EP3568008A1

EP3568008A1 - Method, control unit and system for insemination time determination

Info

Publication number: EP3568008A1
Application number: EP17817934.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Charlotte HALLÉN SANDGREN; Bohao Liao
Original assignee: DeLaval Holding AB
Current assignee: DeLaval Holding AB
Priority date: 2016-12-15
Filing date: 2017-12-12
Publication date: 2019-11-20
Also published as: CA3073927A1; WO2018111179A1

Abstract

Method (400), control unit (120) and system (500) for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval (230) of an animal (100). The control unit (120) is configured to: obtain progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal (100); detect that the progesterone level is lower than a first threshold limit at a first moment (210); obtain activity level of the animal (100); detect that the activity level exceeds a second threshold limit at a second moment (220), within a first time period (240) from the first moment (210); determine the insemination time interval (230) of the animal (100) to be a second time period (250) from the moment (220) of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit; and generate a command signal to a user equipment (150) to output information to the user, comprising the insemination time interval (230),

Description

METHOD, CONTROL UNIT AND SYSTEM FOR INSEMINATION TIME DETERMINATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document discloses a method, a control unit and a system. More particularly, a method a control unit and a system are described, for assisting a user in determining insemination time of an animal.

BACKGROUND

On a dairy farm, it is very important to inseminate animals at an optimal moment in order to successfully fertilise the cow. It is important to find the right moment to inseminate each individual animal in the farm, for efficiency reasons. In case the animal is not successfully inseminated, milk production is affected.

Visual inspection of each animal at the farm made by the farmer, watching for heat signs, is time consuming, in particular at big farms where the animals are not tied up. Therefore, automatic methods for determining when to inseminate animals at a farm is desired.

Several methods for heat detection has been elaborated for use in modem dairy farms, based on e.g. a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal, activity measurements of the animal, measuring temperature of the animal, detection of mucus discharge, detection of swelling and reddening of the vulva, detecting decreased feed intake and milk yield, detecting standing heat, bulling, by keeping track of each oestrous cycle and possibly more heat signs. These methods may detect a sign of heat, like e.g. progesterone level of the animal is low, and ovulation will happen within some time period after this heat sign, with a certain probability. It is then recommended to inseminate the animal, e.g. X hours after the detected heat sign. Unfortunately, the time difference between detected low progesterone and ovulation has big uncertainty, which depends on the biological process of the animal, age, health status, energy balance, breed etc. Also, in case the progesterone is measured during milking, the milking interval of the animal influence the time difference. Consequently, the probability of inseminating the animal in the right time interval based on the recommended time is low. The probability is below 40% when progesterone level of the animal is measured. Typically, manual observations by the farmer are therefore needed in order to confirm heat signs of animals. This is however time consuming and it would be desired to reduce the time spent on this daily routine, as it multiplies over time.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems and facilitate for a user to determine when to inseminate an animal in heat. According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control unit for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval of an animal. The control unit is configured to obtain a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal. Further, the control unit is configured to detect, at a first moment in time, that the obtained progesterone level is lower than a first threshold limit. The control unit is also configured to obtain an activity level of the animal. In addition, the control unit is also configured to detect that the obtained activity level exceeds a second threshold limit at a second moment in time, within a predetermined first time period from the first moment of detecting that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit. Furthermore, the control unit is configured to determine the insemination time interval of the animal to be a second time period from the moment of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit. The control unit is configured to generate a command signal to a user equipment to output information to the user, comprising the determined insemination time interval of the animal.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method exe- cuted in a control unit for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval of an animal. The method comprises obtaining a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal. The method also comprises detecting, at a first moment in time, that the obtained progesterone level is lower than a first threshold limit. Further the method also comprises obtaining an activity level of the animal. The method in addition comprises detecting that the obtained activity level exceeds a second threshold limit at a second moment in time, within a predetermined first time period from the first moment of detecting that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit. The method also comprises determining the insemination time interval of the animal to be a second time period from the moment of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit. Furthermore, the method in addition com- prises outputting information to the user, comprising the determined insemination time interval of the animal. According to a third aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a system for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval of an animal. The system comprises a control unit according to the first aspect. Further the system comprises a progesterone measurement unit, configured to obtain a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal. The system in addition comprises an activity measurement unit, configured to obtain an activity level of the animal. In addition, the system also comprises a user equipment, configured to output information to the user.

