LAUSR

Tracking mosquitoes in real time, as opposed to recording video files and performing the tracking step later, is useful for two reasons. The first is efficiency. Real-time tracking requires less storage because video images do not need to be saved and followed by a tracking step. The second is that tracking data can be used to interact with the animal in some way, such as triggering the approach of a looming object. In this protocol, we discuss the use of Braid, free software for performing real-time, multicamera, multianimal tracking. We describe a setup with four cameras capable of tracking the three-dimensional (3D) position of mosquitoes at 100 frames per second in a volume of 30 cm × 30 cm × 60 cm with millimeter accuracy. The specific hardware configuration is flexible and can be substituted using different or additional components to adjust the tracking parameters as needed.