NZ506431A

NZ506431A - Radio transmitter receiver transceiver system for recording interactions between animals

Info

Publication number: NZ506431A
Application number: NZ506431A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Mick Clout; Murray Douglas
Original assignee: Auckland Uniservices Ltd; Her Majesty The Queen Acting B
Priority date: 2000-08-18
Filing date: 2000-08-18
Publication date: 2001-12-21

Abstract

A method for recording interactions between animals comprising the steps of fitting a transmitter, receiver or transceiver to each animal in a group of animals to be monitored. Each transmitter or transmitter part of each transceiver being arranged to produce a signal comprising a code unique to that device and each receiver or receiver part of each transceiver being arranged to operate in a low power mode in isolation. Upon detecting a signal from a transmitter or transceiver the receiver or receiver part of each transceiver operates in a higher power mode. The date or date and time of the detection of a code produced by a transmitter or transceiver and information identifying the transmitter or transceiver is then stored. The animals are allowed freedom to interact for a predetermined time. The animals fitted with a receiver or transceiver are subsequently re-captured, the receiver or transceiver fitted to the animals removed, and the information recorded on the transceivers and/or receivers downloaded into a computer. The downloaded information is processed to provide data showing the interaction between animals.

Description

173797 vl PATENTS FORM 5 Number PATENTS ACT 1953 Dated COMPLETE SPECIFICATION SYSTEM FOR RECORDING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ANIMALS We, AUCKLAND UNISERVICES LIMITED, a New Zealand company, of UniServices 30 House, 58 Symonds Street, Auckland 1001, New Zealand, and HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN ACTING BY AND THROUGH HER MINISTER OF CONSERVATION, a New Zealand company, of 65 Victoria Street, Wellington, New Zealand do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to 35 us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE I OF NZ 1 8 AUG 2000 RECEIVED 173797 vl FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a system and method for recording interactions between animals BACKGROUND OF INVENTION As part of the study of many species of animals and birds scientists measure the boundaries that animals cross and how much time the animals spend at certain 10 activities. Known monitoring systems include systems where a transmitter on an animal may unlock a feeding station or a tracking device to track the position of an animal within a predefined area These monitoring systems generally include a transmitter attached to the animal SUMMARY OF INVENTION In broad terms in one aspect the invention comprises a method for recording interactions between animals comprising the steps of: fitting a transmitter, receiver or transceiver to each animal in a group of animals to be monitored, each transmitter or transmitter part of each transceiver being arranged to produce a signal comprising a code unique to that device, and each receiver or receiver part of each transceiver being arranged to operate in a low power mode in isolation and to operate in a higher power mode upon detecting a 25 signal from a transmitter or transceiver, and to store date or date and time of detection of a code produced by a transmitter or transceiver and information identifying the transmitter or transceiver, allowing the animals freedom to interact for a predetermined time, and 30 subsequently re-capturing animals fitted with a receiver or transceiver, removing each receiver or transceiver fitted to the animals, and downloading information recorded on the transceivers and/or receivers into a computer, and processing the downloaded information to provide data showing the interactions between animals.

In broad terms in another aspect the invention comprises a system for recording interactions between animals, comprising: 2 173797 vl at least one transmission device, of a size suitable for attachment to an animal and arranged to produce signal comprising pulses with a width and/or period unique to that transmission device, and at least one receiver device of a size suitable for attachment to an animal and arranged to operate m a low power mode m isolation and in a higher power mode upon detecting a pulse produced by a transmission device and to store date or date and time information and information identifying the transmission device Preferably in one form the code produced by each transmission device comprises pulses with a period between the pulses or group of pulses unique to that transmission device.

Preferably in another form the code produced by each transmission device comprises pulses produced as groups of at least two pulses with the width of a predetermined pulse in each group of pulses and the period between groups of pulses unique to that transmission device Preferably the reception device is arranged to detect pulses produced by a transmission device only when the distance between the receiver device and transmission device is less than 2 metres Preferably the receiver device (s) comprise a low gain receiver stage which is self 25 powering and is not directly connected to the power supply means. The low gain receiver stage is arranged to detect pulses and upon receiving a pulse provide a signal to power up the receiver.

