SK8979Y1 - System and method for monitoring and directing the movement of livestock - Google Patents

Abstract

The system for remote monitoring and directing the movement of livestock comprises at least one collar (A) for attachment to the neck of the animal, which contains an electronic identifier (1) for identifying the animal and is connected to a control module (2) which is connected to the transmitter/receiver module (3), to the vibration module (4), the sound module (5), the light module (6), the electrostatic and power supply module (7) connected to the accumulator (8); the control module (2) is connected to the sensors (10) for monitoring the animal via a connected bluetooth module (11) and the control module (2) is remotely electronically connected via a transmitter/receiver module (3) to an externally located control unit (9) for control of the control module (2) in the operating mode or the control module (2) is connected via a transmitter/receiver module (3) to a mobile transmitter (13), the control unit (9) being electronically connected to one or more external terminals (14) . The method for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of livestock uses the present device.

Description

Technical field

The technical solution relates to a system and method for remote monitoring and directing the movement of animals, in particular livestock.

Prior art

At present, the problem of monitoring and directing the movement of livestock, mostly with the help of human labor, ie non-automated, is being solved.

E.g. The method of summoning cows in a robotic milking system is ensured by the physical intervention of farmers - they must personally ensure that all cows can be milked.

If a cow cannot be milked, they must look for it and bring it to the milking robot. The automation of the milking process is thus not complete, while the milking robot itself enables fully automatic operation. However, regular feeding of all cows from the herd is required. During robotic milking of dairy cows, new dairy cows included in the herd milked by the robot must learn to walk milking on their own. The dairy cow must be introduced into the milking robot several times a day. In the robotic milking facility, the animal receives core feed, which stimulates it to walk milking independently. Some dairy cows start milking on their own after one or two visits to the robot.

However, sometimes it happens that a dairy cow that has been milking alone for a long time suddenly stops walking for unknown reasons, even though it is at the peak of lactation and therefore has a high need for core feed. If a farmer introduces a dairy cow into a robot to be milked, it is a waste of time and at the same time it is necessary to have employees for this purpose. However, some animals refuse to go milking on their own. This phenomenon occurs in the herd in 2 to 5 percent of dairy cows.

In this case, the dairy cow must be brought to the milking robot at least twice a day. Due to the fact that the biggest advantage of robotic milking is that the dairy cow is milked independently without the presence of a human, such an incident disrupts the whole concept and essence of robotic milking.

The goal of robotic milking is completely, resp. eliminate human interventions during robotic milking as much as possible.

From the state of Iechniks are known so-called. virtual enclosures (some also allow animal monitoring).

Cow monitoring devices are also known to ensure artificial insemination of animals, e.g. such a device is described in the internationally published patent application WO 2006 / 077589A2 of 19.01.2006 "A Method and Device for Detecting Estrus" of the applicant SCR ENGINEERS, LTD.

An electronic method of monitoring the movement of dairy cows through a device placed on the animal's body is published in document GB 2540802 of July 29, 2006 "A Calf Weaning Apparatus" of the applicant KL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED.

In practice, it is necessary to address the problem of monitoring livestock and directing their movement in a new available way that would force animals to behave in a certain way, e.g. would ensure that dairy cows go to milking separately.

The essence of the technical solution

The system for remote monitoring and directing the movement of livestock consists of at least one collar which is mounted on the neck of the animal and which has an electronic identifier for identifying the animal connected to the control module. The control module is connected to the transmitter / receiver module, vibration module, sound module, light module, electrostatic module and to the power supply module connected to the battery. The control module is connected via bluetooth module with sensors for animal monitoring (temperature, physical activity, chewing frequency, etc.). .).

The collar is remotely electronically connected via a control module via a transmitter / receiver module 3 to an externally located control unit. The control unit is electronically connected to one or more external terminals and provides an automatic mode of operation of the device.

If necessary (eg when applying a virtual fence), a GPS module is also connected to the control unit, which monitors the position (GPS coordinates) of the animal.

Animal monitoring sensors may be located on the animal's body or may be implanted directly in the animal's body.

A mobile transmitter for controlling the control module, which is used in the animal training mode, can be electronically connected to the control module via the transmitter / receiver module.

