WO2017207981A1

WO2017207981A1 - Animal tracking system

Info

Publication number: WO2017207981A1
Application number: PCT/GB2017/051543
Authority: WO
Inventors: David EMPSON; Sasha IMAMOVICH; Steve Butcher; Archie LORD
Original assignee: Kinect Solutions Limited
Priority date: 2016-05-31
Filing date: 2017-05-30
Publication date: 2017-12-07
Also published as: GB201609536D0; GB2544572A; GB2544572B

Abstract

An animal tracking system comprising an implantable device (10) and an external charging device (20) is disclosed. The implantable device (10) comprises a location module (15) adapted to detect its location and generate an output signal indicating the detected location, a radio transmitter (14) which transmits a location signal indicating the detected location, and a rechargeable power source (17) for providing power to the location module and radio transmitter. The rechargeable power source is coupled to a first inductive charging coil (19) via a charging circuit (18), and the external charging device (20) is provided in a collar (1) or in a housing for attachment to a collar and comprises a power source (22) and a second inductive charging coil (24) for electromagnetic coupling with the first inductive charging coil.

Description

ANIMAL TRACKING SYSTEM

This invention relates to an animal tracking system comprising an implantable device and an external charging device.

Tracking of animals is a matter of concern for a large number of people. For examples, pets often are lost or stolen and the chances of reuniting them with their owners can be small, especially if they have been stolen. It is also of concern in other areas: farmers may wish to keep track of their flocks of sheep, herds of cows and the like; zookeepers may wish to keep track of animals that have room to range over large territories, for example in safari parks; and scientists may wish to keep track of animals that they are studying.

In the case of pets, the prevalent solution to the problem of trying to reunite owners with animals that go astray or are stolen is the implantation of "microchips'. This is done by a veterinary surgeon, and indeed has become compulsory in the UK recently. However, there are significant problems with this type of device.

Firstly, they are passive devices based on radiofrequency Identification (RFID) technology. The device only responds (by transmitting a unique Identification code) when energised by a scanner. Therefore, the animal with the "microchip" implanted must be found and taken to someone with a scanner to be able to Identify its owner so that they may be reunited. There is no way of actively tracking the whereabouts of an animal that has one of these devices implanted.

Second, even if an animal with a "microchip" Implanted Is successfully scanned, ft Is often the case that the owner might have moved house and forgotten to advise the organisation administering the database linking the identification codes to owners. There Is no way then of reuniting the animal with its owner, even though it has been found.

Existing attempts to provide an active tracking solution, for example one using a Global Positioning System (GPS) coupled to a radio transmitter in a collar, suffer from the problem that they are easily removed from the animal if stolen and can come loose from the animal.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided an animal tracking system comprising an implantable device and an external charging device, wherein the implantable device comprises a location module adapted to detect Its location and generate an output signal indicating the detected location, a radio transmitter hi h t it location signal indicating the detected location, and a rechargeable power source for providing power to the location module and radio transmitter, the rechargeable power source being coupled to a first inductive charging coil via a charging circuit, and wherein the external charging device is provided in a collar or in a housing for attachment to a collar and comprises a power source and a second inductive charging coil for electromagnetic coupling with the first inductive charging coil.

The invention addresses all of the above-mentioned problems. By combining a location sensor and a radio transmitter that can transmit the location detected by the sensor, the invention provides a means of actively tracking an animal. Furthermore, the animal's owner can take responsibility for tracking the animal so out-of-date address detailed, for example, are of no concern. Since the location and radio transmitter are implanted within the animal, they cannot be separated from the animal without surgery.

Typically, the location module comprises a GPS receiver and/or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) receiver. Other location modules could be used, for example, an inertia I navigation module based on accelerometers and/or gyroscopes. However, these are likely to be far more bulky and would require an initial frame of reference unlike GPS and/or GLONASS.

The radio transmitter usually forms part of a cellular radio. Any conventional cellular radio system, such as GSM, can be used.

The implantable device may further comprise an RFID device storing a unique identification code.

Typically, the implantable device further comprises a memory for storing configuration and/or status parameters including one or more of a unique identification code; details of a keeper of an animal; a state of charge of the rechargeable power source; a frequency at which the location signal is to be transmitted; and geofence parameters defining the borders of a geographic region defining a confinement zone for an animal.

The unique identification code, as with prior art "microchip" RFID solutions, provides a means of uniquely identifying the animal with the implantable device. Unique identification might not be required in all circumstances. For example, an owner of many animals might be satisfied with all of the animals being identified with the same code. In this case, the status parameters may include a non-unique identification code; it may of course be associated with an owner or collective of owners. The details of the keeper of the animal might Include any of a name, a phone number and an address of the keeper.

The frequency at which the location signal is to be transmitted is of importance. It if is too often, the battery life will be reduced; however, if it is too infrequent, the resolution of the animals' location may not be sufficient to find it.