Thanks to the described aspects, by combining the heat signs due to low progesterone, which is reliable as a heat sign, but has a broad uncertainty in time, with heat signs due to high activity, which when used as the only heat sign leads to many false heat signs, a more reliable heat sign is achieved, with reduced uncertainty in time, in comparison with prior art methods. Thereby the probability of successful insemination of the animal is increased, while the requirement of manual inspection by the farmer for confirming heat signs is reduced.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description.

FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a system for assisting a human in detecting an animal in heat, according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates the egg fertilisation process of an animal, according to an example; Figure 3A illustrates an example of distribution of probability of fertilisation after high activity detection;

Figure 3B is a histogram illustrating time difference between high activity detection and low progesterone detection for animals at Farm A;

Figure 3C is a histogram illustrating time difference between high activity detection and low progesterone detection for animals at Farm B;

Figure 3D is a histogram illustrating time difference between high activity detection and low progesterone detection for animals at Farm C;

Figure 3E is a histogram illustrating difference between high activity detection and low progesterone detection for animals at Farm D;

Figure 3F is a histogram illustrating time difference between high activity detection and low progesterone detection for animals at Farm E;

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method;

Figure 5 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a control unit, a method, and a system, which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These em- bodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and pro- cedures described herein.

Figure 1 illustrates a scenario with an animal 100 which may be comprised in a herd of animals at a dairy farm. An activity measurement unit 110 may be attached to the animal 100 in some embodiments, e.g. in a necklace around the neck of the animal 100, under the hide of the animal 100, as ear tagAs, around the tail of the animal 100 and/ or around any, some or all of the legs of the animal 100. The activity measurement unit 110 may comprise an accelerometer for detecting and measurement movements of the animal, possibly also a processor for data processing and a memory for intermittent data storage, and a transmitter for transmitting measurement data to a control unit 120. The activity measurement unit 110 may comprise a pedometer in some embodiments. In yet some other embodiments, the activity measurement unit 110 may be configured to determine the position of the animal 100 and interpret determined changes in position as movements.

"Animal" may be any arbitrary type of domesticated animal; however, the herein provided non-limiting examples primarily relates to milk and/ or meat producing animals such as cow, goat, sheep, camel, dairy buffalo, yak, etc.

The milk of the animal may pass a progesterone measurement unit 115 e.g. during regular milking of the animal, or when taking a sample according to a schedule, or at any arbitrary moment in time.

The activity measurement unit 110 and/ or the progesterone measurement unit 115 may emit wired or wireless signals which may be received by the control unit 120.

The control unit 120 may repeatedly receive information from various sources and sensors, including the activity measurement unit 110 and the progesterone measurement unit 115. Various measured data associated with the animal 100, and possibly all animals of the herd may thus be continuously stored, e.g. with a time stamp, in a database 140, such as e.g. milk yields, activity, progesterone level in the milk, rumination, resting, feed intake, etc. The control unit 120 may then deduce when the animal 100 is possibly in heat and prepared for insemination, as will be further explained later in Figure 2 and the corresponding text sequence.

Further, the control unit 120 is connected to a transceiver 125, configured to transmit and receive signals to/ from a User Equipment (UE) 150 which may belong to a human such as e.g. a farmer or other person working at a farm; or a veterinarian, agronomist, dietician, biologist, zoologist, ecologist, mammo!ogist, domestic animal researcher, zookeeper or other similar human, temporarily or permanently visiting the farm. The "farm" as herein used may be a barn, a ranch, a stable or other similar agricultural structure for keeping animals. The transceiver 125 may in some embodiments transmit and receive signals to/ from the activity measurement unit 110 and/ or the progesterone measurement unit 115 in some embodiments, e.g. transmit requests for data samples.

The communication of the transceiver 125 may be made over a wired or wireless communi- cation interface.

