Team:NC School of Sci Math/Lab Notebook

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Lab Notebook

To begin our experiment, we needed to create a device that could detect color. We chose to use the Google ADK, an open ended platform that allows users to take control of many sensors that come attached to an Arduino board, including a colorimeter. However, a standard ADK is set up to match any color presented to it, using LED lights. In some of our preliminary tests, the reflection of the light from these LEDs skewed data. Therefore, we modified the code of the ADK, using Google's software developer package, so that it does not turn on its LED lights but instead outputs colorimeter data to a computer. An example of this output is shown below.

As a foray into our project, we first took some preliminary data using our modified Google ADK and pGLO E. coli expressing Green Fluorescent Protein. We found that we were able to detect a distinct change in color. Some baseline color was present from the UV Light source used for the experiment. The graphs below clearly show that our system is able to detect E. coli expressing GFP.

Small LED lights were used to test the ADK's ability to detect red, blue, and yellow lights. The results showed the same trends as the GFP test, indicating that we would be able to distinguish between several different colors expressed. In general, red, green, and blue lights show dramatic increases in the intensity of that color, while the other two colors remain about the same. Yellow light however, increase both red and green light, while blue remains at the same level. From these observations, we are able to identify which type of light is shown based only on the data collected.