes how to investigate any problems with the IceTag3D system. If you cannot find the solution to your problem here, contact support@icerobotics.com. A.1 Connecting the IceReader to your computer A.1.1 My PC cannot find any drivers for the IceReader The first time the IceReader is connected, the operating system may prompt for a driver installation.
Appendix B: Example command line exports Using the IceTagAnalyser 2008 command line options can be a quick way of exporting a whole directory of session files to CSV or MDP format, without having to manually open each file individually. This appendix contains some simple examples. B.1 Exporting a single file to CSV Open a command line window by clicking the windows Start button and selection Run… from the menu. Type cmd.exe into the edit-box and click OK. This should open a command line window.
Regulatory Compliance Information FCC Compliance Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.