In this specification "animal" includes birds, reptiles, and fish.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred from system and method of the invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of example only and without 35 intending to be limiting, wherein- 3 173797 vl Figure 1 is a diagram showing a pulse train emitted by a transmitter or transceiver of the invention, Figure 2 is a diagram showing a pulse train that may be received by a receiver or 5 transceiver of the invention, Figure 3 shows one possible source of error which may occur at the receiver or transceiver of the invention, Figure 4 shows a possible group of pulses that may be sent by the transmitter or transceiver of the invention, and Figure 5 is a circuit diagram showing a preferred form embodiment of a receiver of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FORMS Typically a group of animals are captured and each animal has either a transmitter, a receiver, or a transceiver attached The transmitter, receiver or transceiver may be 20 attached to a collar which is fitted to the animal but may be attached to the animal by any other suitable means appropriate to the animal type. The animals are then released. The transmitters, receivers and/or transceivers of the invention are as small as possible lightweight, and weatherproof, and typically include a small aerial.

The reception range of the receivers or transceivers is short, so that they will detect a signal from a transmitter or transceiver only within a short range, of less than two metres for example. Thus a receiver or transceiver will only detect other animals interacting together.

If it is desired to record the interactions between two distinct sub-groups in the group of animals such as the frequency of interactions between young and old animals, or the frequency of mating interactions between male and female animals for example but not interactions between members of each sub-group, then one subgroup such as male animals may be fitted with transmitters and the other subgroup 35 such as female animals with receivers. If it is necessary to record interactions between any animals in the group then all animals may be fitted with transceivers. 4 173797 vl Each transmitter or transceiver radiates a signal comprising a unique code and the receivers or transceivers are arranged to record or log for an interaction date or date and time and also identity information relating to the transmitter or transceiver 5 earned by the other animal In the preferred form a simple coding system is used, which reduces the number of components in the devices Simple codes include pulses with a unique period between pulses, or with unique pulse widths, or a combination of pulse periods and 10 pulse widths. The receiver is then arranged to determine the period between pulses and/or the width of the pulses Only a pulse detection circuit and clock chip are then needed and electronics to determine the pulse height or phase are not required.

A preferred from is pulse period coding as shown in figure 1. Figure 1 shows a pulse 15 train emitted by a transmitter or transceiver of the invention which utilises pulse period coding. The transmitter produces the same period between consecutive pulses to within a small allowable error. Each transmitter or transceiver transmits pulses with a unique period between pulses. Each receiver or receiver section of a transceiver is arranged to measure the period between received pulses.

When an animal carrying a receiver or transceiver comes within range of an animal carrying a transmitter or transceiver, ie when an interaction between two animals occurs, the transmitter code as well as the date and time information are recorded by the receiver. Preferably the receiver or receiver stage of the transceiver is arranged to 25 be activated by the pulses emitted by the transmitter or transceiver On the first pulse received by the receiver or transceiver the logger within the receiver or transceiver is activated. On the second pulse received by the receiver or transceiver the receiver or transceiver begins to measure the time taken until the receiver or transceiver receives a third pulse Upon reception of the third pulse the receiver or 30 transceiver adds a date and time stamp to the recorded period and stores this data in memory. The receiver or transceiver then returns to sleep mode and will be reactivated on receiving a further pulse emitted by a transmitter or transceiver of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a pulse train as it may be received by a receiver or transceiver of the invention. Pulses 1 to 5 are emitted by a transmitter or transceiver of the invention, 173797 vl and have a stable period which does not change over time or with changes in temperature However the height or power in the pulses as received by the receiver or transceiver varies depending on the proximity between the reception device and the transmission device In this figure pulses 3 and 4 are shorter than pulses 1, 2 5 and 5 indicating that the distance between the reception and transmission devices was greater when pulses 3 and 4 were transmitted than when pulses 1, 2 and 5 were transmitted The receiver is activated upon reception of pulse 1 and begins the logger When 10 pulse 2 is received the receiver begins to measure the period until the next received pulse As shown m figure 2 the distance between the receiver and transmitter increases between pulses 2 and 3 and consequently pulse 3 is not of sufficient strength when it reaches the receiver to be detected. Pulse 4 is also not of sufficient strength when it reaches the receiver to be detected. Because neither pulses 3 nor 4 15 are detected the period measurement times out and the receiver or transceiver returns to sleep mode. The receiver or transceiver is activated again upon reception of pulse 5 and begins the logger to time the period between the next two pulses. Each receiver is arranged to return the receiver to sleep mode if an expected pulse is not detected.

