I hypothesized that it would be possible to reduce collisions with deer and that it would be monetarily more viable than current preventative measures. My hypothesis turned out to be correct. By using near infrared technology, it would be possible to see retro reflective material at very far distances that would give drivers enough time to react and avoid large animals. However, since deer are not retro reflective, the maximum distance they would be seen, would be much lower than tested. The most accurate distance that a deer would be seen would be from the wood since they are both brown.

It cost $10 to buy the parts needed to make my system and it costs $120 for an infrared camera on the market. Since there is an obvious difference, it is monetarily viable to create this system.

Possible sources of error

Since only one near infrared LED at a time was capable of illuminating the materials, it was much weaker than expected. If all five LED’s were used in a focused beam of light, the results of the materials would be farther.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mr. Kuffner for allowing me to use his projection lenses. I also would like to thank my dad for supplying and helping me with the equipment, buying the parts that I needed and helping me build and test the projector.

I have an alternative concept for preventing accidents with deer. The third test showed very good results. Retro reflective material is a good method to see from a vehicle. If a retro reflective harness is placed on deer, drivers would be able to see the deer and slow down. The challenge is to put the harness on the deer. My idea is to put funds in place to buy tranquilizer guns and loan them out to hunters to put the deer to sleep and put harnesses on them. This way, eventually the majority of the deer population will have reflective harnesses to prevent collisions.

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