The concept of geofencing is also of importance. Pet owners, for example, often allow their animals to roam freely within their gardens. The geofence (i.e. confinement zone) could then be defined to be coterminous with the borders of an owner's garden. Similarly, farmers could define a geofence coterminous with the borders of their land or a field within it.

The implantable device typically further comprises a Bluetooth* or Wi-Fi" module for enabling communication with a remote device to allow the configuration and/or status parameters to be viewed and/or updated. The remote device will typically be a smartphone or a tablet computer.

Normally, the radio transmitter also transmits one or more of the configuration and/or status parameters, such as the state of charge of the rechargeable power source. This enables the configuration and/or status parameters to be received by a remote monitoring service.

The rechargeable power source is preferably a lithium ion; a lithium ion polymer battery and/or a supercapacitor. Although other battery technologies could potentially be used, they are likely to be too bulky owing to their inferior power density.

The implantable device is housed within a sealed housing made from a biocompatible material. Suitable materials include biocompatible polymers such as medical grades of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyether ether ketone (PEEK).

The external charging device is provided in a collar or in a housing for attachment to a collar. When used with a domestic pet, such as a cat or dog, this allows the second inductive charging coil to be placed in close proximity with the typical implantation site for the implantable device (which will be on the back of the animal's neck) so that there is good electromagnetic coupling with the first inductive charging device. Perfect alignment is not essential though as efficient charging can be achieved provided there is reasonably close proximity between the first and second inductive charging coils.

The power source in the external charging device could be a rechargeable power source, such as a lithium ion or lithium ion polymer battery, or it could be a replaceable power source, such as a conventional alkaline battery or batteries.

Whilst the collar could become separated from an animal wearing it the rechargeable power source would continue to operate the implantable device until its power was exhausted, providing a vital window of opportunity to find the animal.

Typically, the external charging device comprises an oscillator for energising the second inductive charging coil with alternating current

In a preferred embodiment, the animal tracking system further comprises a server coupled to a receiver adapted to receive the location signal, the server being adapted to store the detected location indicated by the location signal and a timestamp associated with the detected location.

Typically, the receiver will be a cellular network gateway for receiving the signals from the implantable device and passing them on via a TCP/IP network to the server. The server can then act as a centralised monitoring service to keep track of an animal's movements so that there is a record of its historic whereabouts (in the recent and more distant past). This can help with the chances of reuniting it with its owner because patterns in its behaviour can be reviewed to show paths it often follows or places ft chooses to visit Without the centralised monitoring, this would be more difficult to arrange and an owner would tend only to see current data when they noticed the animal was missing. In some circumstances, there might be no data if the rechargeable power source had discharged.

The server may store geofence parameters defining the borders of a geographic region defining a confinement zone for an animal, the server being adapted to respond to the detected location being outside the confinement zone by issuing an alert The alert could be in the form of an e-mail or SMS message to interested parties, such as owners of an animal or their friends and family. The receiver may be adapted to receive the one or more configuration and/or status parameters and the server is adapted to store the one or more configuration and/or status parameters. This allows the owner to review the state of charge of the rechargeable power source, for example.

The server may be coupled to a transmitter to enable the one or more configuration and/or status parameters to be updated. The transmitter will typically be part of a cellular network gateway for receiving TCP/IP packets from the server and converting them to a cellular radio signal for onward transmission to a receiver in the implantable device to enable the one or more configuration and/or status parameters to be updated.

The server may be adapted to respond to a request for historical location data for an animal by retrieving detected locations with associated timestamps earlier than a predefined time associated with the request. This allows the owner to investigate patterns of historical movements of the animal, for example paths it often follows and/or places It often chooses to visit, as mentioned above.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic of a system according to the invention; and

Rgure 2 shows a schematic of the implantable device and external charging device.

Figure 1 shows an overview of an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, a dog is wearing a collar 1. The collar 1 comprises a rechargeable (or replaceable) battery and an inductive charging coll for electromagnetic coupling with an inductive charging coil in an implantable device (not shown in Figure 1) implanted under the skin in the dog's neck. Choosing an implantation site for the implantable device in the dog's neck allows a collar to be used as an external power source for recharging a battery in the implantable device by inductive charging. Whilst a dog has been shown in the illustration, it is clear that the invention could be used with other domestic pets, such as cats or rabbits or with farm livestock. Similarly, other implantation sites than the neck could be chosen providing relatively close proximity between an external charging device and the implanted device can be achieved to allow electromagnetic coupling. As another example, the implantable device might be implanted on the back of a horse and a modified saddle used as the external charging device. The detailed implementation of the implantable device and external charging device will be explained below with reference to Figure 2.