Figure 3 shows one potential problem that may occur at the receiver or transceiver of the invention. The pulses 6 to 9 shown in this figure illustrate a group of pulses that may be detected by a receiver or transceiver. The receiver detects pulse 6 and activates the logger. Upon receiving pulse 7 the receiver begins to determine the 25 period between pulses. As pulse 8 falls below the threshold level the receiver does not receive it and the receiver continues to determine the period between pulses. On the detection of pulse 9 the receiver stops determining the pulse period, date and time stamps the determined period and stores this information in memory. However the stored period is not the pulse period of the transmitter or transceiver but one 30 twice as long. This may cause problems if a transmitter or transceiver in use in the same group of animals has a pulse period of the same length as that stored. The problem is an aliasing problem and may be overcome by ensuring that no transmitter or receiver emits a pulse train with a period that is an integer multiple of the period of the pulse train of any other transmitter or transceiver. 6 173797 vl Figure 4 shows a second possible group of pulses that may be transmitted by a transmitter or transceiver of the invention This pulse sequence is designed so that pulse 10 activates the receiver when detected, the receiver then determines the width of pulse 11 and the period between pulses 12 and 13 before date and time stamping 5 this information for storage as before In this set of pulses, pulse 11 may be used to determine the group to which the animal with the transmitter belongs and the period between the pulses may be used to identify the particular animal within the group Other simple pulse sequences may also be used.

Figure 5 is a circuit diagram showing a preferred form embodiment of a receiver of the invention The receiver comprises as major components a front end amplifier 20, a processor chip 21, a clock chip 22, power supply means 23, memory chip 25, interface connection 24 and receiver 26. Preferably front end amplifier 20 is a low power amplifier and is connected to power supply 23. Front end amplifier 20 is 15 activated by any pulse it receives from receiver 26. Receiver 26 is a low gain receiver which is self powering. Receiver 26 works as a high frequency rectifier which produces a DC signal at amplifier 20. Receiver 26 uses no battery power and has an 8MHz bandwidth. Because receiver 26 is powered by signal detected by its antenna no battery power is wasted in maintaining the receiver in a ready mode. The received 20 pulse is amplified by front end amplifier 20 and the amplified signal is used as an interrupt to activate processor chip 21.

Upon reception of the interrupt signal by processor chip 21, the processor chip 21 waits for a second interrupt signal. If this signal is not received within a 25 predetermined time limit then the processor chip 21 returns to sleep mode. If a second signal is received by front end amplifier 20 and passed on to processor chip 21 then processor chip 21 begins a count to determine the period between the second signal and a third signal. If no third signal is received within a predetermined time limit then processor chip 21 returns to sleep mode. If a third 30 signal is received by front end amplifier 20 and passed on to processor chip 21, processor chip 21 finishes calculating the period between the second signal and the third signal. Processor chip 21 then polls clock chip 22 for the date and time. Following this processor chip 21 sends the date, time and period to memory chip 25 for storage. 7 173797 vl The power supply 23 is preferably provided by a small batteiy capable of providing the power required to run the chips and having a lifetime sufficient to cover the animal observation period.

If pulses with a different structure are used, such as those described with reference to figure 4 then the processor chip 21 may be programmed to calculate the width of the second signal and the period between the third and fourth signal As the signals which may be transmitted from the transmitters of the invention are known before the observation period begins the receivers can be programmed to recognise the 10 signed pattern and calculate and signal lengths and periods required Ideally all sequences transmitted by transmitters in an observation period are of the same form allowing one identification method to be programmed into all receivers used in the observation period.

Once the animal observation period is completed and the receivers have been recovered from the animals, information stored in the memory chips 25 of the receivers may be downloaded to a computer or other suitable processor device Each receiver is equipped with an interface connection 24 which allows information to be downloaded. Following downloading of the information it may be processed to 20 identify each animal involved in interactions with the animal wearing the receiver This can be achieved by comparing the stored time periods with the known time periods emitted by each animal wearing a transmitter or transceiver. In this way the interactions between the animal being studied may be measured.

