JP3462412B2 - Automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic feeding apparatus for aquatic organisms, and in particular, it measures and analyzes the feeding behavior (feeding activity) of a group of aquatic organisms to be raised (cultured) by image processing, The present invention relates to an automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms, which controls an appropriate feeding amount according to the feeding demand of aquatic organisms.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the proper feeding amount for aquatic organisms is determined by the ratio to the weight of the target aquatic organism group.
If this proper feeding amount is given per unit time, the target aquatic organism will grow smoothly.

[0003] By the way, humans have conventionally generally fed the aquatic organisms, and the feeder determines the appropriate number of feedings per day and the appropriate amount of feedings per day according to the growth status of the target aquatic organisms. . In this case, the largest element used by the feeder as a criterion is the underwater behavior of the target aquatic organism,
In other words, it is the activity amount (feeding behavior amount).

For example, in the case of red sea bream, which is a main cultured fish, when the target fish has a high degree of food demand at the beginning of feeding, very active and violent waves form near the water surface. From the middle to the end of feeding, as the degree of food demand decreases, it moves below the surface of the water, and even if it is fed, it does not feed and the amount of activity decreases.

[0005] The feeder feeds while observing the growth status and feeding behavior of the target fish group. The basic feeding method is to feed individuals in the target fish evenly, and to limit the feeding rate to 10
It is to approach 0%. However, in reality, it is very difficult to feed all the individuals in the school of fish evenly, and to bring the food intake to 100%.

[0006] The causes include the skill level of the feeder and time restraint. Feeders need to take into consideration the season, temperature, water temperature and weather as well. Further, in recent years, the scale of aquaculture has been gradually increasing due to the rise of the aquaculture industry, and the time for which the feeders can spend on the target aquatic organisms is considerably restricted.

[0007] In order to solve this problem, automatic feeders are on the market, but most of the automatic feeders currently on the market are of the type that feeds a fixed amount of food at regular intervals by a timer No. 63-98334), which does not sufficiently consider the feed requirement of the target aquatic organism. Therefore, it is said that the feeding rate when using it is considerably lower than that of the expert.

Another cause is that the behavior of target aquatic organisms in water during feeding cannot be sufficiently grasped. The behavior of the target aquatic organism can be accurately observed only near the water surface, and the behavior in the depth direction is extremely difficult to observe.

To solve these problems, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
As described in JP-A-262040, by imaging the behavior of the aquatic fauna near the water surface during feeding, or by imaging the distribution of the aquatic fauna in the depth direction and the feeding behavior (activity or activity). A method of digitizing by image processing and controlling the feeding amount stepwise by the digitized image processing data is being studied. Further, in this automatic feeding device, breeding environments such as season, atmospheric pressure, and dissolved oxygen concentration affect feeding behavior, so that the feeding environment is measured and the feeding amount is corrected.

[0010]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Since the automatic feeding technique described in Japanese Patent No. 62040 corrects the feeding amount to be controlled according to the breeding environment conditions, the feeding amount should be closer to the feeding requirement of aquatic organisms than the conventional automatic feeding device. However, there were the following points to be improved.

That is, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the feeding amount is controlled in stages with the passage of time (for example, early feeding, middle feeding period, end feeding period), and the feeding environment conditions (for example, season, The amount of feed to be controlled is uniformly corrected according to atmospheric pressure, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, etc.). However, in practice, aquatic organisms may behave exceptionally during each stage of the feeding process. For example, in the early stages of feeding, it is said that the willingness to feed is active, but even in that early stage, the fish will temporarily return to the upper layer and then return to the middle layer due to vigilance, resulting in a decrease in the food intake. However, due to variations in daily feeding activities that could not be explained only by the environmental conditions of breeding, there were cases where the actual food requirement and feeding amount of aquatic organisms did not match.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to bring the feeding amount by the automatic feeding device closer to the actual feeding requirement of aquatic organisms than ever before, to enhance the feeding efficiency and further to feed the environmental water. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic feeding device that can contribute to the prevention of the contamination of food.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention basically proposes the following means for solving the problems.

