PROJECT SUMMARY
The for profit small business concern, Tricorder Array Technologies LLC., will develop, in partnership
with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, SIDECARe™, (Sensing and Integrating Data for
Environmental Conditions in Animal Research). This device will automate collection of relevant data that
will enhance consistency in animal models used to study human health treatment research. Our
innovative device application is set to improve research animal care at the cage level on a massive cost-
effective scale.
SIDECARe™ will be a wireless device that will collect data from a specific cage and communicate it to a
database. Sensors in the device will isolate the cage environment and report collected data. Data
collected will include Date / Time, Room #, Temperature, Humidity, Light, Motion Detection and Sound
from observations in the cage. The device will have embedded algorithms for real-time interpretation of
sensor data. The data collected will upload from each device to a cloud-based database; where
additional algorithms will operate on this data and create timely reports and real-time alerts to the
animal research facility’s animal care staff and/or research PI as appropriate.
Aim 1. Select and Validate Critical Components for SIDECARe™. Milestone 1) Final selection of optimal
SIDECARe™ components for cage monitoring and wireless communication; Milestone 2 enclosure
integrated with components into a package compatible with exposure to animals, universal applicability
to varied cage styles, and integration into cage processing workflows. Aim 2. Integrate and Validate
Proof of Concept of SIDECARe™. Milestone 3) Implementation of SIDECARe™ firmware for low-power
data collection, reduction, and transmission for determination of specific indicators; Milestone
4) SIDECARe™ wireless communication system integrated with facility’s WiFi network and animal
management database; Milestone 5) Perform short-term, in-field demonstration of SIDECARe™.
Milestone 5. Perform short-term, in-field demonstration of SIDECARe™.