JPH0731316A - Control system of walking animal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To discriminate a walking animal abnormally changed in a moving order in moving pathway while reducing load of a worker in a control system of a walking animal. CONSTITUTION:This control system of a walking animal reared in a state forming groups is provided with an order input means C3 for inputting a moving order of walking animals forming groups in the pathway moving from one holding place to other holding place, a storing means C4 for storing input data of the order input means C3 over the plural-time moving contents, a discriminating means C5 for discriminating the walking animals abnormally changed in the moving order among walking animals and an output means Mo for outputting discriminated result of the discriminating means C5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a management system for walking animals that are bred in groups.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When walking animals such as cattle, horses, or sheep that are bred in a herd move between detention sites such as grazing grounds or water fountains The ranking does not change significantly with each movement, and has the property of maintaining a substantially constant movement ranking.
It is empirically known that there are many cases where some abnormalities such as diseases and injuries occur in the walking animals whose movement order changes abnormally. Focusing on the nature of this walking animal, conventionally, the worker monitors the moving order of the walking animal in the moving route,
If there was an abnormal change in the order of movement, the health condition of the walking animal that had the abnormal change was confirmed.

[0003]

However, the work of determining whether or not the moving order of the walking animal has changed abnormally compared to the previous moving order has been a heavy burden on the worker. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to allow a walking animal in which the moving order in the moving route changes abnormally while reducing the burden on the operator. .

[0004]

The first characteristic configuration of the management system for walking animals of the present invention is to input the order of movement of the walking animals forming the herd in the movement route from one detention site to another detention site. A rank input means, a storage means for storing the input information of the rank input means over a plurality of movements, and among the walking animals based on the storage information of the storage means or the input information of the rank input means In addition, there is provided a discriminating means for discriminating a walking animal whose movement order has abnormally changed, and an output means for outputting a discrimination result of the discriminating means.

According to a second characteristic configuration of the present invention, in the first characteristic configuration, an animal-side communication means for transmitting individual identification information of the walking animal is attached to each of the walking animals.
Management side communication means for receiving the individual identification information from the animal side communication means is provided so that the walking animals forming the group can communicate when moving in a specific area of the movement route, and the order input means is It is configured to input the movement order based on the individual identification information received by the management-side communication means. The third characteristic configuration of the present invention is
In the second characteristic configuration, a weighing device that weighs the walking animal is provided on the moving path, and the management-side communication unit is installed in the weighing device.

A fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention is the above first and second aspects.
Alternatively, in the third characteristic configuration, the determining unit divides the movement order into a plurality of groups, and based on the variation information of the movement order of each walking animal across the plurality of groups, the walking animal whose movement order abnormally changes. It is configured so as to determine. A fifth characteristic configuration of the present invention is the above-mentioned first, second or third characteristic configuration, wherein the discriminating means averages a past movement order of each walking animal, and a setting range centered on the average movement order. It is configured to discriminate a walking animal whose movement order has changed abnormally depending on whether or not it is inside.

A sixth characteristic configuration of the present invention is the above first and second aspects.
Alternatively, in the third characteristic configuration, the determination unit divides the movement order into a plurality of groups when the number of times of detection of the movement order of each walking animal is less than or equal to a set number, and the plurality of groups of the movement order of each walking animal. Based on the variation information over time, the walking order in which the moving order has abnormally changed is determined, and when the number of times of detection of the moving order of each walking animal exceeds the set number of times, the past moving order of each walking animal is averaged, It is configured such that a walking animal in which the movement order abnormally changes is discriminated depending on whether or not the movement order is within a set range centered on the average movement order.

[0008]

According to the first characteristic configuration of the present invention, when the walking animals that are bred in a herd move from one detention site to another detention site, the order of movement of the walking animals in the migration route is ranked. When input from the input means, the storage means stores the input information. The storage means stores the input information over a plurality of movements. The determining means, based on the storage information of this storage means or the input information of the order input means,
A walking animal whose movement order has changed abnormally is identified. That is,
By comparing the stored information of the moving order or the input information of the order input means at the time of a certain movement with the stored information of the moving order at the time of the previous movement, the walking animal having the abnormally changed moving order is discriminated. Of. The result determined by the determination unit is output to the output unit, and the worker can specify the walking animal whose movement order has changed abnormally by the output.

