Automated monitoring of animal nutriment ingestion
AssigneeKatholieke Universiteit Leuven
InventorsDaniel Berckmans, Arda Aydin, Claudia Bahr
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and method for monitoring in real time the nutriment intake (feed and/or water) of farm animals, including but not limited to poultry, turkeys, pigs and cows, based on the measurement and identification of the nutriment uptake sounds and/or the working of the nutriment supply system, while the presence and eating position of the animals is monitored by using real-time image analysis.
Claims20
An automated method for monitoring the amount of a nutriment taken up by an animal or group of animals feeding or drinking from a nutriment supply station wherein said method comprises the steps of:
- acquiring data on the vibration of said nutriment supply station and/or on the impact sounds transmitted through said feed supply station;
- analyzing said vibration or impact sound data in order to identify and count individual nutriment uptake signals, resulting from a nutriment uptake action of an animal feeding or drinking from said nutriment supply station;
- and
- extrapolating the amount of nutriment taken up by said animal or group of animals within a given period of time based on the number of nutriment uptake signals recorded over said same period of time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.