RUNNING HEADER: MAGNETIC ANIMAL REPELLENT LAB NOTEBOOK 1

Magnetic Animal Repellent Lab Notebook VIII

Sidney Boakye, Michelle Miller, and Joaquin Valda
Senior Physics Mentorship
04/03/18
Dr. Psaker Lab
Governor’s School @ Innovation Park

Objectives:
Fix device Gamma

Setting up experiment

Data collection and the composition of that data into analyzable data

Final presentation and poster board planning

Materials and Methods

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We finished the construction of device Gamma and brought it into the field for testing.

The Gamma device is our stronger version of the previous Alpha device we tested in the field. In

fact, it is six times stronger. When it comes to component differences Gamma has 4 times as

many batteries as Alpha. Gamma also have a 14 gauge wiring as opposed to Alpha’s 24 gauge

wire; this means there is less wire resistance in Gamma. Of course, to house these materials

Gamma will require a larger container but this has been accounted for and the design has been

completed. As we continue with our project we believe we will see our initial result improve by a

factor of six.
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Data and Results

During the break we fortunately had the time to test our device. Our new device as placed

in the testing site. We set it up next to a bird feeder, however there were not many birds out due

to the less-than optimal weather. Because of this, we have not yet been able to observe a

difference in the birds behavior in relation to the artificial magnetic field. We also noticed that

after two or more hours the electromagnet would become weak and eventually die. However,

when we would take it down and power-cycle the device it was fine.
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Future Goals

After the suboptimal results collected from device Alpha we transitioned to device

Gamma. But in doing so we have met a problem of which the device dies after two or more

hours, but is fine after one power-cycles the device. Therefore, we need to do more research on

magnets and circuits in order to resolve this issue. Once we workout all of the issues, we hope to

produce results which will support our hypothesis. After the device is fixed we plan to record the

bird’s interaction with the device. After all of our data collection is complete, we will compile all

of our research into a presentable format, of which we will present at the Symposium. Along

with this we will also have to make a slideshow for our final peer presentation. We do not plan

on getting to all these steps in the next two week though, but they are definitely in consideration

later in the month.

References
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Loss, S. R., Will, T., & Marra, P. P. (2014). Refining Estimates of Bird Collision and
Electrocution Mortality at Power Lines in the United States. Retrieved October 24, 2017,
from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4081594/

Staff Feb. 7, 2005 From the print edition Print Share Subscribe Donate Now. (2005, February
07). High Country News. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from
http://www.hcn.org/issues/291/15268

Patent US5884426 - Magnetic device for repelling birds. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2017,
from https://www.google.com/patents/US5884426ht