According to the second characteristic configuration of the present invention, while the walking animal is moving in the specific region of the movement route, communication is performed between the animal side communication means and the management side communication means, and the management side The communication means receives the individual identification information of the walking animal passing through the specific area. The order input means recognizes and inputs the moving order of each walking animal according to the arrangement order of the received individual identification information. According to the third characteristic configuration of the present invention, the weighing device provided on the moving path weighs the walking animal that walks through the weighing device, and the management-side communication means installed in the weighing device is an animal. The personal identification information of the walking animal passing through the weighing device is received by communicating with the side communication means. That is, the order input means shares the communication means for obtaining the individual identification information necessary for inputting the movement order and the communication means for the weighing device obtaining the individual identification information necessary for specifying the weighing target. You can do it.

According to the fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention, the discriminating means divides the movement order into a plurality of groups, and the variation information of the movement order of each walking animal between the groups, that is, the movement order changes. Depending on how the group corresponding to the movement order has changed, it is determined whether the movement order of the walking animal has changed abnormally, and the walking animal that has changed abnormally is discriminated. According to the fifth characteristic configuration of the present invention, the discriminating means averages the past movement orders, and determines whether or not the movement order of the walking animal depends on whether or not the movement order is within a set range centered on the average movement order. It is determined whether or not there is an abnormal change, and a walking animal that has abnormal change is discriminated.

According to the sixth characteristic configuration of the present invention, when the number of times of detection of the movement order is less than or equal to the set number of times, that is, in the initial stage of starting the detection of the movement order, the discriminating means still sufficiently accumulates the information of the movement order. If it is not, it is judged whether the movement order abnormally fluctuates according to the variation information of the movement order of each walking animal, and if the number of detections of the movement order exceeds the set number of times, that is, the information of the movement order is to some extent. Once accumulated, the past movement ranks are averaged, and it is judged whether or not the movement ranks have changed abnormally depending on whether or not they are within the setting range centered on the average movement rank. It discriminates the walking animal.

[0012]

According to the first characteristic configuration, the discrimination means discriminates a walking animal whose movement order has changed abnormally, and the discrimination result is output to the output means. There is no need to make a judgment, and a walking animal management system has been provided that can distinguish a walking animal in which the movement order in the movement route has changed abnormally while reducing the burden on the operator. According to the second characteristic configuration, in addition to the effect of the first characteristic configuration, the order input unit inputs the movement order based on the individual identification information received by the management-side communication unit, so that the worker determines the movement order of the walking animal. There is no need to check, the burden on the worker can be further reduced, and the walking animal management system can be made more convenient.

According to the third characteristic configuration, in addition to the effect of the second characteristic configuration, since the communication means can be shared as described above, management of the order of movement of walking animals while suppressing an increase in equipment cost, Weighing can be done. According to the fourth characteristic configuration, in addition to the effect of the first, second, or third characteristic configuration, since the movement order is divided into groups to determine an abnormal change in the movement order, a large change in the movement order can be accurately detected. Can be captured in. According to the fifth characteristic configuration, in addition to the effect of the first, second, or third characteristic configuration, the abnormal change in the movement order is determined based on the average value of the past movement orders. While effectively utilizing the information, it is possible to accurately determine the abnormal change in the movement order.

According to the sixth characteristic configuration, in addition to the effects of the first, second or third characteristic configuration, when the accumulated movement order information is small and when the movement order information is accumulated to some extent. Therefore, since the abnormal change of the movement order is judged by the method according to the accumulation status of the movement order information, the movement order can be accurately detected from the beginning of the management of the movement order of the walking animal to the long term. You can judge fluctuations.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the management system for a walking animal of the present invention is applied to a cow, which is an example of a walking animal, will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the walking animal management system has a movement route for moving a herd of cattle to a barn G from a grazing ground H, which is a holding place for keeping the cows in a certain area in a herd state. In a part of the taxiway 1 to be used, a weighing device F for weighing one cow in the herd in a state of being separated from the preceding and following cows is provided, and further, the weighing device F is controlled and the cow is moved in the taxiway 1. Control device C for managing ranking information, etc.
Is provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the animal side communication means T for transmitting the individual identification information of the cow is attached to the ankle of the left hind leg of each cow. The animal side communication means T is
It is composed of a storage circuit for storing the individual identification information of the cow, an antenna and a transmission / reception circuit.