The foregoing describes the invention including a preferred form thereof. Alterations and modifications as will be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be incorporated within the scope hereof 8 173797 vl

Claims

CLAIMS 1 A method for recording interactions between animals comprising the steps of. 5 fitting a transmitter, receiver or transceiver to each animal in a group of animals to be monitored, each transmitter or transmitter part of each transceiver being arranged to produce a signal comprising a code unique to that device, and each receiver or receiver part of each transceiver being arranged to operate in a low power mode in isolation and to operate in a higher power mode upon detecting a 10 signal from a transmitter or transceiver, and to store date or date and time of detection of a code produced by a transmitter or transceiver and information identifying the transmitter or transceiver, allowing the animals freedom to interact for a predetermined time, and subsequently re-capturing animals fitted with a receiver or transceiver, removing 15 each receiver or transceiver fitted to the animals, and downloading information recorded on the transceivers and/or receivers into a computer, and processing the downloaded information to provide data showing the interactions between animals.
2 A method according to claim 1 wherein the code produced by each 20 transmitter or transceiver comprises pulses with a period between the pulses or group of pulses unique to that transmitter or transceiver.
3 A method according to claim 1 wherein the code produced by each transmitter or transceiver comprises pulses produced as groups of at least two 25 pulses with the width of a predetermined pulse in each group of pulses and the period between groups of pulses unique to that transmitter or transceiver.
4. A method according to claim 2 wherein each receiver or transceiver on detecting a signal from a transmitter or transceiver determines the period between 30 pulses produced by the transmitter or stores the determined period.
5. A method according to claim 3 wherein each receiver or transceiver on detecting a signal from a transmitter or transceiver determines the width of the predetermined pulse in each group of pulses and the period between groups of 35 pulses produced by the transmitter or transceiver and stores the determined width and period. 9 173797 vl
6 A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 where the receivers or transceivers are arranged to detect a signal from a transmitter or transceiver only when the distance between the receiver and transmitter is less than 2 metres 5
7. A system for recording interactions between animals, comprising at least one transmission device, of a size suitable for attachment to an animal and arranged to produce signal comprising pulses with a width and/or period unique to that transmission device, and 10 at least one receiver device of a size suitable for attachment to an animal and arranged to operate in a low power mode in isolation and in a higher power mode upon detecting a pulse produced by a transmission device and to store date or date and time information and information identifying the transmission device. 15
8 A system according to claim 7 wherein the code produced by each transmission device comprises pulses with a period between the pulses or group of pulses unique to that transmission device.
9. A system according to claim 7 wherein the code produced by each 20 transmission device comprises pulses produced as groups of at least two pulses with the width of a predetermined pulse in each group of pulses and the period between groups of pulses unique to that transmission device.
10. A system according to claim 8 wherein each receiver device on detecting a 25 signal from a transmission device determines the period between pulses produced by the transmission device and stores the determined period.
11. A system according to claim 9 wherein each reception device on detecting a signal from a transmission device determines the width of the predetermined pulse in 30 each group of pulses and the period between groups of pulses produced by the transmission device and stores the determined width and period
12. A system according to any one of claims 7 to 11 where the reception device is arranged to detect pulses produced by a transmission device only when the distance 35 between the receiver device and transmission device is less than 2 metres 10 173797 vl
13 A system according to any one of claims 7 to 12 wherein each transmission or receiver device powered by a small battery capable or providing power to the device for as long as the device is in use 5
14. A system according to any one of claims 7 to 13 wherein the receiver device(s) comprise a low gain receiver stage, front end amplifier, processor means, clock means, power supply means, data storage means, and at least one interface connection stage. 10
15 A system according to claim 14 wherein the low gain receiver stage is self powering and is not directly connected to the power supply means.
16. A system according to either one of claims 14 and 15 wherein the low gain receiver stage is arranged to detect pulses and upon receiving a pulse provide a 15 signal to the front end amplifier which provides a signal to the processor means to provide higher power to the receiver device.
17. A system according to any one of claims 14 to 16 arranged to upon reception of a first pulse the low gain receiver stage the receiver device, determine the period 20 between a second and a third pulse and store the determined pulse period, and date or date and time in the data storage means. 1
18. A system according to any one of claims 14 to 16 arranged to upon reception of a first pulse by the low gain receiver stage, determine the width of a predetermined 25 pulse following the first pulse and determine the period between the group of pulses containing the first pulse and a second group of pulses, and store the determined pulse width, pulse group period, and date or date and time in the data storage means. 30
19 A method for recording interactions between animals, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings
20. A system for recording interaction between animals, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 35 WEST-WALKER BENNETT p., ATTORNEYS FOR THE APPLICANT 11