The Animal Activity Monitor incorporates highly sensitive electronic capacitive sensors to detect vibratory movements on the platform of the animal cage. The animal is placed inside an acrylic transparent cage that rests on the sensor platform. Testing can be conducted in complete darkness,or in bright sunlight. Ambient illumination is not a limiting factor as in most photocell activity monitors. It detects ambulatory movements as well as stereotypic activity like grooming, scratching, digging, etc.
Vibrations caused by the animal activity produce proportional electrical signals.
These are electronically processed to generate trigger pulses and drive a Digital Counter. Every count registered is accompanied by a flashing LED and beeper. The sensitivity of the animal activity monitor is adjustable as per user s experimental requirements. An optional Timer is used to programme experiment times from 1 to 99 minutes .