Rugged Automated Training System

Barron Associates, Inc.~proposes to develop the Rugged Automated Training (RAT) system, a cost-effective, rugged, automated environment to train and deploy small animals to detect landmines and other compounds of interest, and to evaluate their performance. The RAT system will train animals to recognize odorants using standard Pavlovian conditioning procedures in specialized, automated operant chambers controlled by custom software. It is well-documented that animals experience an involuntary physiologic response when exposed to compounds that they have been trained to recognize, a phenomenon that will be exploited in the present effort to automate the training of animals to detect mines. A novel, wireless, non-invasive, body-worn sensor backpack will collect and relay data, in real time, from the animal to a PC that will employ specialized algorithms to automatically determine when the animal has discovered a substance that it has been trained to recognize. An acoustic local positioning system will be used to accurately and automatically determine the location of the animals and any detected mines within the search grid. The RAT system will also train the animals to respond to cue beacons that will guide their movements within the search field with minimal human interaction.