This project focuses on the use of robots to increase student interest in comparative psychology. Robots facilitate the development of critical thinking skills, problem solving ability, and apparatus design. Moreover, as behavioral apparatuses become more sophisticated, the use of robots can help increase the interactions between comparative psychologists and engineers. We provide details on how to construct a robotic squirrel. Our squirrel is a ground-based motion robot driven at variable speeds utilizing slip steering. It supports an on-board video system to record and monitor various behavioral patterns of small animals, primarily squirrels in this project, from a distance. It also includes an audio system, which can record and playback sounds to the animals, and a simple robot arm-like structure with two degree of freedom controlled by servos. An Android smart phone application was developed to control the motion and speed of the robot and other operational controls in the system, such as record, playback control, and movement of the robot arm. We suggest that robots can be used as a source for independent projects, be incorporated into a class lecture on behavioral apparatuses, and/or be designed as a class project.

The purpose of this project was to create a device to detect infrasound communication from elephants. The device was designed and prototyped to be capable of monitoring an input signal for infrasound. If infrasound is detected, an audible alarm is sounded. This device can record audio signals for long periods of time to a digital storage device. It can be utilized for other areas of study with some modification. For example, by selecting appropriate sensors the device can be used for studying vibrations in structures. The device is low-cost so it would be able to be procured more easily and in higher quantities than more expensive and cumbersome laboratory monitoring equipment. This device could also be used as an educational and research device for students studying animal behavior in the field and laboratory. Infrasound is not limited to only elephants, but hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses and giraffes also communicate with infrasound. Environmental infrasound from sources such as wind turbines, sonic booms, explosions, tornadoes, and earthquakes can also be monitored.