That is, a breeding means for breeding aquatic organisms, a database in which standard feeding patterns that gradually change according to the feeding process of the aquatic organisms are prepared in advance for at least each breeding environmental condition, and the aquatic organisms. An image pickup means for photographing the activity state of the group, an image processing means for image-processing the image and digitizing the image, a means for reading out a standard feeding pattern suitable for the breeding environment condition from the database, and the read-out standard feeding pattern. Compensating means for compensating based on the digitized image processing data in time units subdivided from each stage of the standard feeding pattern, and feeding control means for performing feeding control based on the compensated feeding pattern. It is characterized by having.

With this configuration, the standard feeding pattern at each stage is finely adjusted to match the actual feeding process that changes from moment to moment, so that it can be adapted to the actual feeding activity of aquatic organisms. It enables precise feeding control.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms according to an example of this embodiment. Here, the case where aquatic organisms are cultured fish such as red sea bream and yellowtail is shown.

The fish 10 is a breeding means 20 that can be used indoors or outdoors.
It is bred in aquaculture tank or marine cage. In the water 30 in the breeding means 20, the ITV camera (industrial television camera) 40 photographs the activity state (feeding activity amount) of the fish, and the image pickup signal 40S is output to the image processing means 502 of the control device 50.

The control device 50 is composed of a small computer and comprises a feeding control means 501, an image processing means 502, a feeding pattern reading means 503, and a feeding pattern correcting means (feeding amount / feeding speed correcting means) 70.

The image processing means 502 is the ITV camera 40.
The image (imaging signal 40S) obtained from the image processing is image-processed and the activity state (behavior) of the aquatic organism group is image-processed and digitized. Here, the water depth position distribution state of the school of fish 10 is digitized.

The database 60 uses standard feeding patterns that change stepwise (eg, early feeding stage, middle feeding stage, end feeding stage) in accordance with the feeding process of aquatic organism groups, the type of aquatic organism, and the like. Prepared in advance for each breeding environment condition (memory)
is doing. Here, the breeding environmental conditions are, for example, the season,
The atmospheric pressure, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, etc. are input to the control device 50 by a detection sensor or via an operator depending on the type.

The feeding pattern reading means 503 reads out from the database 60 a standard feeding pattern suitable for the aquatic organism group and breeding environment conditions.

The feeding control means 501 calculates the feeding amount and the feeding time defined by the standard feeding pattern based on the image processing data (this calculation involves the correction from the correction means 70), and the calculated control signal. Based on 50S, feeding control (feeding amount / feeding time control) is executed via the feeding device 80.

The correcting means 70 uses the image processing data from the image processing means 502 to analyze various images, for example, to determine the feeding stage (eg, early feeding period, middle feeding period, end feeding period).
Analysis of the water depth position distribution of the fish school 10 (activity level analysis of aquatic organisms), based on which a predetermined correction formula [formula for obtaining Δk (t) in the following equation 1] The correction amount of the switching timing is calculated, and the correction signal 7
0S is sent to the feeding control means 501. Feeding control means 501
Inputs the correction signal 70S and executes the feeding control by adding the correction amount to the feeding amount and the feeding time defined by the standard feeding pattern described above. In other words, the feeding control means 501 executes feeding control based on the corrected feeding pattern.

The correcting means 70 corrects the standard feeding pattern read out from the database 60 in this manner based on the image processing data. Here, the important point is that the correcting means 70 subdivides the standard feeding pattern from each stage (for example, the initial feeding stage, the middle feeding stage, and the final feeding stage) when correcting the standard feeding pattern. That is, the correction is made based on the image processing data that has been digitized in minute time units.

The feeding device 80 has, for example, a bait supply port provided on the bottom surface of the bait tank 90, and a rotary disk with a bait supply hole that rotates along the bottom surface. Is a device that feeds the bait 11 from the bait tank 90 so that the bait supply hole of the bait tank matches the bait supply port on the bottom of the bait tank 90. By changing the rotating disc speed, the feeding speed (the number of feedings per unit time As a result, the feeding amount) changes and the feeding amount can be controlled. In that sense, here, the feeding amount and the feeding speed are in a two-sided relationship.

In the feeding device 80, the bait 11 is supplied from the bait tank 90 to the fish 10 in the breeding means 20 according to the feeding amount (feeding speed) obtained by the feeding control means 501 through the feeding pipe 100.

Next, each component of the above automatic feeding device will be described in detail.

