WO2018229142A1

WO2018229142A1 - Farm animal activity detection

Info

Publication number: WO2018229142A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/065682
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ralf Garberding
Original assignee: Big Dutchman International Gmbh
Priority date: 2017-06-13
Filing date: 2018-06-13
Publication date: 2018-12-20
Also published as: CN212589620U; DE202017103539U1

Abstract

The invention relates to an activity detection device for detecting the activity of a farm animal, comprising: an accelerometer (30) with an attachment unit (31) for the locally fixed attachment of the accelerometer (30) to a section (200) of a ground contact area (10) of a farm animal holding bay, a data processing unit that has a signal connection to the accelerometer (30) and is designed to detect an acceleration of the section (200) of the ground contact area (10) of the farm animal holding bay and from this acceleration to calculate a calculated farm animal activity, and an electronic interface (40) that is designed to signal the calculated farm animal activity.

Description

Domestic activity detection

The present invention relates to a device for livestock activity detection. Another aspect of the invention is a method for livestock activity detection.

Devices and methods for livestock activity detection are used in particular in modern livestock husbandry to identify certain behavior patterns of a livestock due to its activity and to detect abnormalities. Identifiable conspicuous behavior patterns include, for example, disease-typical behavioral patterns, cannibalism, tail biting, incipient sexual behavior, or the like. By adapting the environmental conditions, such as a change in temperature or a ventilation adjustment, administering a special feeding, a veterinary examination or feeding the farm animal to another location area, said abnormalities can be controlled, reduced or prevented, if appropriate animal activities have previously been determined ,

An activity recording process should be understood to mean an at least partially automated process in which a behavior of an animal or a group of animals, or also a predominantly occurring behavior of an animal or a group of animals, is understood. Tenswise within a group of animals is determined. In particular, an activity recording process can also be understood as a process in which a behavioral pattern of a livestock, a livestock group or an overriding behavioral pattern of a livestock group can be identified by matching the detected activity with known normal patterns, individual empirical values and event expectations. In the course of or in advance of such activity recording of livestock, it may be necessary in particular to gather empirical values regarding the behavior of the livestock or the livestock group in order to be able to recognize conspicuous patterns of behavior. Background of the invention

DE 10 2006 018 545 B4 and DE 20 2016 003 420 U1 list two systems for recording activity in quadrupeds and ungulates. In these systems, an acceleration sensor is attached to an animal, such as a collar or leg, thereby enabling the detection of accelerations by movements of the animal. The disadvantage, however, is that in this measuring system no detection of the spatial arrangement of the animal and consequently no spatial allocation of activities is made possible. In addition, the system is error-prone to externally induced movements of the sensor, for example, when other animals touch the sensor. From DE 20 2010 008 325 U1 a similar embodiment with the same functional properties and disadvantages in the form of an ear tag is known for detecting the activity of livestock, which includes an acceleration sensor.

The mentioned activity detection devices of livestock, especially livestock with a strong exploration instinct, such as pigs, faces a number of disadvantages. By occurring mechanical loads on the acceleration sensor, especially in a large number of animals that are kept together, they can be destroyed or lost. Another disadvantage of the acceleration sensors is the error rate with respect to external influence of other farm animals. From EP 2 260 699 B1 a animal locating device is known, in which an animal activity is detected by an optical tracking of an animal. The device makes it possible to have an animal-specific behavior pattern or a group behavior of a plurality of To observe and detect animals by a single animal activity detection by means of a camera.

Furthermore, EP 2 786 655 B1 discloses an animal detection device which likewise operates by means of optical detection of the animal and which is designed to record a birth process and time period. For this purpose, the data processing device acquires the animal contours in a surveillance area and the point in time when two or more separate contours become isolated from an isolated single contour of a pregnant animal, which can be recognized separately from one another by means of the image capture device. In addition, a cub can also be identified by its contour or size in comparison to the dam.

For the optically-assisted activity detection of a single animal within a plurality of animals known from the prior art, specific additional measures are required to avoid erroneous results, for example, if individual animal-specific features can not be unambiguously assigned to one animal or if a first animal has a second one Animal, which is smaller and is behind the first animal from the point of view of the animal detection device, hidden.

Finally, another disadvantage of all the aforementioned activity measurements is that the detection of the activity of the animals requires the processing of a large amount of data in a corresponding data processing device. This complicates the handling and storage of the data in certain continuously performed surveys of larger livestock, requires a considerable computing and storage capacity of the hardware used and is sensitive to data errors and data losses. A related disadvantage of the previously known animal activity measuring systems can be seen in the not inconsiderable investment costs for the components of the device itself.

