TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to methods and systems for managing a herd of animals. PRIOR ART

References considered to be relevant as background to the presently disclosed subject matter are listed below:

- US Patent Publication 20110298619 to O'Hare et al.

- US Patent No. 6,868,804 to Huisma et al.

Acknowledgement of the above references herein is not to be inferred as meaning that these are in any way relevant to the patentability of the presently disclosed subject matter.

BACKGROUND

Large scale livestock systems entail extensive management requirements, which can be labor intensive. One method that has been used to reduce the labor required to manage a large herd utilizes passive radio frequency identification of individual animals. One particularly important aspect of herd management is monitoring feed consumption of each animal in the herd. If each animal is confined alone to a single stall, then monitoring feed consumption of each animal is relatively simple. US Patent No. 6,868,804 to Huisma et al., for example, discloses an animal management system for monitoring the consumption behavior of animals in which a weighing device measures animal weight while an animal is consuming substances. A transmitter attached to the animal identifies the individual animal by a unique individual code. A computer generates event or interval measurement of an animal's weight and gain, growth rate and substance consumption.

Monitoring feed consumption in herds where the animals are not confined and are not separated from each other is more difficult. US Patent Publication 20110298619 to O'Hare; et al., for example, discloses a real time location system for determining the three dimensional position of an RFID tag attached to an animal. The system includes orientation determining means for determining the orientation of the tag, and discriminating means for discriminating between different activities, such as feeding, of an animal based upon the location and orientation of the animal's tag. GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides a system for monitoring the location of one or more ambulatory animals at a predetermined site in an arena, for example at a feeding bank. The system of the invention provides information on the time periods that each of the animals was located near the predetermined site.

The system of the invention comprises one or more beacons that generate pulses of electromagnetic waves at a fixed pulse rate. A tag is affixed to each animal to be monitored that receives pulses generated by one of the beacons when the animal is in the vicinity of the beacon. A processor in the tag counts the pulses received by the tag. If the pulse rate of the beacon is, for example, one pulse per minute, then the total number of pulses received by a tag over a particular time period is the total number of minutes that the animal spent in the vicinity of the beacon. If the beacon is adjacent to an animal feeding bankn, the system provides information on the amount of time the animal spent in the vicinity of the feeding bank which in turn provides information on the amount of animal feed consumed by the animal.

Each tag transmits data to a central processing station which receives and collects data from all of the tags. Data received by the central processing station receiver from each tag is stored in a memory associated with a processor which analyzes the received data, for example, to determine the total amount of time each monitored animal spent in the vicinity of each beacon during one or more predetermined time periods. Thus, in one of its aspects, the present invention provides a system for monitoring the presence of one or more ambulatory animals, comprising:

(a) one or more beacons, each beacon transmitting wave pulses signal at a predetermined pulse rate; and

(b) one or more tags, each tag configured to be attached to one of the animals, comprising:

(i) a tag receiver configured to receive pulses from one or more of the beacons when the tag is within a predetermined distance from the beacon;

(ii) a tag processor configured to count pulses received by the receiver and to store data in a tag memory relating to pulse signals received by the receiver from each of the one or more beacons;

(iii) a tag memory; and

(iv) a transmitter configured to transmit data stored in the tag memory to a central processing station; and

(c) a central processing station comprising a station receiver configured to receive data transmitted by each of the one or more tags.

In the system of the invention one or more of the tags may be in the form of a bracelet or neck strap configured to be affixed to an animal's leg. One or more of the tags may further comprise a clock and the tag processor may be configured to determine a start time and termination time of each received pulse train.

The data stored in a tag memory relating to pulses received by the tag receiver may include, for example, any one or both of a number of pulses received by the tag receiver over a predetermined time period and time periods that the animal was in the vicinity of each beacon. The tag transmitter may transmit to the central processing station at predetermined times.

When the system of the invention comprises two or more beacons, each beacon may generate ID encoded wave pulses. In this case, the tag processor may configured to execute an ID analysis of a pulse received by the tag receiver to determine the beacon ID from which the pulse train was received. When the system of the invention comprises two or more tags, each tag transmitter may transmit to the central processing station at a common frequency. The tag transmitter may be configured to transmit digitally encoded data to the central processing station.

The central processing station may further comprise a station processor configured to process data received from the one or more tags. The central processing station may further comprise a station memory in which case the station processor may be further configured to store data in the station memory received by the station receiver from the tags. The station processor may be configured to calculate from data received from each tag, a total number of pulses received by each of one or more tags from each of the one or more beacons. The station processor may be configured to calculate from data received from each tag, a total amount of time that each animal spent in the vicinity of each beacon over one or more predetermined time periods. The central processing station may further comprise a display screen for displaying data received by the central processing station or displaying results of any analysis performed by the station processor.

One or more of the beacons may comprise an antenna in the form of a railing or a feeding trough.