The breeding means 20 is a breeding aquarium or a cage that can be placed indoors or outdoors. The shape of the breeding aquarium is, for example,
It has a rectangular or cylindrical shape, and is made of acrylic or concrete, and comes in various sizes. The shape of the cage is rectangular and is made of net or steel with a mesh smaller than that of the fish 10. The volume of the cage is 300.
m ³ etc.

The functions of the automatic feeding control device 50 (feeding control means 501, image processing means 502, feeding pattern reading means 503, correction means 70) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

First, the image processing means 501 in the control device 50 causes the image pickup signal 40S obtained by the ITV camera 40.
Then, the range for image processing is determined, and thereafter, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, the water depth position defining step 51 and the image processing step 52 are executed.

In the water depth position defining step 51, the screen imaged of the behavior of the fish school is divided into a plurality of layers in the water depth direction, and each of these layers is defined as a water depth position. Specifically, the imaged area on the captured screen is divided into a plurality of parts in the depth direction, for example,
As shown in FIG. 3, the water depth position is defined as three, with the first and second from the top being the upper layer, the third to the fifth being the middle layer, and the sixth to the tenth being the lower layer from the top. The definition of the water depth position may be set arbitrarily.

In the image processing step 52, the behavior of the fish school at each water depth position (upper layer, middle layer, lower layer) defined in the water depth position defining step 51 is image-processed and digitized. For example, fish 10
In the image of, when the water is illuminated by the illumination means, the background is bright and the fish is dark, so the dark part (representing the fish) is "1" and the light part (background) is "0". Two
It can be binarized, and based on the number of binarized pixels, it becomes possible to calculate the activity amount (distribution state) of the upper, middle, and lower (lower) fish schools. The details of the quantification processing of the activity amount itself are described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-262040.

In the feeding pattern reading step 53 executed by the feeding pattern reading means 503, the standard feeding pattern which meets the conditions is read from the feeding pattern database 60 prepared in advance for each fish species and breeding condition.

The feeding control means 501 uses the image processing step 52.
The number of pixels showing the amount of fish distribution of each layer obtained in step 1 and the standard feeding pattern determined in the feeding pattern reading step are used to predict the amount of feeding activity of the fish school, and a correction signal 70S is received from the feeding amount correcting means 70. Determine the feeding amount. The number of pixels indicating the fish distribution amount obtained in the image processing step 52 is sent to the feed amount correction means 70, and the correction means 70S outputs a correction signal 70S by image analysis.

In the feeding speed step 54 executed by the feeding control means 501, the image processing value obtained in the image processing step 52 and
A signal 70S relating to the feeding pattern determined in the feeding pattern reading step 53 and the feeding correction amount from the correcting means 70.
An appropriate feeding amount (feeding speed) and time are obtained from the above, and the feeding control signal 50S is output to the feeding device 80.

An example of the standard feeding pattern is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents the feeding amount. For example, a large amount of food is fed in the early stage when the feeding activity of the fish is active, and the feed demand behavior follow-up method (FIG. 4a) in which the feed amount is reduced toward the middle and end stages, or the feed amount is suppressed in the early stage. There is a feeding-motivation-type method in which a large amount of food is fed in the middle period and a small amount is fed in the end period after increasing the willingness to feed (Fig. 4b). If the breeding environment conditions are appropriate for the fish 10, feeding is performed in a bait request behavior following type system. When the water temperature is low and the willingness to feed is inactive, feeding is carried out by the method of motivating feeding, and if the feeding is not performed midway, the feeding is stopped. These standard feeding patterns are stored in the feeding pattern database 60.

Next, a flow chart of steps executed by the correction means 70 will be described with reference to FIG.

The correction means 70 first comprises the feeding control means 50.
When the correction command signal 70S 'is received from 1, the timing correction step 71, the feeding correction step 72, and the timing step 73 described below are executed.

In the timing correction step 71, the current feeding stage is judged from the image processing data (water depth distribution data of the school of fish during feeding activity) from the image processing means 501. The determination of the feeding stage will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis represents the time axis during feeding activity, and the vertical axis represents the number of pixels indicating the amount of fish school (for example,
The number of pixels representing black among binary pixels), and the data relating to this number of pixels is displayed separately for the number of pixels in the upper layer, the number of pixels in the middle layer, and the number of pixels in the lower layer.