In the article "Monitoring of piglets' open field activity and choice behavior during the replay of maternal vocalization: a comparison between Observer and PID technique Laboratory" of issue 33 (pp. 215-220) of the journal Laboratory Animals of 1999 by B Puppen, PC Schön and K. Wendland describe another way to record the activity of an animal, where an animal area is equipped with passive infrared sensors and a changing heat radiation in the infrared range is recorded Animal with a certain body heat. This device faces a crucial disadvantage. Thus, for the livestock activity detection of an entire area in which the animals are located, a plurality of passive infrared sensors are needed because they have only a limited detection area. In addition, the sensitivity of the device depends on the distance of the passive infrared sensor to the animal itself and therefore can not be generally indicated for the device. The sensitivity of the device must therefore be individually determined after their installation and commissioning and adapted to the detected animals. Another disadvantage is the susceptibility to error in Livestock activity detection in the vicinity of heat sources. The heat sources inside a stable, such as a young baby's heat lamp, can distort the results of a passive infrared sensor because the ambient temperature is approximately the same as the calf's body temperature. Another drawback is the error-prone nature of the device in detecting the activity of an animal that is behind another animal and that is obscured by the animal due to its size.

The invention has for its object to provide an apparatus and method for detecting the activity of livestock, which require both a transmission of only a small amount of data and at the same time ensure efficient detection of livestock activity by means of reliable data processing. This object is achieved by an activity detecting device for detecting an activity of a farm animal. The activity detection device comprises an acceleration sensor, which is mounted with a fastening device for fixed attachment of the acceleration sensor to a portion of a Bodenaufstands- surface of a livestock breeding bay. In addition, the activity detection device comprises a data processing device, which is signal-technically connected to the acceleration sensor in order to detect an acceleration of the section of the ground contact surface of the livestock housing bay and to calculate a calculated livestock activity from this acceleration. An electronic interface of the activity detection device is finally designed to signal the calculated Nutztierak- activity.

With the activity detecting device according to the present invention, it becomes possible to record an activity of a farm animal located within a livestock housing bay. The livestock breeding bay is in this context mutatis mutandis to a Enclosed animal habitat in which an animal or a plurality of animals can move freely and unhindered. The livestock breeding bay can accordingly be designed, for example, as a box, cage, or the like. According to the invention, the device is designed to detect the activity of a single livestock or a plurality of livestock within the livestock bay. An activity of a single farm animal from a plurality of livestock can be detected without first identifying or labeling the individual animals and without individually recording their activities. According to the invention, an acceleration sensor is used for this purpose, which is attached to a portion of the ground contact surface of the livestock bay so that it has a rigid and stationary connection to the section, the section itself must be elastically deformable or by elastic deformation of other areas of the ground contact surface under load moved to the ground contact patch.

The acceleration sensor is in this case designed to be fastened to the section of the ground contact surface by means of a fastening device, such as, for example, screws, nails, a clamping device or the like. The rigid and stationary connection enables the activity detection by recording a deflection of the portion of the ground contact patch, by a specimen of the acceleration sensor and at the same time prevents falsification of a measurement result due to natural oscillations of the acceleration sensor. Due to the rigid connection of the acceleration sensor and thus also the specimen with the ground contact surface, the deflection of the specimen is directly proportional to the deflection of the portion of the ground contact patch to which the acceleration sensor is attached. The deflection of the specimen is therefore a measure of the force acting on this specimen and thus on the portion of the ground contact surface forces, the weight and the inertial force of the farm animal, livestock or livestock from a plurality of livestock, which / which are located on the ground contact patch and move.

According to the invention, the acceleration sensor is signal-technologically connected to a data processing device. This data processing device receives a detected activity in the form of a signal of the acceleration sensor and calculates therefrom the activity of the livestock. In this context, it is advantageous for the function of the invention if the data processing device is designed, for example, to calculate the position of the farm animal at the time of the calculated livestock activity with respect to the position of the acceleration sensor within the ground contact patch of the livestock bay. For this purpose, for example, the position of the acceleration sensor can be programmed in accordance with the ground contact surface in order to make the assignment of the position of the farm animal in this way. In this way, livestock activity can be determined in a position-dependent manner or else the animal with a specific activity can be identified more quickly and found from a plurality of livestock. In addition, this embodiment makes it possible to record the social behavior of the livestock within a livestock breeding bay, since it can be distinguished whether the activity of the livestock is spatially separated or crowded together in dense space.