Such wireless communication interface may comprise, or at least be inspired by wireless communication technology such as Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Bluetooth (BT) to name but a few possible examples of wireless communications in some embodiments. The communication may alternatively be made over a wireless interface comprising, or at feast being inspired by radio access technologies such as e.g. 3GPP LTE, LTE-Advanced, E-UTRAN, UMTS, GSM, GSM/ EDGE, WCDMA, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E- UTRA), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), 3GPP2 CDMA technologies, e.g., CDMA2000 1x RTT and High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), or similar, just to mention some few options, via a wireless communication network.

The UE 150 may be e.g. a cellular mobile telephone, a stationary or portable computing device, a pair of intelligent glasses, a smart contact lens, an augmented reality device, a smart watch or similar device having a user interface and wireless communication ability.

When the control unit 120 has determined or calculated when to inseminate the animal 100 based on obtained progesterone values and activity measurements of the animal 100, a message may be outputted on the UE 150, e.g. as visual information, as an audio message, as a tactile signal or a combination thereof, encouraging the user to prepare for insemination of the animal 100 at the recommended time period. In case a plurality of people is working in the barn or with the herd, a broadcast may be made to the plurality of humans/ farmers and their respective associated UEs.

Possibly, further information may be provided in the message in order to enable the user to identify the animal 100, such as a name/ id number, etc.

Figure 2 illustrates a probability distribution of ovulation time 215 for a population at a farm, based on a detected low progesterone level. Also, a probability distribution of ovulation time 225 for the population at the farm, based on a detected increased activity of the animal 100.

It may be noted that the spread in time of the probability distribution of ovulation time 215 for different individual animals 100 based on the detected low progesterone level is much broader than the probability distribution of ovulation time 225, based on a detected increased activity. Besides this uncertainty, time resolution in progesterone measurement is also limited by the milking interval. The milking interval may vary between a few hours and up to more than 15 hours. As the progesterone is measured during milking, an individual animal 100 may have a low progesterone level, i.e. a progesterone level lower than a threshold limit, right after a milking event. This will however not be detected until the subsequent milking event, about perhaps 15 hours later.

Increased activity of the animal 100 is thus a more precise tool for determining whether the animal 100 is in heat or not. Activity level of the animal 100 may be sampled e.g. once every hour, every half an hour, or more frequently in different embodiments. However, increased animal activity may have various other reasons beside that the animal 100 is in heat. The particular animal 100 may e.g. be irritated or aggressive for some reason that is not correlated with ovulation. Other reasons for increased activity may be when the animal 100 enters a pasture with fresh grass; or when feed is about to be distributed in the barn, for example.

Therefore, there may be many false heat detections in case animal activity alone is measured and monitored. However, by combining detection of low progesterone level of the animal 100, with detected high activity of the animal 100, the more precise probability distribution of ovulation time 225 for the population at the farm, based on the detected increased activity may be used, leading to increased frequency of successful fertilisation.

At a certain moment in time 210, it is detected that the progesterone level in the milk extracted from the animal 100 is lower than a first threshold limit, related to progesterone level in milk. Such moment may also be referred to as a low progesterone heat alerts 210. This detection of low progesterone level may trigger activity sampling, e.g. activate the sampling or sample at an intensified frequency in comparison with previously used frequency.

Thereby, a moment in time 220 of detecting the activity level exceeding a second threshold limit, related to activity of the animal 100 may be detected. Such moment may also be re- ferred to as an activity alert 220.

The increased activity of the animal 100 may comprise mounting activity, and/ or attempts to mount other animals. However, the animal 100 may also be more restless and alert to the surroundings when in heat, and spend less time on resting on the ground, than when not in heat.

The second threshold limit may be selected based on a compromise between sensitivity and specificity of heat detection. in some embodiments, a time interval between the activity alert 220 and ovulation may be assumed to be 21 hours with a standard deviation of 7.8 hours.

However, in order to be relevant for the present method, the moment 220 of detected increased activity has to occur within a predetermined first time period 240 from the moment in time 210 when the decreased progesterone level was detected. In case the moment in time 220 of detecting increased activity level occur after the predetermined first time period 240, it is considered invalid, i.e. a false heat sign alert.

It may be mentioned that one in particular reliable heat sign is when the animal 100, after a moment of detected high activity, has an activity level that is very low, i.e. falls below a third threshold limit. This state of the animal 100 may sometimes be referred to as standing oes- trus, and this sign may in some embodiments be used to determine the activity alert 220.