At the initial stage of feeding, the feeding behavior of the school of fish is active, so there are many fish in the upper layer. As the feeding progresses, the willingness to eat begins to decline and eventually spread and swim.

That is, early feeding: number of pixels in upper layer ≥ number of pixels in middle layer, and number of pixels in upper layer ≥ number of pixels in lower layer Mid-term feeding: number of pixels in middle layer ≥ number of pixels in upper layer ≥ number of pixels in lower layer : The feeding stage (feeding stage) is set to three of the number of pixels in the lower layer ≧ the number of pixels in the upper layer, and the feeding stage is determined based on the magnitude relation of the number of pixels. In addition, the above-mentioned number of pixels in the upper layer, the number of pixels in the middle layer, and the number of pixels in the lower layer reverse the magnitude relationship between the number of pixels in the middle layer and the number of pixels in the upper layer even in the initial feeding period due to an exceptional behavior pattern of fish. Or the same reversal phenomenon may occur during the middle feeding period and the end feeding period, so that erroneous judgment should not be made at such time.
It is desirable to sample the above water depth distribution data several times and apply the above determination condition from the cumulative value, the average value or the frequency thereof. In the present embodiment, this is done.

By the determination of the feeding stage, the timing of switching the feeding stage (ie, feeding time) is corrected.

Next, the feeding correction step 72 is executed. FIG. 7 shows details of the feeding correction step 72.

In the feeding correction step 72, first, the current feeding step is determined in the feeding step determination step 72-1. Here, when the image processing data of each layer divided into a plurality of layers (for example, the upper layer, the middle layer, and the lower layer) is defined as “the type of image processing data”, in the next step 72-2, the above-mentioned data used for correcting the feeding amount is used. The type of image processing data (the number of pixels indicating the fish-water depth position distribution) is switched for each stage of the feeding process, the increase or decrease in the number of pixels is calculated, and the correction amount determination step 72-3 is executed.

That is, if it is determined that the current feeding process is in the initial stage, increase / decrease of the upper layer image processing data (the number of pixels indicating the upper layer fish group; the so-called number of upper layer pixels) is calculated in step 72-2, and then In the correction amount determination step 72-3, the feeding correction amount corresponding to the increase / decrease of pixels is obtained. In this case, the feeding amount and the feeding speed may be controlled separately, and in addition to the feeding amount, the correction amount of the feeding speed may be obtained. The same applies to the mid-feeding and end-feeding periods. In the mid-term, the image processing data of the middle layer is used as correction data to determine the increase / decrease in the number of pixels in the middle layer (the number of pixels indicating the fish group in the middle layer), and the image of the lower layer The processed data is adopted as correction data to determine the increase / decrease in the number of pixels in the lower layer (the number of pixels indicating the fish group in the lower layer), and the amount of correction Δk (t) in the feeding amount (feeding speed) is determined from the increase / decrease in the number of pixels.

The feeding control means 501 uses the correction amount Δk.
The corrected feeding amount (corrected feeding pattern value) KH (t) is calculated from (t) and the feeding amount (feeding pattern value) KP (t) defined by the standard feeding pattern. The calculation formula of KP (t) and the correction amount Δk (t) are shown in Formula 1. The calculated correction amount is stored in the feeding pattern database 60.

[0049]

[Formula 1] KH (t) = KP (t) + Δk (t) Therefore, Δk (t) = E (t) × I (t) KH (t): Corrected feeding amount KP (t): Feeding pattern Value Δk (t): Correction amount E (t): Feeding stage I (t): Pixel increase / decrease number limiter In the process 73, it functions as a limiter of the time until the switching timing of the feeding stage. When each feeding stage exceeds a predetermined time, the feeding speed is controlled to move to the next feeding stage. At the end, feeding will be terminated. Also,
The feeding is also terminated when the entire feeding time reaches a predetermined time. By using the restriction on the feeding speed and the time until the timing of switching the feeding stage, it is possible to save useless feeding and time.

As is clear from the equation (1), the correction element includes the feeding step E (t), which is an important element in the present invention, and in particular, each step of the read standard feeding pattern. It is more important to execute the feeding correction based on the above formula 1 on a time-divided basis.

FIG. 8 shows the changes over time in the feed amount corrected by this example. The upper part of FIG. 8 shows the image processing data of the upper, middle, and lower layers (the number of pixels indicating the distribution of the upper, middle, and lower fish school distribution) at each stage of the feeding process, and the lower part shows the control of the feeding amount.

