Device and Method for Remotely Monitoring Animal Behavior

A method for remotely monitoring multiple animals and characterizing individual animal behavior, the method comprising:

• mounting a sensor unit with a unique identifier on each individual animal;
• programming each said sensor unit to activate an accelerometer within said sensor unit when triggered by a tilt function, and deactivate said accelerometer after a period of time with no tilt activity;
• collecting motion data from said accelerometer when activated;
• transmitting said motion data with said unique identifier to a computer;
• evaluating said motion data using analysis functions programmed within said computer to identify characteristic motions of said animal;
• and
• correlating said motion data with said unique identifier to determine which animal experienced said characteristic motions.

A device for monitoring animal behavior comprising:

• a housing capable of being mounted unobtrusively on an animal;
• a tilt sensor within said housing;
• a three axis accelerometer within said housing;
• an electronic module with microcontroller within said housing;
• a wireless transceiver within said housing;
• a battery within said housing;
• whereas said housing and components within are collectively referred to as a sensor unit;
• and
• a computer with data analysis and decision algorithm software.