A taxiway 1 with a herd of cows lined up in a line
When moving from the pasture H to the barn G through the pasture, each cow is weighed by the weighing device F, and the control device C transmits the weighing information and the animal-side transmission means T of the cattle via the weighing device F. Receive the individual identification information. The individual identification information of the cow received by the control device C is used for management of the health condition of the cow, etc. by obtaining the order of movement of the cow as described later.

The structures of the weighing device F and the control device C will be described below. As shown in FIG. 1, the weighing device F is provided on both sides of the weighing table 2 and the passage of the weighing table 2, and the width of the passage is set to be slightly wider than the width of one cow. It is provided with fences 1A and 1B, a pair of left and right entrance gates 3A and 3B provided at the entrance of the weighing platform 2, and an exit gate 4 provided at the exit of the weighing platform 2.

The weighing platform 2 includes four load cells 21 and 2.
The four corners are supported by 2, 23, 24.
The total value of the outputs of the two load cells 21, 22, 23, 24 is the load applied to the weighing platform 2. In order to communicate with the animal-side communication means T attached to the hindpaw of the cow, the weighing platform 2 further has a management-side communication means K including a loop antenna 25 shown in FIG. 1 and a transmission / reception circuit (not shown). It is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the entrance gates 3A and 3B are provided on the left and right sides of the gate frame 5 in order to pivotally support the lateral end of the guideway 1 about the vertical axis. The rotary support portion 30 is provided on the target and rotates about the vertical axis, and the pair of left and right door bodies 31 integrally attached to the rotary support portions 30 are provided. Left and right pair of doors 31
The front end portion 31A on the free end side is formed of a hard rubber member, and the other portion is formed of a magnetic material, and has a structure that can swing and open in a double-opening manner. Further, by a spring (not shown) attached to the rotation support portion 30, both of the pair of left and right door bodies 31 intersect with the guide path 1 at an intersection angle 90.
It is urged to return to the fully closed state where it crosses at °. And
In this fully closed state, the front end portions 31A of the pair of left and right door bodies 31
Overlap each other to obstruct the forward view of the cow.

A first detecting operation of the left side entrance gate 3A of the pair of left and right entrance gates 3A, 3B toward the opening side
The proximity sensor 6 is composed of a magnetic proximity sensor, and is installed at a position slightly closer to the exit than the rotation support portion 30 of the entrance gate 3A. When the cow passes through the entrance gates 3A and 3B and pushes the door 31 of the entrance gate 3A on the left side open, the first proximity sensor 6 detects the approach of the magnetic material portion of the door 31 and detects the entrance. The movement of the gate 3A toward the open side is detected. At a position above the rotation support portion 30 of the right entrance gate 3B of the pair of left and right entrance gates 3A and 3B, an electric motor 8 that rotationally drives the rotation support portion 30 is attached to the gate frame 5 by a mounting plate 11. It is installed in the state of being attached.