The method for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of livestock through the plant according to this technical solution comprises the following steps:

S K 8979 Υ1

- a collar with an electronic identifier to identify a specific animal is attached to the neck of the animal, - sensors to monitor the animal are placed on the animal's body and / or into the animal's body,

- the control module is connected to the sensors via a bluetooth module,

- the control module monitors and collects information on the movement of the animal and sends it via the transmitter / receiver module to the control unit or to the connected mobile transmitter,

- in case the control unit is used, it processes and evaluates the information for individual animals using the embedded software according to pre-set algorithms. Based on the data processing results, the program inserted in the control unit automatically sends instructions from the control unit via the transmitter / receiver module to the control module to activate the individual connected modules and / or sends information to one or more connected external terminals, for example in e-mail or statements. on the screen,

- in the animal training mode, a transmitter is used which directly sends instructions via the transmitter / receiver module to the control module.

Based on an instruction from the control unit or the transmitter, the control module activates the vibration module and / or activates the sound module, and / or activates the light module, and / or activates the electrostatic module.

The practical use of the system in the field of robotic milking is as follows: a collar for dairy cows uses a remote signal to force a dairy cow that has not milked for a long time to visit the milking robot. The signal can be sent by a person via the transmitter manually (during dairy cow training), but a more efficient way is if the signal is sent by the control system connected to the robot on the impression.

The control unit evaluates the time since the last milking of the dairy cow and after exceeding a certain period of time it sends a signal to the collar of the respective dairy cow to set it up for milking.

It is usually necessary for the dairy cow to undergo a short training. If the breeder finds that a particular dairy cow has not visited the milking robot for a long time (for example, the mentioned 12 hours), he must look for the dairy cow in the herd and find out its health status. It can happen that the dairy cow is ill or has suffered a physical injury and is unable to stand up or walk on its own (acute laminitis, mastitis or other disease). If the cow is able to get up and walk on her own, she puts on a and a cow goher, triggers a sound and a vibration signal and introduces s and a cow into the milking robot. On the second visit to the robot, together with the sound and vibration signal, a short-term electrostatic signal (lowest intensity) is triggered and the cow is led to the robot at the impression, where all signals are switched off. This must be done at least twice and the intensity of the electrostatic signal will increase with each subsequent visit. In the next step, if it is assumed that the cow has understood what is required of her, it is tested whether she gets up and goes to the milking robot herself after the sound and vibration signal is triggered. If so, the training was sufficient and the management of the milking call can be delegated to the control unit, e.g. computer (automatic milking call is activated on the computer).

The system can also be used as a summoner to treat a dairy cow when the dairy cow is being treated for a long time. Goher can also be used to quickly search for a cow in the herd, it can ensure that the signal light on the neck of the cow starts flashing and also hears an audible signal.

It is possible to build other functions into the system, e.g. GPS module, dairy activity meter and so on. However, it is considered most important that the goher has a built-in transmitter / receiver module that allows two-way communication between the control unit and the animal. The dairy has built-in body (under the skin) or body (stomach, intestines, uterus ...) they will communicate with the goher via a bluetooth connection and the goher will pass this data to the parent computer. It is already possible to measure some bodily functions of the animal (intensity of chewing, physical activity, body temperature, heartbeat, etc.). It can be expected that such sensors will be added in the future, thus obtaining a more comprehensive overview of animal health.

There are currently around 40,000 robots working in the world, which means that around 2 million dairy cows are milked without human presence. This number is expected to increase many times over the years, so computerized monitoring of dairy cows' health will be necessary. Despite the mentioned benefits of the system in the future, it can be stated that the very function of the milking call could contribute to a more widespread expansion of the milking robot, and thus alleviate the daily strenuous work of dairy farmers.

Those interested in the final product could be mainly farmers using milking robots, resp. all farmers who are interested in monitoring their cows, and the function of calling for milking would be only one of the offered functionalities of the system.

Overview of figures in the drawings

FIG. 1 shows a system for remote monitoring and control of the movement of livestock and interconnection of its individual parts without a GPS module.

S K 8979 Υ1

FIG. 2 shows a system for remote monitoring and directing the movement of livestock and connecting its individual parts to a GPS module

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the operation of a system for remote monitoring and directing the movement of animals in an automatic mode.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of the operation of a system for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of animals in an animal training mode.