However, when the activity alert 220 is detected within the predetermined first time period 240 from the moment 210 of decreased progesterone level, the insemination time interval 230 of the animal 100 is determined to be performed at a second time period 250 from the moment 220 of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit.

The insemination time interval 230 may comprise a first point in time, initiating the insemination time interval 230 and a second point in time, closing the insemination time interval 230. The first and second points in time may be separated by a time period corresponding e.g. to the egg fertile life time, which may be estimated to about 10 hours, in some embodiments. The first and second points in time may be separated by another time period, such as a couple of hours or five hours. The first and second points in time may occur simultaneously in yet some other embodiments. The first and second points in time of the insemination time interval 230 may be situated symmetrically around a central point in time 235, situated at the second time period 250 from the moment 220 of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit, in some embodiments. Once the animal 100 has been inseminated at the insemination time interval 230, there will be a certain sperm travelling time 260 in order to reach the egg of the animal 100. It is thus desired to determine the insemination time interval 230 so that at least as big part as possible of the probability distribution of ovulation time 225 is situated after the minimum sperm travelling time 260. The sperm travelling time 260 may be e.g. 8 hours, or there about, in a non- limiting example. Further, sperm viability time 270 time may be about 24-34 hours, according to some different studies. It is for that reason obviously desired to plan the insemination time interval 230 so that all, or as big part as possible of the probability distribution of ovulation time 225 is situated before the sperm viability time 270. The egg fertile life time may be estimated to about approximately 10 hours, in some embodiments. Ideally, in order to ensure efficient insemination, an over-lap of sperm viability and egg fertile life is desired. In some embodiments, such overlap may be e.g. 5 hours, or at least 5 hours. The time difference between the heat signs 210, 220 and the ovulation may depend on many factors: like age of the animal 100, parity, breed, health status, nutrition status, etc., besides the biological process in the animal 100. In some embodiments, information obtained concerning a particular animal 100 of a control system/ herd management system, like breed, Days In Milk (DIM), parity, Body Condition Scoring (BCS), and/ or health records to give a more accurate recommended insemination time interval 230. Thus, the second time period 250 from the moment 220 of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit to the insemination time interval 230 may be adjusted based on any, some or all of the above enumerated factors in some embodiments. A model of the herd in the farm, or the individual animal 100 may be used to achieve an optimal insemination time interval 230 and optimal time window, based on various (e.g. two) parameters of an individual animal 100 in some embodiments. The model may be used to give these parameters for the animal 100. The model may optionally be trained by data from farms or experiments. These parameters may be estimated by the control unit 120 based on collected data related to animal activity and progesterone level measurements and possibly also other data associated with the identity of the animal 100, such as e.g. breed, parity, energy balance, DIM, milk production, BCS, age, shape of a series of progesterone level measurements over time, historically used time period 250 between the moment 220 of detecting the increased activity level and the insemination time interval 230, in some optional embodiments.

The probability of an ovulated egg is fertilised in the fertilisation window can be calculated as follows:

where T is the insemination time interval 230, σ is the standard deviation of time difference between low progesterone heat alert 210 and ovulation (in some embodiments 17.8 hours), and μ is mean time difference between the low progesterone heat alert 210 and ovulation (in some embodiments 58 hours).

In case the animal 100 is inseminated at the recommended time interval 230, the possibility of an ovulated egg is fertilised in the fertilisation window is, according to [1]: P = 34.7%, in some embodiments.

A similar model as [1] may be used by the control unit 110 for estimating an optimal time interval 230 for insemination based on the activity heat alarm 220. The distribution of time from the activity heat alarm 220 to the ovulation may be:

where σ is the standard deviation of time difference between activity heat alarm 220 and ovulation (in some embodiments 7.8 hours) and μ is mean time difference between activity heat alarm 220 and ovulation (in some embodiments 21 hours).

Thereby, using the previously made reasoning, the time difference 250 between the activity heat alarm 220 and insemination time interval 230 may be set to 10 hours in some embodiments.