By the operation of the electric motor 8, the entrance gates 3A and 3B are in a fully closed state in which the right entrance gate 3B is located at a position indicated by an arrow Y in FIG. 3, and the right entrance gate 3B is indicated by an arrow in FIG. It is rotated to the position indicated by X, and is switched between the fully closed state and the fully opened state. Entrance gate 3A,
The cow that has advanced to the position before 3B loses the forward drive in the fully closed state and loses the will to move forward, and in the midway state, the forward view is opened appropriately and walks on the weighing platform 2 at an appropriate speed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exit gates 4 are rotated symmetrically about a pair of left and right longitudinal axes, which are symmetrically erected at positions corresponding to the exits of the weighing platform 2 on the fences 1A and 1B on both sides. It is provided with a freely rotatable shaft 4a and a pair of left and right door bodies 4b integrally attached to the respective rotatable shafts 4a. The pair of left and right door bodies 4b of the exit gate 4 is made of a magnetic material, and has a structure capable of swinging open / close in a double-opening manner like the pair of left and right door bodies 31 of the entrance gates 3A and 3B. In a fully closed state in which both the pair of left and right door bodies 4b intersect with the guideway 1 at a crossing angle of 90 °, the front end portions of the pair of left and right door bodies 4b are slightly separated from each other to maintain the forward view of the cow. It is like this. Further, a spring (not shown) attached to the rotating shaft 4a is urged to return to the fully closed state.

The second proximity sensor 7 for detecting the opening of the exit gate 4 is composed of a magnetic proximity sensor and corresponds to the exit portion of the weighing platform 2 in each of the fences 1A and 1B on both sides of the taxiway 1. It is provided in the place to do. Then, the cow passes through the exit gate 4 and the pair of left and right door bodies 4 of the exit gate 4
When b is fully opened and opened, the second proximity sensor 7 detects the approach of the door body 4b and detects the opening of the exit gate 4.

The control device C is the load cell 2 of the weighing device F.
Weighing information of 1, 22, 23, 24 is received and the weighing platform 2
A weighing value calculation unit C1 for calculating the static weight of a cow that has walked through the first, a first proximity sensor 6, and a second proximity sensor 7
The weighing control unit C2 receives the individual identification information of the cow from the gate control unit C2 that controls the opening and closing of the entrance gates 3A and 3B based on the detection information of the above and the calculation information of the weighing value calculation unit C1 and the antenna 25 installed in the weighing apparatus F. Order input means C3 for inputting the moving order of cows walking through F, storage means C4 for storing the input information of the order input means C3 over a plurality of movements, and storage information or order input of the storage means C4. The determination means C5 for determining the cow whose movement order has changed abnormally based on the input information of the means C3 is provided.
In addition, as shown in FIG.
Monitor M _O as an output means of the discrimination information and the weighing value calculating portion C1 is displayed the calculated weighing value and the like are connected.

Next, the gate controller C2 of the controller C
Based on the detection information of the first proximity sensor 6 and the second proximity sensor 7 and the weighing information of the weighing platform 2, the entrance gates 3A, 3
In order to switch B between the fully closed state and the intermediate state,
The operation over time when controlling the operation of the electric motor 8 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the state where the preceding cow has passed the exit gate 4 and there is no cow on the weighing platform 2 is the second state.
Information of the proximity sensor 7 and the load cells 21, 22, 2
When detected by the weighing information of 3, 24, the gate control unit C2 switches the right entrance gate 3B to the intermediate state. Therefore, the front view of the cow located in front of the cow opens, and the cow is motivated to move forward and tries to enter the weighing table 2. Then, a pair of left and right entrance gates 3A,
The cow 3B is pushed open when the cow passes and is in the fully opened state, and the cow can enter the weighing platform 2 as shown in FIG.

When the first proximity sensor 6 detects the approach of the entrance gate 3A on the left side and the passage of the cow at the entrance gates 3A and 3B is detected, the gate controller C2 turns on the entrance gate 3B on the right side. Switch to the fully closed state. In that state, as shown in FIG. 4 (c), the cows are at the entrance gates 3A and 3B.
When entering the weighing platform 2 through the entrance, the entrance gates 3A, 3
The entrance gates 3A and 3B are rotated toward the closing side and returned to the fully closed state by the action of the spring that biases B in the closing direction.

