Signal processing for animal behavior detection

Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and the University of Georgia recently concluded an experiment studying animal reaction to robotic systems. The purpose of this study was to determine if the operation of robots in a poultry grow-out house environment is feasible from an animal behavior perspective. To determine this, an experiment was conducted operating both an aerial and a ground robot in a small-scale grow-out house housing broiler chickens for a typical growth cycle (6 weeks). Humans also interacted with the flock daily. The environment and robots were equipped with cameras and other sensors to record data for the entire duration of the experiment. The research team established a set of measurable metrics with which to quantitatively assess the impact of operating the robots. These metrics included average avoidance distance, average speed when avoiding, and average recovery time. A software program was developed to assist in the analysis of these metrics. Analysis shows that there are statistical differences in the average avoidance distance metric but there is no significant difference between the average speeds, or with the recovery time metric, indicating that operating robots in the environment is no more stressful to the chicken than the presence of a human.