In case the animal 100 is inseminated at the recommended time interval 230, the possibility of an ovulated egg is fertilised in the fertilisation window is, according to [2]· P = 70%, in some embodiments. The time interval 230, or time window for insemination may be about 6-14 hours, with a probability better than 90% of the maximum probability (better than 63%) in some embodi- ments.

Thereby, based on the above, one way of combining the heat signs 210, 220, according to some embodiments, may be: In case the animal 100 gets a low progesterone heat alert 210 which is confirmed by an activity heat alert 220 within the predetermined first time period 240, which may be set to e.g. 3 days: inseminate the animal 100 at a time interval 230, within the second time period 250, which may be e.g. 10 hours in some embodiments, from the activity heat alert 220. fn case the animal 100 gets a low progesterone heat alert 210 but no activity heat alert 220 within the predetermined first time period 240: inseminate the animal 100 about 47 hours after the low progesterone heat alert 210. In case the animal 100 gets an activity heat alert 220 but no iow progesterone heat alert 210: do not inseminate the animal 100.

Figure 3A graphically illustrates probability of successful fertilisation of an animal 100, at different moments in time after an activity heat alert 220.

This probability may be calculated by the control unit 120 when a low progesterone heat alert 210 has been confirmed by the activity heat alert 220, in some embodiments, and corresponding information may be outputted to the user equipment 150 of the user. An obvious problem for the farmer is that the determined ideal insemination time interval 230 of the animal 100 may occur out of regular working hours, such as e.g. 2 A.M. on a Sunday morning. Even when the insemination time interval 230 is determined to be within regular working hours, the farmer may be occupied with other more critical tasks, such as e.g. retrieving cattle on the run, assisting at a delivery, etc.

A relevant question of the farmer in such situation is to determine if it is any point in inseminating the animal 100 at another point in time, e.g. a later point in time, than the determined ideal insemination time interval 230. By providing the probability of fertilisation to the user, he/ she is enabled to determine if it is fruitful to inseminate the animal 100 at any different point in time. It is thereby avoided that semen and also time and working efforts associated with insemination activity is wasted on the animal 100 at a time when she with high probability is not fertile.

The information may be outputted to the user as a graph, a diagram, a list of example prob- ability values, a recommended time span of insemination, or as an interactive app where the user may input a suggested time, and may retrieve a probability of successful fertilisation, etc. Figures 3B-3F illustrates data collected from five different farms, Farm A- Farm E, all having an automatic robotic milking system and all of them are collecting activity data and progesterone data of the animals 100.

The collected data at the different farms form statistics forming a base for developing probability curves 215, 225, and for determining the second time period 250 and thereby the interval for insemination 230. Table 1 illustrates a summary of the data collection from the five farms and Table 2 present collected statistical data.

Table 1

The data was collected until November 2015.

Table 2

The histograms in Figures 3B-3F demonstrate a time difference between a moment 210 of detecting that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit, and a moment 220 of detecting activity level exceeding the second threshold limit. Figure 3B illustrates the time difference in Farm A, Figure 3C illustrates the time difference in Farm B, Figure 3D illustrates the time difference in Farm C, Figure 3E illustrates the time difference in Farm D. Figure 3F illustrates the time difference in Farm E. Based on the collected data from the five farms, the time difference between heat alert 210 based on low progesterone level and heat alert 220 based on high activity may be estimated to: 37 hours, with a standard deviation of 16 hours.

From Table 2 it may be noticed that this number is quite consistent among farms. It is likely this time difference is breed dependent, health dependent and/ or parity dependent. Thus, an elaborated model based on these parameters may be used to reveal probability curves 215, 225 with less deviation, in some embodiments.

Defining the time difference between low progesterone heat alert 210 and activity alert 220 as dT1 and the time interval between activity alert 220 and ovulation as dT2, the time difference between low progesterone heat alert 210 and ovulation becomes:

Assuming dT1 and dT2 are independent, the mean value and standard deviation of dT3 can be estimated by: From the data from the above mentioned 5 farms, the best sensitivity of activity heat detection is about 65% using progesterone heat alert 210 as reference. The time difference between the heat alert 210 based on low progesterone level and ovulation may be estimated to: 58 hours with a standard deviation of 17.8 hours.

