Method and system for monitoring animals
OwnerP. Timothy Guichon, G. Kee Jim +4inventors
InventorsP. Timothy Guichon, G. Kee Jim, P. Bernard Kotelko, Michael J. Kotelko, Calvin W. Booker, Yvonne T. G. Tollens
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Abstract
In a method of monitoring animals within an area, position data of each animal within the area is collected at interval. The position data is then processed to generate movement pattern data of the animals. The movement pattern data is then analyzed to determine at least one physical condition of the animals.
Claims31
A method of monitoring the movement of animals within an area comprising the steps of:
- collecting positional data of each animal under observation;
- processing said positional data to generate movement pattern data representing the movement patterns of said animals;
- and
- analyzing said movement pattern data to determine at least one physical condition of said animals, wherein during said analyzing step said movement pattern data is compared with reference movement pattern data stored in a database that represents typical movement patterns of animals exhibiting said at least one physical condition.
A system for monitoring the movement of animals within an area including a food zone and a water zone comprising:
- a plurality of data collection and transmission units, each being carried by a respective animal, each of said data collection and transmission units transmitting animal position data over a wireless communications link;
- and
- a processor in communication with said data collection and transmission units via said wireless communication link and receiving said animal position data, said processor processing said animal position data to generate data representing movement patterns of said animals and analyzing said movement pattern data to determine at least one physical condition of said animals, wherein said processor includes a database storing reference movement pattern data that represents typical movement patterns of animals suffering health problems, said processor comparing said movement pattern data with said reference movement pattern data to detect animals exhibiting one or more of the following movement characteristics:
- (i) more frequent and longer duration visits to said water zone;
- (ii) less frequent visits to said food zone;
- (iii) generally overall decreased movement within said area;
- (iv) more frequent and shorter duration visits to said water zone;
- and
- (v) less frequent and shorter duration visits to said water zone.
A system for monitoring the movement of animals within an area including at least two zones, one of which is a food zone, comprising:
- a plurality of data collection an d transmission units, each being carried by a respective animal, each of said data collection and transmission units transmitting animal position data over a wireless communication link;
- and
- a processor in communication with said data collection an d transmission units via said wireless communication link and receiving said animal position data, said processor processing said animal position data to generate movement pattern data representing movement patterns of said animals and analyzing said movement pattern data to determine at least one physical condition of said animals, wherein said processor includes a database storing reference movement pattern data that represents typical movement patterns of animals having at least one physical condition of interest, said processor comparing said movement pattern data with said reference movement pattern data to determine a yield grade for each animal as a function of days on feed.
A system for monitoring the movement of animals within an area including at least two zones, one of which is a food zone, comprising:
- a plurality of data collection and transmission units, each being carried by a respective animal, each of said data collection and transmission units transmitting animal position data over a wireless communication link;
- and
- a processor in communication with said data collection and transmission units via said wireless communication link and receiving said animal position data, said processor processing said animal position data to generate movement pattern data representing movement patterns of said animals and analyzing said movement pattern data to determine at least one physical condition of said animals, wherein said processor includes a database storing reference movement pattern data that represents typical movement patterns of animals having at least one physical condition of interest, said processor comparing said movement pattern data with said reference movement pattern data to determine a quality grade for each animal as a function of days on feed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.