The implantable device comprises a cellular radio to enable it to communicate over a cellular network 2, such as a GSM or LTE network, with a cloud-based (i.e. Internet connected) server 3. In practice, the cellular network will receive data packets from the cellular radio in the implantable device and convert these to TCP/IP packets at a gateway connecting the cellular network to the Internet. The server can response to requests from conventional internet connected devices, such as tablets 4 and smarthphones 5 as will be explained below along with the functionality of the server 3.

The detailed structure of the implantable device 10 and external charging device 20 (in this embodiment, a collar for fitting to a dog or cat) is shown in Figure 2. The implantable device is entirely housed within a sealed housing 11 made from a biocompatible material, such as medical grades of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyether ether ketone (PEEK).

Within the housing 11 there is a microprocessor 12 and a memory 13. The microprocessor 12 can be any of numerous different types, but ARM microprocessors (available for example from Qualcomm and Texas Instruments amongst other manufacturers) are particularly suitable due to their ease of availability, mature software development toolkits, low cost and low power consumption. The memory 13 stores software for controlling the operation of the microprocessor along with configuration and status parameters.

The microprocessor 12 is also coupled to a cellular radio 14 for communication with other devices over a cellular network such as a GSM network or an LTE network, a GPS receiver 15 and a Bluetooth* Low Energy (BTLE) radio 16 for data communications with local devices.

As discussed above, the implantable device 10 is small enough to be implanted under the skin of an animal in a similar manner to existing RFID-based "microchips" used with domestic pets. Atypical implantation site in on the back of the neck of a cat or dog. The implantable device 10 is powered by a rechargeable battery 17, which in this embodment will be a lithium ion or lithium ion polymer battery due to its high energy density. The battery 17 is recharged by energy received inductively by an inductive charging coil 19 and conditioned for charging the battery by a charging circuit 18. The inductive charging coil 19 being close to the skin of the animal after implantation can be electromagneticalry coupled with an inductive charging coil 24 in an external charging device 20 (in this embodiment, embedded in a collar). The external charging device 20 comprises a rechargeable battery 22 (again lithium ion or lithium ion polymer batteries are preferred due to their high energy density). In other embodiments, a replaceable battery or batteries, for example an alkaline battery or batteries, could be used as the power source in the external charging device 20. This battery 22 provides power to an energising circuit 23, which comprises an oscillator for driving the inductive charging coil 24. Thus, when the two inductive charging coils 19 and 24 are placed In close proximity (e.g. when the collar containing the inductive charging coil 24 is fitted to an animal in which the Implantable device 10 has been implanted), the two coils 19 and 24 are inductively (or

electromagnetically) coupled to transfer energy from inductive charging coil 24 to inductive charging coil 19.

The battery 17 in implantable device 10 has to be relatively small and can therefore only power the implantable device 10 for a relatively short period of time, for example up to 12 hours. The battery 22 in the external charging device 20 can be much larger and keep the battery 17 in implantable device 10 charged for a lot longer, potentially a few days. Thus, if an animal wearing the collar with external charging device 20 embedded and having the implanted device 10 implanted goes astray, it can be tracked for a considerable length of time. Even if the collar is separated from the animal, there are still several hours within which to find the animal and reunite it with its keeper or owner. The battery in external charging device 20 can be recharged by supplying power through a charging port 21, for example a micro USB port commonly used to recharge mobile phones.

Once the implantable device 10 has been implanted, a registration process must be performed. This associates the implantable device 10 with the animal in which it has been implanted and the animal's owner or keeper. This registration process involves connecting to the implantable device 10 by way of Bluetooth*. Most smartphones, tablets and personal computers have Bluetooth" capabilities, and suitable software can be installed on such a device to enable it to connect with the Bluetooth" Low Energy (BTLE) module 16 in the implantable device 10.

The BTLE module 16 is coupled to the microprocessor 12 and can pass registration and Initial configuration data from the software installed on the smartphone, tablet or personal computer to the microprocessor 12 for storage in memory 13. The registration and initial configuration data include a unique identification code; details of a keeper of an animal; a frequency at which a location signal is to be transmitted; and geofence parameters defining the borders of a geographic region defining a confinement zone for an animal.

The unique identification code will usually be generated by the server 3, which can communicate with the smartphone, tablet or personal computer over the Internet to supply the code. The smartphone, tablet or personal computer can then use the BTLE link to pass the unique identification code to the implantable device 10 for storage in memory 13. At the same time as generating the unique identification code, the server 3 sets up a new record, to be stored in a database accessible by server 3, for the animal. The record will contain details of the animal for example, its name and species and potentially a photograph of the animal, which could be taken by the smartphone, tablet or personal computer and transmitted to the server. The record will also contain details of the keeper or owner, for example a name, telephone number and address entered into the smartphone, tablet or personal computer during the registration process. The details of the animal and keeper or owner can also be transmitted using the BTLE link to the implantable device 10 for storage in memory 13.