A centre point in time of an optimal time interval 230 for insemination, based on a combination of heat alert 210 based on low progesterone level and heat alert 220 based on high activity may be estimated to: 47 hours and 10 hours after respective heat alert 210, 220.

A model may be used to estimate the probability of the egg ovulates in the right time interval: 34.7% {based on low progesterone level heat alert 210) and 70% (based on high activity heat alert 220). It is estimated that by combining low progesterone level heat alert 210 and high activity heat alert 220, the probability of determining a correct time interval 230 for successfully inseminating an animal 100 based on sensor information is improved from 34.7% to 57.6%. Thereby a 22.9% improvement is achieved.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a method 400 according to an embodiment. The flow chart in Figure 4 shows the method 400 executed in a control unit 120 for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval 230 of an animal 100.

In order to correctly assist the user in determining the insemination time interval 230, the method 400 may comprise a number of steps 401-408. However, some of these steps 401- 408 may be performed solely in some alternative embodiments, like e.g. steps 405 and/ or step 407. Further, the described steps 401-408 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering suggests. The method 400 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 401 comprises obtaining a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal 100.

The progesterone level may be measured by a progesterone measurement unit 115 e.g. during regular milking of the animal, or when taking a sample. Typically, milking (and thus also progesterone level sampling) may be made once in early morning and once in the even- ing. However, milking intervals may vary between 5 and 15 hours. Step 402 comprises detecting, at a first moment in time 210, that the obtained 401 progesterone level is lower than a first threshold limit. This first moment in time 210 may also be referred to as a low progesterone heat alert. The detection that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit may trigger high frequency activity level samplings of the animal 100 during the predetermined first time period 240. Such high frequency activity level samplings may be made e.g. every hour, every half an hour, every quarter of an hour, every five minutes, etc. An advantage with not continuously make high frequency activity level samplings is that energy is saved.

Step 403 comprises obtaining an activity level of the animal 100. As already mentioned above, the activity level measurements may be triggered, or high frequency activity level samplings may be triggered by the detection 402 of that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit.

The activity level of the animal 100 may be measured by an activity measurement unit 110 of the animal 100 in some embodiments.

Step 404 comprises detecting that the obtained 403 activity level exceeds a second threshold limit at a second moment in time 220, within a predetermined first time period 240 from the first moment 210 of detecting 402 that the progesterone level is lower than the first thresh- old limit. This second moment in time 220 may also be referred to as an activity heat alert.

The second threshold limit may be predetermined or configurable in different embodiments, based on statistics related to the animal 100, the herd, the breed, and similar parameters. Step 405, which only may be performed in some particular embodiments, comprises detecting that the obtained 403 activity level after having exceeded the second threshold limit, falls below a third threshold limit.

In some such embodiments, this moment 220 may be determined to be the second moment in time 220, or activity heat alert, which confirms the ovulation of the animal 100. When the activity of the animal 100 falls below the third threshold limit, the animal 100 becomes very passive and stands to be mounted by other animals. This is often referred to as standing heat and may be regarded as a reliable heat sign. Step 406 comprises determining the insemination time interval 230 of the animal 100, or a central point in time 235 of the insemination time interval 230, to be situated at a second time period 250 from the moment 220 of detecting 404 the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit. The second time period 250 may be determined based on at least one animal status related parameter in some embodiments.

The animal status related parameter may comprise any, some or all of e.g.: breed, parity, energy balance, Days in Milk, milk production, Body Condition Scoring, age, shape of a se- ries of progesterone level measurements over time, and/ or historically used time period 250 between the moment 220 of detecting the increased activity level and the insemination time interval 230.

Step 407, which only may be performed in some particular embodiments, comprises calcu- lating a probability of successful insemination of the animal 100 at different moments in time within a time interval comprising the determined 406 second time period 250.

The user thereby becomes aware of probabilities of successful fertilisation of the animal 100 in cases when insemination cannot be made at the determined 406 insemination time interval 230, but eventually may be made earlier/ later.

Step 408 comprises outputting information to the user, comprising the determined 406 insemination time interval 230 of the animai 100, together with an identification of the animal 100.

The user thereby becomes aware about when in time to inseminate the animal 100.

