After meeting with Mike Dory who’s doing a similar project dealing with cicadas/crickets and proximity sensing, I’ve got some good ideas for how to work with some of the sensing problems we were having.
Firstly, he suggested using cameras instead of IR or ultrasonic sensors with blob detection (scripts available on Tom or Dan O’s websites). Great idea considering the cost of cameras is miniscule compared to the $30 ultrasonic sensors. Second he mentioned a $15 MP3 player available at J&R that comes in a white case that can be stripped down and used to play the audio. Using a couple relays from RadioShack (5V Reed relays) to control the power button that also acts as the play button. Sadly the worst part is going to be continuing to use servos which draw a ton of volts, and aren’t working on the AA batts we have running through a 3.3V to 5V step-up.