Subsequently, the cow reaching the front of the exit gate 4 maintains the forward view of the cow even when the exit gate 4 is in the fully closed state, so that the cow is motivated to move forward,
It tries to move forward and pass the exit gate 4. Then, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the exit gate 4 is pushed open by the passage of the cow to be in a fully opened state, and the second proximity sensor 7 detects the approach of the pair of left and right door bodies 4b to perform weighing. The passage of cattle at the exit of the platform 2 is detected. At this time, the gate control unit C2 recognizes that there is no cow on the weighing platform 2 if the weighing value of the weighing platform 2 at this point is smaller than the set value, and as shown in FIG. Then, the entrance gate 3B on the right side is switched to the intermediate state. Therefore, the front view of the cow located in front of the cow opens, and the cow is motivated to move forward and tries to enter the weighing table 2.

The second proximity sensor 7 is a pair of left and right door bodies 4.
If the weighing value of the weighing unit 2 is larger than the set value when the approach of b is detected, it is determined that another cow is on the weighing platform 2 immediately after the cow passing through the exit gate 4. Then, the gate control unit C2 controls the operation of the electric motor 8 so as not to switch the right entrance gate 3B to the midway state. That is, the entrance gates 3A and 3B are maintained in the fully closed state. Then, the gate control unit C2, when the cow on the rear side of the two cows has advanced and is in the state shown in FIG. 4D, the information of the second proximity sensor 7 and The same processing as above is performed based on the information on the measured value. The set value is obtained by collecting a large amount of weighing value data in the state of FIG. 4D (state where the cow is passing through the exit gate 4), and based on the collected data, for example, A value that is the same or larger, but sufficiently smaller than the load of one cow, is selected and set appropriately.

Next, a process in which the discriminating means C5 of the control device C discriminates a cow which has an abnormal change in the movement order when passing through the weighing device F will be described. In the state shown in FIG. 4C, the management-side communication means K installed in the weighing device F is the antenna 25.
It communicates with the animal side communication means T via the, and receives the individual identification information of the cattle that is walking, and sends the individual identification information to the order input means C3 of the control device C. Although not shown in the figure, the control device C has a timekeeping function, and the weighing table 2
It is possible to record the time when the cows passing through were weighed. The order input means C3 detects the moving order of the cows by associating the information of the time when the weighing is performed with the individual identification information. The information detected and input by the order input means C3 is stored in the storage means C4.

In the determination of the cow whose movement order has abnormally changed by the determination means C5, two-step determination processing is performed according to the number of times the movement order is detected. If the number of times the movement order is detected is less than or equal to the set number of times and the information on the movement order stored in the storage unit C4 is not sufficient yet, FIG.
As shown in, the movement order is A, from the highest to the lowest.
When the group to which the determination target movement order belongs is changed from the group to which the previous movement order belongs, it is determined that the movement order abnormally changes.

That is, to explain with the example shown in FIG. 5A, the movement order of a certain cow during a certain movement time belongs to the group A, and the movement order of the next movement time is the group B.
When it changes to a movement order belonging to, the cow is identified as a cow whose movement order changes abnormally. When the number of times the movement order is detected exceeds the set number of times and the information about the movement order is accumulated to some extent, the average value of the past movement order of the cattle to be judged is A as shown in FIG. _{As V} , A
_When the movement order of the determination target is out of the range of the width W centering on _V , the cow is determined as a cow whose movement order changes abnormally. The discriminating information discriminated by the discriminating means C5 as described above is displayed on the monitor M _O together with the individual identification information and the weighing value calculated by the weighing value calculating section C1.

As the order of movement of each cow, the actual order of movement may be used as it is, but the actual order of movement is divided by the number of cattle moved in the movement for that time, and an appropriate count (10
It is also possible to use a standardized movement order by multiplying by 0 or 50). By using the standardized movement order in this way, even when the number of cattle moved changes with each movement, it can be treated as similar information.

[Other Embodiments] Other embodiments will be listed below. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the management system of the walking animal of the present invention is applied to the cow system as an example of the walking animal, but it can be applied to other walking animals such as horses and sheep.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the order input means C3 is built in the control device C so that the order is automatically input. However, the worker visually checks the moving order of the cows passing through the weighing device F. It is also possible to judge and input to the control device C from an appropriate input device.

In the above embodiment, the example of one detention site is the grazing ground H and the example of another detention site is the barn G. However, the movement order in the movement route between the detention places such as the feeding ground and the water fountain You may make it discriminate the walking animal which abnormally changed.