Finally, according to the invention, an electronic interface is provided which makes it possible to signal the livestock activity calculated by the data processing device. The electronic interface can be designed, for example, as a display device in the form of a screen and can display the detected signal of the acceleration sensor to a user. Another embodiment of the electronic interface may for example be designed so that livestock activities are signaled by means of a wireless transmission. This wireless transmission can send the calculated livestock activity, for example, to a mobile terminal or else trigger an alarm of a radio message receiver with defined signals.

With the activity detection device according to the invention, detection of those animal activities requiring special intervention is achieved with a low expenditure on hardware and installation and makes it possible to efficiently monitor also larger animal stocks.

According to a first preferred embodiment, the activity detection device according to the invention is further developed in that the electronic interface is a user interface. This development allows the user, for example, to set the time interval in which the livestock activity is to be recorded, to associate livestock activity with animal-specific information about the age and the state of health, an observed behavior of the livestock or the like. Furthermore, a user of the calculated activity can set an event, such as a night's sleep, a feeding, a birth period, a weighing process, a sorting process or the like. These settings can preferably be made via preprogrammed number or letter codes.

In particular, it is provided according to a further preferred embodiment that the electronic interface is designed as a data interface and is connected by signal technology with the data processing device. With this training data can be retrieved from a central controller and associated with the calculated livestock activity and / or data transmitted to such a central controller. The central controller can control, for example, the ambient temperature, the humidity, light intensity, medication supply, water supply, feed composition, feed quantity or the like. By a signaling connection with the central control or with respective control units, the aforementioned parameters can be controlled and managed taking into account the detected animal activity.

This embodiment enables communication of all control units, computers and sensors of the entire animal living area, such as a barn, which includes a plurality of livestock housing bays. The data processing device thus receives from the acceleration sensor, on the one hand, a detected signal from which the livestock activity is calculated and, on the other hand, animal-specific information as well as information on the environmental conditions prevailing at the time of the activity detection, such as the ambient temperature, the humidity, the Light intensity, the drug supply, the water supply, feed composition, feed amount or the like. Also supplied and taken into account in the data processing and the control of parameters. According to a further preferred embodiment, the data processing device comprises a memory unit. In this embodiment, the signal of the acceleration sensor and the livestock activity calculated therefrom can be stored in a signal profile. If appropriate, the signal profile contains additional information about the position of the livestock calculated by the data processing device if this has been calculated. In addition, the signal profile can be completed with information that can be assigned via the electronic interface. The data processing device is preferably designed to be able to select from a plurality of detected signal profiles a normal pattern, an empirical value or an event expectation form, store them and thereby calibrate the activity detection device. By a pattern matching, a difference analysis and / or an average comparison with a plurality of signal profiles stored in the memory unit, a behavior pattern of a farm animal can be detected. In particular, this allows location-specific and daytime-specific behavioral patterns of the farm animal to be detected and conspicuous behavior patterns, such as, for example, riots or disease-typical signals to be detected. Furthermore, by the pattern matching, the difference analysis and / or the average comparison of the signal profile, a group behavior of a plurality of animals is to be distinguished from an individual behavior of an animal within a group. Occurring behavioral problems can be signaled by the electronic interface or even alerted.

In a further preferred embodiment of the activity detection device according to the invention, the data interface of the data processing device is signal-wise coupled to the central control software. With this configuration, a control signal can be output to a device such as an air conditioner, a ventilation device, a lighting device, a medicine supply device, a water supply device, a feed supply device or the like depending on the detected activity. The control signal can adapt animal-specific environment conditions by this design to prevent an activity deviating from normal patterns. By means of this embodiment, the environmental conditions can automatically be adapted to the individual animal taking into account the recorded livestock activities. Individual optimal conditions may depend on the age of the livestock, the number of livestock within a bay, the health of a livestock and the event maintenance. This embodiment allows, for example, the detection of nocturnal groupings of livestock. This behavioral pattern may indicate a too cold ambient temperature and thus cause control and adjustment of ambient temperature.