Examples of embodiments

Example 1

The system for remote monitoring and directing the movement of livestock comprises at least one collar A, which is mounted on the neck of the animal, which contains an electronic identifier 1 for identifying the animal. This is connected to the control module 2 connected to the transmitter / receiver module 3, to the vibration module 4, sound module 5, light module 6, electrostatic and to the power supply module 7 connected to the battery 8. The control module 2 is connected via bluetooth module 11 to sensors 10 for animal monitoring. Collar A is remotely electronically connected via the control module 2 via a transmitter / receiver module 3 to an externally located control unit 9 in automatic mode or is connected to a transmitter 13 for controlling the control module 2 in animal training mode. The control unit 9 is electronically connected to one or more external terminals 14.

The control module 2 may comprise a GPS module 12 as required, in particular to provide the function of an electronic virtual fence.

The animal monitoring sensors 10 may be located on the animal's body or may be implanted directly in the animal's body.

A mobile transmitter 13 can be electronically connected to the control module 2 via the transmitter / receiver module 3 to control the control module 2 in the animal training mode.

The method for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of livestock through the plant according to this technical solution comprises the following steps:

- a collar A with an electronic identifier 1 is attached to the neck of the animal to identify a specific animal,

- sensors 10 for monitoring the animal are placed on the body and / or in the body of the animal,

- the control module 2 is connected to the sensors 10 via the bluetooth module 11,

- the control module 2 monitors and collects information on the movement of the animal and sends it via the transmitter / receiver module 3 to the control unit 9 or to the connected mobile transmitter 13,

- in the case of the training mode, the transmitter 13 sends instructions directly via the transmitter / receiver module 3 to the control module 2,

- in the case of automatic mode, the control unit 9 processes and evaluates the information for individual animals according to pre-set algorithms,

- based on the data processing results, the program inserted in the control unit 9 automatically transmits instructions from the control unit 9 via the transmitter / receiver module 3 to the control module 2 to activate the individual connected modules and / or sends information to one or more connected external terminals 14, e.g. in the form of electronic notification.

The control module 2 activates the vibration module 4 and / or activates the sound module 5, and / or activates the light module 6 on the basis of an instruction from the control unit 9 or from the mobile transmitter 13.

Example 2

In this example, the same equipment as in Example 1 is used. In this case, it is a way of searching for a dairy cow in a herd. A walkie-talkie 13 is used. A farmer who needs to search for a certain dairy cow in the herd daily, for example to treat, puts on the dairy cow collar A. When searching for a dairy cow, the appropriate button on the walkie-talkie 13 and the cow on collar A . Similarly, the sound module 5 can be used to activate the sound signal. In this way, the caregiver simply finds the dairy cow on which he needs to perform the procedure (eg antibiotic treatment, wound cleansing or limb treatment).

Example 3

In this example, the same equipment is used as in Example 1. This is a situation where the breeder needs the dairy cow to come separately to a certain defined area where he will be treated. A walkie-talkie 13 is used. If a daily operation is performed on a dairy cow for several days or weeks (eg treatment of chronic mastitis), it is advisable to teach the dairy cow to go for treatment on her own. This is achieved by triggering an audible and vibrating signal when the cow is handed over to the defined area and the cow is taken to this area. Furthermore, it is appropriate that dairy cows and water be provided to dairy cows as a reward. This is how many dairy cows

With K 8979 Υ1, they will learn to come for treatment on their own in a short time. If necessary, an electrostatic signal can also be used.

Example 4

In this example, the same equipment as in Example 1 is used, and a method is described in which the breeder needs the cow to visit the milking robot separately. It should be noted that the dairy cow requires a short training. A walkie-talkie 13 is used. If the farmer finds that a particular dairy cow has not visited the milking robot for a long time (for example 12 hours), he must look for the dairy cow in the herd and find out its health status. If the cow is able to get up and walk independently, she puts the collar A on the cow and triggers an audible and vibrating signal via the transmitter 13, introducing the cow into the milking robot. On the second visit to the robot, together with the audible vibration signal, it triggers a short-term electrostatic signal (the lowest intensity) and leads the cow to the milking robot, where all signals are switched off.

This must be done at least twice. The intensity of the electrostatic signal increases with each subsequent visit. In the next step, it is tested whether, after the sound and vibration signal is triggered, the cow gets up and goes to the milking robot by herself. If so, the training was sufficient and the milking call control can be delegated to the control unit 9 and the device will continue to operate in automatic mode (automatic milking call will be switched on in the connected computer).