In another of its aspects, the present invention provides a method for monitoring the location of one or more ambulatory animals, comprising:

(a) positioning one or more beacons in an arena, each beacon transmitting wave pulses signal at a predetermined pulse rate; and

(b) attaching a tag to each of the animals, each tag comprising:

(i) a tag receiver configured to receive pulses from one or more of the beacons when the tag is within a predetermined distance from the beacon;

(ii) a tag processor configured to count pulses received by the receiver and to store data in a tag memory relating to pulse signals received by the receiver from each of the one or more beacons;

(iii) a tag memory; and (iv) a transmitter configured to transmit data stored in the tag memory to a central processing station; and

(c) processing data transmitted by each of the one or more tags to the central processing station to determine a total amount of time each animal spent over a predetermined time interval in the vicinity of each beacon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows schematically a system for monitoring ambulatory animals in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 2 shows an implementation of the system of Fig. 1 for monitoring a herd o cows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 shows schematically a system 1 for monitoring ambulatory animals, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The system 1 comprises one or more beacons 2. Each beacon 2 comprises a pulsed wave generator 4 that generates electromagnetic waves at a predetermined frequency. The pulse rate may be, for example, one pulse per minute, and the waves may have, for example, a frequency of around 135 kHz. The pulses are transmitted by a transmitter 6 having a transmitting antenna 8. The system 1 further comprises one or more tags 10 that are configured to be affixed to an animal to be monitored. Each of the tags 10 comprises a receiver 12 having an antenna 14 that receives waves generated by one of the beacons 2 when the animal is in the vicinity of the beacon. A processor 16 is configured to count the pulses received by the receiver 12. If the pulse rate is 1 pulse/per minute, then the total number of pulses received by the receiver 12 over a time period equals the number of minutes that the animal spent in the vicinity of the beacon 2. The tag 10 may be provided with a clock 13 which determines the time of each received pulse. If the beacon 2 is adjacent to an animal feeding bank, information on the amount of time the animal spent in the vicinity of the feeding bank provides information on the amount of animal feed consumed by the animal. Data relating to received pulses are stored in a memory 14 of the tag 10. Such data may include, for example, the duration of each received pulse train, or the time periods determined by the clock 13 that the animal was in the vicinity of the beacon 2.

In one embodiment, the system comprises two or more beacons, each beacon being located at a different site, in order to detect the presence of each animal at two or more different sites. In this embodiment, each beacon generates pulses that are ID encoded for the specific beacon, and the processor 16 is configured to execute an ID analysis of the pulses received by the receiver 12 to determine the ID of the beacon 2 from which each pulse was received. The encoded ID of each beacon is stored in the memory 14.

Each tag 10 further comprises a transmitter 18 having an antenna 19 configured to transmit digitally encoded data to a central processing station 20. The central processing station comprises a receiver 22 having an antenna 24 for receiving data from each of the transmitters 18 of each of the tags 10. Each tag 10 periodically transmits data to the central processing station 20 together with a tag ID. The tags 10 preferably transmit at the same frequency. Each tag 10 may transmit the data stored in its memory to the central processing station, for example, once per hour or once per day. Data received by central processing station receiver 22 from the tags 10 is stored in a memory 26 associated with a processor 28. The central processing unit thus receives and collects data from all of the tags 10. The processor 24 may be configured to analyze the received data, for example, to determine the total amount of time each animal spent in the vicinity of each beacon 2 during the course of a single day, or week, or month. Data collected at the central processing station 20, or the result of any analysis of the data may be displayed on a display 30.

Fig. 2 shows one implementation of the system 1 of the invention. In this implementation, the tags 10 are in the form of a bracelet configured to be been affixed to a leg of each cow 32 in a herd of dairy cows. Alternatively, the tags 10 may be in the form of a neck strap configured to be place around the neck of a cow. Four cows 32a, 32b, 32c, and 32d are shown in Fig. 2. This is by way of example only, and the invention may be implemented on an animal herd of any size. A beacon 2 has been positioned adjacent to a feeding bank 34. In the embodiment of Fig. 2, a guard rail 36 along the feeding bank 34 is connected to the beacon 2 and has been adapted to serve as the transmitting antenna 8 of the beacon 2. Alternatively, the antenna 8 may be embedded in a feeding trough 33 (not shown). The central processing station 20 is located in a building 38. The receiving antenna 24 is affixed to the exterior of the building 38. The intensity of the pulses of the pulse generator 4 is selected so that only tags that are a predetermined distance from the beacon 2 receive the pulse. When a cow 32 is located at the feeding bank 34 (the cows 32a and 32b in Fig. 2), the tag on the cow (the tags 10a and 10b, respectively), receive pulses transmitted from the beacon 2 via the guard rail 36 functioning as the beacon antenna. The presence of the cow at the feeding bank 34 will thus be logged in the cow's tag, as explained above. When a cow is located away from the feeding bank 34 (the cows 32c and 32d in Fig. 2), the tag on the cow (the tags 10c and lOd, respectively), do not receive pulses transmitted from the beacon 2. The central processing station maintains a log of each cow's feeding over a time period which provides an indication of the amount of animal feed consumed by the cow.