In some alternative embodiments, the indication may be outputted on the user equipment 150 i.e. by an audio signal, a voice message, a tactile signal, a visual message on the dis- play, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the information outputted to the user may comprise the calculated 407 probability of successful insemination of the animal 100 at different moments in time in a time interval.

Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment of a system 500 for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval 230 of an animal 100.

The system 600 comprises a control unit 120. The control unit 120 is configured to perform at least some of the previously described steps 401-408 according to the method 400 described above and illustrated in Figure 4. The control unit 120 is thereby configured to obtain a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal 100. The control unit 120 is further configured to detect, at a first moment in time 210, that the obtained progesterone level is lower than a first threshold limit. Also, the control unit 120 is configured to obtain an activity level of the animal 100. In addition, the control unit 120 is configured to detect that the obtained activity level exceeds a second threshold limit at a second moment in time 220, within a predetermined first time period 240 from the first moment 210 of detecting that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit. The control unit is furthermore configured to determine the insemination time interval 230 of the animal 100 to be a second time period 250 from the moment 220 Of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit. In further addition, the control unit is also configured to generate a command signal to a user equipment 150 to output information to the user, comprising the determined insemination time interval 230 of the animal 100.

The control unit 120 may be further configured to trigger high frequency activity level samplings of the animal 100 during the predetermined first time period 240, when it is detected that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit.

Also, in some embodiments, the control unit 120 may be configured to detect that the obtained activity level after having exceeded the second threshold limit, falls below a third threshold limit. The second time period 250 may be determined based on at feast one animal status related parameter, such as e.g. breed, parity, energy balance, Days In Milk, milk production, Body Condition Scoring, age, shape of a series of progesterone level measurements over time, historically used time period 250 between the moment 220 of detecting the increased activity level and the insemination time interval 230. The control unit 120 may also be configured to calculate a probability of successful insemination of the animal 100 at different moments in time within a time interval comprising the determined second time period 250, in some embodiments. Further, the control unit 120 may be configured to output information to the user further comprising the calculated probability of successful insemination of the animal 100 at different moments in time in the time interval.

The system 500 further comprises a progesterone measurement unit 115, configured to ob- tain a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal 100.

The system 500 also comprises an activity measurement unit 110, configured to obtain an activity level of the animal 100. The system 500 comprises a user equipment 150, configured to output information to the user, such as e.g. a cellular telephone or similar communication device.

The system 500 may in some embodiments also comprise a database 140, configured to store animal status related parameters.

The control unit 120 may comprise a receiver 510 configured to receive information from the transceiver 125, from the activity meter 110 and/ or from the progesterone measurement unit 115. The control unit 120 also comprises a processing circuit 520 configured for performing various calculations for conducting the method 400 according to at least some of the previously described steps 401-408.

Such processing circuit 520 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression "processor" may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

Furthermore, the control unit 120 may comprise a memory 525 in some embodiments. The optional memory 525 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some embodiments, the memory 525 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-based transis- tors. The memory 525 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, a USB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing data such as e.g. ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable PROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), etc. in different embodiments.

Further, the control unit 120 may comprise a signal transmitter 530. The signal transmitter 530 may be configured for transmitting signals via a wired or wireless communication inter- face to the transceiver 125 and/ or the database 140.

However, in some alternative embodiments, the system 500 may comprise additional units for performing the method 500 according to steps 401-408. The above described steps 401-408 to be performed in the control unit 120 may be implemented through the one or more processing circuits 520 within the control unit 120, together with a computer program for performing at least some of the functions of the steps 401-408. Thus, the computer program comprises instructions which, when the computer program is executed by the control unit 120 in the system 500, cause the control unit 120 to carry out the method 400 according to at least some of steps 401 -408.