Example 5

In this example, the same device as in Example 1 is used. The device operates in automatic mode. The animal has built-in sensors 10 for several body functions, for example: heart rate, body temperature, physical activity, chewing intensity. All sensors 10 are able to send information about the state of the animal practically continuously. Each sensor is connected via Bluetooth module 11, which communicates with the collar A and its control module 2. The control module 2 requests data from individual sensors 10 at regular intervals and then sends them to the control unit 9 (to the superior computer) on request. data for individual animals according to data from electronic identifier 1 processed and evaluated by a software application. In your morning report or immediately, e.g. by means of an e-mail or an SMS message, the control unit 9 notifies the breeder of the individual facts which it has obtained on the basis of the received and processed signals from the individual sensors 10 of the dairy cows. In this way, the system can automatically alert the farmer to sick dairy cows that need immediate weeding (laminitis, febrile illness), or even to dairy cows that have swamp.

Industrial applicability

The device according to the present solution can be used especially in the field of breeding agricultural animals and will be used for remote monitoring and control of the movement of animals, especially farm animals such as cows, sheep, goats and the like. The device equipped with a GPS module can be used as a virtual fence. The device can also be used in zoos to guide the movement of animals or it can also be used in conservation activities, e.g. to monitor the health status of animals in the wild.

S K 8979 Υ1

List of reference marks collar (A) electronic identifier (1) control module (2) transmitter / receiver module (3) vibration module (4) sound module (5) light module (6) electrostatic and power supply module (7) battery (8) control unit (9) sensors (10) for animal monitoring bluetooth module (11)

GPS module (12) mobile transmitter (13) external terminal (14)

Claims (9)

CLAIMS FOR PROTECTION A system for remote monitoring and directing the movement of livestock, characterized in that it comprises at least one collar (A) for attachment to the neck of an animal, which comprises an electronic identifier (1) for identifying the animal and is connected to a control module (2), which is connected to the transmitter / receiver module (3), to the vibration module (4), the sound module (5), the light module (6), the electrostatic and power supply module (7) connected to the battery (8), and the control module (2) ) is connected to sensors (10) for monitoring the animal via a connected bluetooth module (11), and the control module (2) is remotely electronically connected via a transmitter / receiver module (3) to an externally located control unit (9) for controlling the control module ( 2) in the operating mode or the control module (2) is connected via a transmitter / receiver module (3) to a mobile transmitter (13), the control unit (9) being electronically connected to one or more external terminals (14). System for remote monitoring and direction of livestock movement according to claim 1, characterized in that the control module (2) is connected to the GPS module (12) via a transmitter / receiver module (3). System for remote monitoring and directing the movement of livestock according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that sensors (10) for monitoring the animal are located on the body of the animal. System for remote monitoring and directing the movement of livestock according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that sensors (10) for monitoring the animal are located in the body of the animal. System for remote monitoring and direction of livestock movement according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that a mobile transmitter (13) for controlling the control module is electronically connected to the control module (2) via a transmitter / receiver module (3) (2) in animal training mode. A method for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of livestock by a device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: a collar (A) with an electronic identifier (1) is attached to the animal's neck, to the animal's body and / or to the animal's body sensors (10) for monitoring the animal are placed, the control module (2) is connected to the sensors (10) via a connected bluetooth module (11), the control module (2) collects information about the animal's movement and sends it via the transmitter / receiver module (3) ) to the remote control unit (9), in case of using the control unit (9) it processes and evaluates information for individual animals according to preset algorithms, in the control unit (9) the inserted program is automatically transmitted from the control unit (9) based on data processing results ) via the instruction transmitter / receiver module (3) to the control module (2) and / or sends information in the form of electronic mail and notifications to one or more connected external devices (14), in the case of using a mobile transmitter (13), it sends instructions directly via the transmitting / receiving module (3) to the control module (2). Method for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of livestock according to claim 6, characterized in that the control module (2) activates the vibration module (4) on the basis of an instruction from the control unit (9) or from the mobile transmitter (13). Method for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of livestock according to claim 6, characterized in that the control module (2) activates the sound module (5) on the basis of an instruction from the control unit (9) or from the mobile transmitter (13). Method for remotely monitoring and directing the movement of livestock according to claim 6, characterized in that the control module (2) activates the light module (6) on the basis of an instruction from the control unit (9) or from the mobile transmitter (13).