As is clear from FIG. 8, in this embodiment, the standard feeding pattern for each stage is finely corrected in each stage so as to match the actual feeding process which changes from moment to moment. It enables precise feeding control adapted to the actual feeding activity of aquatic organisms. For example, since the feeding activity is very active at the initial stage, the feeding should be performed larger than the predetermined standard feeding pattern. As the feeding behavior gradually declines, the feeding amount is also adjusted according to the feeding pattern. As a result, by ensuring a feeding pattern that is similar to the increase / decrease in the activity state (number of pixels) of the school of fish, it is possible to finally achieve efficient feeding.

According to the present embodiment, in addition to the breeding environmental conditions, daily unpredictable activities of fish (activities that cannot be measured under the breeding environmental conditions) are added to enable automatic feeding. It is possible to realize various feeding guarantees.

[0054]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, the aquatic organism group and the degree to which each individual in the group requires food (food requirement), the feeding behavior induced thereby, and the feeding behavior due to a reduction in food requirement The amount of change is quantified by image processing, but the feeding pattern at each predetermined feeding stage is subdivided (miniaturized) in each stage according to the amount of activity of aquatic organisms, so an appropriate amount of feeding is always maintained. It is possible to feed, improve feeding rate, reduce feeding costs, improve feeding efficiency, and prevent pollution of environmental water.

Further, since the supply amount and the continuation time are automatically controlled according to the change of the feeding activity of the aquatic organism, the human burden of the feeding work is reduced and the feeding work is made efficient.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of feeding control.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a water depth position defining step.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a feeding pattern.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of feeding correction in the feeding stage.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of determining the feeding stage.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a correction process of a feeding amount.

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing a state after the feeding pattern is corrected.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Fish, 11 ... Food, 20 ... Rearing means, 30 ... Underwater, 4
0 ... Imaging means (ITV camera), 50 ... Automatic feeding control device, 501 ... Feeding control means, 502 ... Image processing means, 5
03 ... Feeding pattern reading means, 60 ... Database, 70 ... Feeding amount control means, 80 ... Feeding means, 90 ... Feeding tank.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Enrobu Ichiro 7-1-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Ltd. Hitachi Research Laboratory (72) Kenichi Soma 7-chome, Omika-cho, Hitachi, Ibaraki No. 1 Hitachi Ltd. Hitachi Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Bunji Yoshitomi 6th at 559 Kitano-cho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo Main Fisheries Co., Ltd. Central Research Laboratory (56) Reference JP-A-10-313730 (JP, A) JP 9-262040 (JP, A) JP 63-98334 (JP, A) JP 2000-500349 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A01K 61/02

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A breeding means for breeding aquatic organisms, a database in which standard feeding patterns that gradually change according to the feeding process of the aquatic organisms are prepared in advance for at least each breeding environmental condition, and the aquatic organisms. An image pickup means for photographing the activity state of the group, an image processing means for image-processing the image and digitizing the image, a means for reading out a standard feeding pattern suitable for the breeding environment condition from the database, and a read-out standard feeding pattern. Compensating means for compensating based on the digitized image processing data in time units subdivided from each stage of the standard feeding pattern, and feeding control means for performing feeding control based on the compensated feeding pattern. An automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms, which is equipped with. 2. The automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms according to claim 1, wherein the database prepares in advance standard feeding patterns for each type of aquatic organism and breeding environmental conditions. 3. The automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms according to claim 1, wherein the correction means corrects the feeding amount or feeding speed defined by the standard feeding pattern. 4. The correction means is set to correct the timing of switching the feeding stage defined by the standard feeding pattern based on the image processing data of the water depth position distribution of the aquatic organism group. The automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms according to any one of 1 to 3. 5. The screen for imaging the behavior of the aquatic organisms is divided into a plurality of layers in the depth direction, and the behaviors of the aquatic organisms in each layer are image-processed and digitized, and each layer is defined as a type of image processing data. Then, the correction means is set so as to switch the type of the digitized image processing data used for correction for each stage of the feeding process. Automatic feeding device for living things. 6. The automatic feeding device for aquatic organisms according to claim 1, further comprising limiter means for the amount of feeding, the feeding speed, or the time until the switching timing of feeding stages.