The computer program mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a computer-readable medium, i.e. a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at feast some of the steps 401-408 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more processing circuits 520 of the control unit 120. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program may furthermore be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the control unit 120 remotely, e.g. over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described method 400; the control unit 120; the computer program; the system 500 and/ or the computer-readable medium. Various changes, substitutions and/ or alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term "or^* as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless expressly stated otherwise. In addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be interpreted as "at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and/ or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/ or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, ele- ments, components, and/ or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures or features are recited in mutually different dependent claims, illustrated in different figures or discussed in conjunction with different embodiments does not indicate that a combination of these measures or features cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other wired or wireless communication system.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A control unit (120) for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval (230) of an animal (100) wherein the control unit (120) is configured to:

obtain a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal (100);

detect, at a first moment in time (210), that the obtained progesterone level is lower than a first threshold limit;

obtain an activity level of the animal (100);

detect that the obtained activity level exceeds a second threshold limit at a second moment in time (220), within a predetermined first time period (240) from the first moment (210) of detecting that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit;

determine the insemination time interval (230) of the animal (100) to be a second time period (250) from the moment (220) of detecting the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit; and

generate a command signal to a user equipment (150) to output information to the user, comprising the determined insemination time interval (230) of the animal (100).

2. The control unit (120) according to claim 1, configured to trigger high frequency activity level samplings of the animal (100) during the predetermined first time period (240), when it is detected that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit.

3. The control unit (120) according to any of claim 1 or claim 2, configured to

detect that the obtained activity level after having exceeded the second threshold limit, falls below a third threshold limit.

4. The control unit (120) according to any of claims 1-3. wherein the second time period (250) is determined based on at least one animal status related parameter.

5. The control unit (120) according to claim 4, wherein the animal status related parameter comprises: breed, parity, energy balance. Days In Milk, milk production, Body Con- dition Scoring, age, shape of a series of progesterone level measurements over time, historically used time period (250) between the moment (220) of detecting the increased activity level and the insemination time interval (230).

6. The control unit (120) according to any of claims 1-5, configured to:

calculate a probability of successful insemination of the animal (100) at different moments in time within a time interval comprising the determined second time period (250); and wherein the information outputted to the user further comprises the calculated probability of successful insemination of the animal (100) at different moments in time in the time interval.

7. A method (400) executed in a control unit (120) for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval (230) of an animal (100); which method (400) comprises the steps of:

obtaining (401) a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal (100);

detecting (402), at a first moment in time (210), that the obtained (401) progesterone level is lower than a first threshold limit;

obtaining (403) an activity level of the animal (100);

detecting (404) that the obtained (403) activity level exceeds a second threshold limit at a second moment in time (220), within a predetermined first time period (240) from the first moment (210) of detecting (402) that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit;

determining (406) the insemination time interval (230) of the animal (100) to be a second time period (250) from the moment (220) of detecting (404) the activity level exceeding the second threshold limit; and

outputting (408) information to the user, comprising the determined (406) insemina- tion time interval (230) of the animal (100).

8. The method (400) according to claim 7, wherein the detection (402) that the progesterone level is lower than the first threshold limit triggers high frequency activity level samplings of the animal (100) during the predetermined first time period (240).

9. The method (400) according to any of claim 7 or claim 8, comprising:

detecting (405) that the obtained (403) activity level after having exceeded the second threshold limit, falls below a third threshold limit.

10. The method (400) according to any of claims 7-9, wherein the second time period (250) is determined (406) based on at least one animal status related parameter.

11. The method (400) according to claim 10, wherein the animal status related parameter comprises: breed, parity, energy balance, Days In Milk, milk production, Body Condition Scoring, age, shape of a series of progesterone level measurements over time, historically used time period (250) between the moment (220) of detecting the increased activity level and the insemination time interval (230).

12. The method (400) according to any of claims 7-11 , comprising:

calculating (407) a probability of successful insemination of the animal (100) at different moments in time within a time interval comprising the determined (406) second time period (250); and

wherein the information outputted (408) to the user comprises the calculated (407) probability of successful insemination of the animal (100) at different moments in time in the time interval.

13. A system (500) for assisting a user in determining an insemination time interval (230) of an animal (100), comprising:

a control unit (120) according to any of claims 1-6;

a progesterone measurement unit (115), configured to obtain a progesterone level of a milk sample of the animal (100);

an activity measurement unit (110), configured to obtain an activity level of the animal (100); and

a user equipment (150), configured to output information to the user.

14. The system (500) according to claim 13, comprising a database (140) configured to store animal status related parameters.

15. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the computer program is executed by the control unit (120) according to any of claims 1-6, cause the control unit (120) to carry out the method (400) according to any of claims 7-12.