Reoccurring Odor Deterrence Eco-Friendly Sprayer

Sam Anawalt |Mackenzie Bodman |Stephen DOnofrio

What is the Problem?
In Maryland, deer are causing damage to
peoples property due to overpopulation and
close proximity to suburban areas. According to
studies by State Farm and Extension Wildlife
Specialists there is about 4 billion dollars of auto
damage caused by deer nationwide and about
640 million dollars of agricultural damage in 13
northeastern states.

What Is the Project Objective?

1. Compact- Allows for easy placement on the
sides of roads without interference
2. Cost efficient- Makes it something worth
buying for customers and something worth
making for the producers
3. Fair Implementation- Only people who
have serious animal problems could buy the
product
4. Working at a proper time- Allows the
product to spray only when it is needed to be
sprayed, and not excessively.
5. Universally applicable Allows the product
to work in different settings.
6. Environmentally friendly- Keep harm away
from the environment and from the deer,
keeping intact migration patterns
7. Nonintrusive- Will not be a distraction to
drivers and will not interfere with the
environment
8. Deter deer from entering the roads at certain
times, and force them to find different routes
that would protect the deer and the drivers
from injury or death.
Spray Solution Concepts
1. Capsaicin is the extract from hot peppers
mixed with vegetable oil
a. toxic to bees and other beneficial
insects- NPIC
2. All Natural- Mint combined with pepper
and garlic, cloves and cinnamon, or citrus
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN 2012

www.PosterPresentations.com

Research
Past attempts to solve the problem:
1.The Save-A-Deer whistle- The whistle would
blow all the time, but it isnt a proactive measure
at deterring the deer. It is introduced into their
environment when they are already at the road.
2. The wireless deer fence- Trained animals by
shocking them to keep them out of a certain area.
This was a risk to smaller animals. We used this
same concept of essentially training the deer by
giving negative stimulus when behaving wrong.
3. Spray Repellent A spray mixture that utilizes
what smells deer are sensitive to. We used the
principles of training the deer through smell and
making the smell strong enough that the deer
would not come near an area. This product was
effective until rain and the environment
deteriorated the compound and rendered it
ineffective. This would have to be reapplied
manually.
Deer Collisions :
1. There are approximately 1.5 million deerrelated car accidents annually
2. The cost of these accidents results in over $1
billion dollars in vehicle damage
Nozzle Compression Options:
1. Actuator with Lever
a. Cant provide needed mechanical advantage
2. Actuator with battery (Chosen option)
a. Could change size of battery for the different
actuators available. Some are 12v, some 24v.
Timer Options:
1. Logic Board
a. Easier to program and smaller in size
2. Arduino
Engineering Ethics
1. Consequentialism: Going in to the project we
had to keep in mind the adverse effects that could
possibly result from our design. This means that
there is no reason for us to not use the more
environmentally friendly option and avoid
unnecessary consequences such as harming bees
and other essential insects, if both solutions work
to the same degree.

Conclusions

Materials

Sprayer- $10, 1 x
Actuator-$20, 1x
Breadboard-$8,1x
24 Volt Capacitor- $10, 1x
Wood Casing- $1, 1x
Solution- Capsaicin or All natural- $5, 1x
Total: $54
Testing and Prototype Iterations
1. Force needed to push nozzle- Needs 5.5 lbs. to
push down nozzle
Original actuator: 3.5 lbs. New Actuator: 7 lbs.
2. Power Sources- 24 volt wall adapter; eventually
a 24v battery would be used for mobile
implementation
3. Animal Testing: Repellent Effectiveness
7

G
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4/22/2015 Control

4/23/2015 Control

4/27/2015 Capsaicin Introduced

4/28/2015 Control

With the engineering process, we have been able

to go from having a problem of deer causing
accidents to creating a final product of an
automated sprayer that uses and actuator, a 24v
power source, and our animal deterrent solution.
Through testing on geese with the all natural
solution and capsaicin, it was determined that
capsaicin is more effective as a deterrent but has
the chance of being harmful to insects. There
were originally about eighteen geese the first
day and with the capsaicin those numbers
tapered off to almost none. When diluted with
vegetable oil, its harmfulness is reduced. The
next step would be to create a timer that spray
the solution in intervals of every few days.
Capsaicin has a half life of two to eight days so
it would only need to be sprayed every few
days. The time intervals would need to be fine
tuned so that we are using our resources most
effectively. Every aspect of this project has
revolved around efficient teamwork, evolution
of the design, and integration of our research.

4/29/2015 Organic Mix

(Mint,Eggs,Lemon,Garlic)

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Hour

4. Nozzle Spray Distance 4 feet

5. Nozzle CAD Model Iterations:

Final Solution
Sprayer with reservoir
that holds the animal
deterrent solution. It is
automated with an
actuator that uses a 24v
power supply. The
casing provides support
so the actuator can push
down the nozzle.

References
Deer vs. Car Collisions | Culture of Safety (Culture of Safety
Deer vs Car Collisions Comments)
http://www.cultureofsafety.com/driving/deer-vs-car-collisions/
Deer Deterrents--Scents (Deer Deterrents--Scents)
http://www.uvm.edu/pss/ppp/articles/deerdeter.html
Capsaicin (General Fact Sheet)
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/capgen.html
http://deerwhistle.com/
Wireless Deer Fence (The Wireless Deer Fence Deer
Repellent, Deer Control W/O Deer Fencing )
http://wirelessdeerfence.com/
The Best All Natural Deer and Critter Repellents (Deer Out)
http://www.deerout.com/?gclid=CIXgjrOTmcUCFe_m7AodUBI
Apg
Bambi Isnt Cute Anymore (Carrollmagazinecom)
http://carrollmagazine.com/bambi-isnt-cute-anymore/

Acknowledgements
Thank you to our mentor Mrs. Martin and our
teacher Mr. Gold for helping our project along
and answering our questions when we had them.