In the above-described embodiment, the weighing device F is provided on the movement path from one indwelling place to another indwelling place, but the weighing device F may be omitted and a passage may be used.

In the above embodiment, the antenna 25 of the management-side communication means K is installed on the weighing platform 2, but the fences 1A, 1
You may install in B.

In the above-described embodiment, when the determination unit C5 determines a walking animal in which the movement order has abnormally changed, when the number of times the movement order is detected is less than or equal to the set number and when the number of times the movement order is detected exceeds the set number. , The method of discrimination is changed, but the movement order is always divided into a plurality of groups and discrimination is performed based on the variation information between the groups, or the number of movement order detections is the set number of times. If it exceeds, the determination may be made in relation to the average of the past movement orders.

In the above embodiment, the discrimination means C5 discriminates the walking animal whose movement order has changed abnormally based on the stored information of the storage means C4. However, the input information of the movement order input from the order input means C3 is used. May be compared with the past movement order information stored in the storage means C4 to determine in real time whether or not the movement order of the cow moving along the passage 1 is abnormally changing. . In this case, a separation gate is provided at the end of the passage 1 for switching the cows to the cowshed G and to the cows G provided separately from the cowshed G, and the movement order changes abnormally. It is also possible to separate a cow from other cows.

In the above embodiment, when the number of detections of the movement order is less than or equal to the set number, the determination means C5 divides the movement order into three groups, but divides the movement order into two or four or more groups. Is also good.

In the above-described embodiment, the monitor is used as the output unit M _{O based on} the determination result of the determination unit C5, but a printer or the like may be used as the output unit M _O.

It should be noted that although reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram according to an embodiment to which a management system for walking animals according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

C3 Order input means C4 Storage means C5 Discrimination means F Weighing device K Management side communication means M _O output means T Animal side communication means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A management system for walking animals that are bred in a herd, wherein a rank input for inputting the order of movement of the walking animals that make up the herd in a movement route from one detention site to another detention site. Means (C3), storage means (C4) for storing the input information of the order input means (C3) over a plurality of movements, and the storage information of the storage means (C4) or the order input means (C3) ) Based on the input information, the discriminating means (C5) for discriminating the walking animal in which the movement order is abnormally changed among the walking animals, and the output means (M _O for outputting the discrimination result of the discriminating means (C5). ) And a management system for walking animals. 2. A management for receiving the individual identification information from the animal side communication means (T), wherein each of the walking animals is provided with an animal side communication means (T) for transmitting the individual identification information of the walk animal. Side communication means (K) is provided so that the group of walking animals can communicate when moving in a specific region of the movement route, and the order input means (C3) is the management side communication means (K). The walking animal management system according to claim 1, which is configured to input the movement order based on the individual identification information received by. 3. The weighing apparatus (F) for weighing the walking animal is provided on the moving path, and the management-side communication means (K) is installed in the weighing apparatus (F). Walking animal management system. 4. The gait wherein the discriminating means (C5) divides the movement order into a plurality of groups, and the movement order abnormally fluctuates based on variation information of the movement order of each walking animal across the plurality of groups. The walking animal management system according to claim 1, wherein the management system is configured to identify an animal. 5. The discrimination means (C5) averages the past movement order of each walking animal, and the movement order abnormally changes depending on whether or not the movement order is within a set range centered on the average movement order. The walking animal management system according to claim 1, wherein the walking animal management system is configured to determine the walking animal. 6. The discriminating means (C5) divides the movement order into a plurality of groups when the number of times of detection of the movement order of each walking animal is less than or equal to a set number of times, and the plurality of groups of movement order of each walking animal are divided. Based on the variation information across the groups, the walking animals whose movement order has abnormally changed are discriminated, and when the number of detection times of the movement order of each walking animal exceeds the set number of times, the past movement order of each walking animal is averaged, The management of the walking animal according to claim 1, wherein the walking animal is configured to be discriminated based on whether or not it is within a set range centered on the average movement order. system.