Other configuration parameters which can be set are the frequency at which location data is to be logged by the GPS module 15 and transmitted using the cellular radio 14, and details of a geofence (for example, a series of latitudes and longitudes defining points making up the vertices of the geofence). When entered into the software on the smartphone, tablet or personal computer, these can be transmitted using the BTLE link to the implantable device 10 for storage in memory 13. They may also be transmitted to the server 3 over the Internet.

All of these parameters can be updated using the software on the smartphone, tablet or personal computer, or potentially by the server 3 sending data over the cellular network 2 to the cellular radio 14 in the implantable device for updating the configuration parameters. The use of the server 3 to update the configuration parameters enables them to be updated by a web-based login to the server by a remote user of by an operative of the company administering the tracking service.

The implantable device 10 is then ready for use. The microprocessor 12 will cause the GPS module 15 to log the latitude and longitude of the animal in which ft is implanted periodically at the frequency set during the registration process. The latitude and longitude are then received from the GPS module 15 by the microprocessor 12, which then sends a data package comprising the latitude and longitude to the server 3 using the cellular radio 14. The data package may also contain data indicating a state of charge of the battery 17 measured by a charge status monitoring circuit (typically forming part of the charging circuit 18).

On receipt of the data package from the implantable device 10 over the cellular network 2, the server 3 will store the latitude and longitude in the database accessible to it along with a timestamp at which the data package was received. If data indicating the state of charge of the battery 17 was included in the data package, this will also be stored in the database. The stored data will be associated with the unique identification code set up in the registration process so that it is known which animal it relates to.

The server 3 can be queried either by logging Into It over the Internet or using dedicated software on smartphone, tablet or personal computer (which could also connect to the server 3 over the Internet or via a cellular network 2 and gateway coupling the cellular network 2 to the Internet). By querying the server 3, a user can be shown a map indicating the most recent location of the animal (in terms of its longitude and latitude) and the associated timestamp and the status of battery 17. it is also possible to show on the map historical locations that the animal has been logged at and their associated timestamps. This enables patterns of behaviour to be noticed, such as particular paths that the animal often follows or specific locations that it chooses to visit. These patterns of behaviour could be worth investigating to see if the animal has followed them again in situations where the animal is no longer at the most recently logged location and the battery 17 has become depleted of charge.

Claims

1. An animal tracking system comprising an implantable device and an external charging device, wherein the implantable device comprises a location module adapted to detect its location and generate an output signal indicating the detected location, a radio transmitter which transmits a location signal indicating the detected location, and a rechargeable power source for providing power to the location module and radio transmitter, the rechargeable power source being coupled to a first inductive charging coil via a charging circuit, and wherein the external charging device is provided in a collar or in a housing for attachment to a collar and comprises a power source and a second inductive charging coil for electromagnetic coupling with the first inductive charging coil.

2. An animal tracking system according to claim 1, wherein the location module comprises a GPS receiver and/or a GLONASS receiver.

3. An animal tracking system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the radio transmitter forms part of a cellular radio.

4. An animal tracking system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the implantable device further comprises an RFID device storing a unique identification code.

5. An animal tracking system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the implantable device further comprises a memory for storing configuration and/or status parameters including one or more of a unique identification code; details of a keeper of an animal; a state of charge of the rechargeable power source; a frequency at which the location signal is to be transmitted; and geofence parameters defining the borders of a geographic region defining a confinement zone for an animal.

6. An animal tracking system according to claim 5, wherein the radio transmitter also transmits one or more of the configuration and/or status parameters, such as the state of charge of the rechargeable power source.

7. An animal tracking system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the rechargeable power source is a lithium ion; a lithium ion polymer battery and/or a supercapacitor.

8. An animal tracking system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the implantable device is housed within a sealed housing made from a biocompatible material.

9. An animal tracking system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the external charging device comprises an oscillator for energising the second inductive charging coil with alternating current.

10. An animal tracking system according to any of the preceding claims further comprising a server coupled to a receiver adapted to receive the location signal, the server being adapted to store the detected location indicated by the location signal and a timestamp associated with the detected location.

11. An animal tracking system according to claim 10, wherein the server stores geofence parameters defining the borders of a geographic region defining a confinement zone for an animal, the server being adapted to respond to the detected location being outside the confinement zone by issuing an alert.

12. An animal tracking system according to claim 10 or claim 11 when dependent on claim 6, wherein the receiver is adapted to receive the one or more configuration and/or status parameters and the server is adapted to store the one or more configuration and/or status parameters.

13. An animal tracking system according to claim 12, wherein the server is coupled to a transmitter to enable the one or more configuration and/or status parameters to be updated.

14. An animal tracking system according to any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the server is adapted to respond to a request for historical location data for an animal by retrieving detected locations with associated timestamps earlier than a predefined time associated with the request.