I am a grad student in a neuroscience lab looking to use the electrical paint to build a proximity sensor capable of measuring precise time during a behavior experiment. I plan to paint a strip in front of a door opening, and measuring the amount of time it takes for the animal to reach another strip of paint about 30cm away. I have limited electrical engineering experience so I am hoping this is even possible. Please help!!!
Ok, so above each line you use a reflective light sensor, when an animal breaks the light beam you capture the time:
startTime = millis();
and when the animal crosses the 2 light beam you capture the time again:
stopTime = millis();
elapsedTime = stopTime - startTime; // in mS, /1000.0 for seconds.
I think that you are on the wrong track with your suggestion of the use of conductive paint.
In order to detect the animal, you would need to have two closely spaced lines, and hope that the animal is in contact with both lines simultaneously. This may or not happen.
This process has to happen correctly at both the start and stop gates in order to get a successful result.
I think that CrossRoads' suggestion of an optical beam that gets broken is far more practical.
You haven't told us what size the animal in question is.
Animals are available in a range of sizes, they can vary between a fraction of a millimetre to many metres in height/length.