Still further, it is particularly preferred that the data processing device is adapted to detect complete behavioral patterns within the bay without permanently monitoring the activity by using the normal patterns, empirical values and event expectations, a need for a permanent measurement, a periodic point measurement or a periodic sequence measurement can be defined. In addition, the data processing device can be used in a preferred Embodiment be designed to be able to process a detected livestock activity as amplitude, frequency and / or as a punctual signal in the form of a maximum or minimum value. Both the nature and the time interval of the activity measurement as well as the form of the processed signal can be programmed down from the expected livestock activity in order to be able to assign a complete behavioral pattern to the detected signal profiles of the livestock activities in two successive activity detection processes. For example, due to an expected night's sleep, it may be sufficient to control periodic point measurements at night and to process the detected activity in the form of a punctual signal. During the night, usually only signals of lower intensities can be recorded at greater intervals than during the day. In addition, the detected punctual signals are often in an area defined for the night's sleep. Abnormalities can be recorded and stored in the form of maximum and minimum values. Another preferred application may be, for example, the monitoring of a birthing process. Due to the lack of predictability of an exact time at which the birth begins, the need to permanently record the activity of the pregnant animal may exist. As another option, livestock activity can be recorded as a periodic sequence measurement. This type of livestock activity detection can be used in repetitive events, such as during feeding.

Another aspect of the invention is a method of detecting livestock activity by means of an activity detection device. The activity of livestock located within a bay is detected by detecting a vertical acceleration of a portion of a ground contact patch and calculating the livestock activity from the acceleration. The calculated activity of a farm animal, a plurality of livestock or a livestock within a plurality of livestock can be detected and monitored by this method.

With the method according to the invention, an efficient detection of a livestock activity is made possible. The activity of a single livestock or of a plurality of livestock, which are freely and freely movable in the livestock breeding bay, can be calculated from a signal of the acceleration sensor, without it being necessary to individually record the activities of all livestock. In a preferred embodiment, the method according to the invention may be suitable for controlling the environmental conditions of the entire animal residence area. This embodiment comprises the following steps: detecting and calculating the livestock activity, assigning the calculated livestock activity to a behavioral pattern of the livestock by matching the detected activity with a normal pattern stored in a storage unit and / or an empirical value, retrieving the environmental conditions, assigning the calculated livestock activities to environmental conditions, Analyze animal behavior patterns taking into account environmental conditions, time of day, and event expectancy. This embodiment can enable an automatic adaptation of the environmental conditions by outputting a control signal from the data processing device to a signal-connected central control device taking into account the determined behavioral pattern. Depending on the pattern of behavior determined by the pattern matching, the environmental conditions with respect to the ambient temperature, the ventilation, the light intensity, the feed supply, the water supply, the medication supply or the like can be adjusted.

In another embodiment of the method for livestock activity detection, the environmental conditions may be adjusted manually via a user interface.

By this method, on the one hand behavior patterns of animals can be detected and on the other abnormalities can be avoided by adapting the environmental conditions.

This method can be carried out in particular with the previously described Aktivitätserfassungsvorrich- tion or parts thereof. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the method according to the invention can be developed in particular in such a way that it has or make possible those method steps which are provided with the previously explained further developments of the activity detection device according to the invention.

Preferred embodiments of the activity detecting device will be described with reference to the attached drawings. Show it: Fig. 1 Structure of a ground contact patch of a livestock breeding bay

Fig. 2A-C attachment of an acceleration sensor to an instrumented

Bohle at the ground contact surface

FIGS. 3A-D show different embodiments of the activity acquisition device according to the invention

The ground contact surface 10 of a livestock breeding bay may be formed as a slatted floor 10. The slatted floor 10 may be characterized by planks 1 1, which form a tread surface 10 and narrow gaps 12 between the planks 1 1 as a passage for excrements of farm animals. The livestock breeding bay is a pig bay in the example shown. However, it is to be understood that the livestock breeding bay may also be suitable for other animals and designed accordingly. Fig. 1 shows a section of a slatted floor 10 of the Bay of Pigs, on whose beams according to the invention an activity detecting device can be attached. The slatted floor 10 consists of a plurality of planks 1 1, which are fixedly connected to each other on a substructure of a plurality of support members 13. The planks 1 1 have different widths in the example shown and therefore have a different cross-sectional area and therefore also different elastic behavior or elasticities. The elasticity of one of the planks 1 1 is determined by a modulus of elasticity and a moment of area moment of inertia. The modulus of elasticity is a material characteristic of the screed 1 1 and describes the relationship between elongation and stress during deformation with linear elastic behavior of the screed 1 1 by the weight and the inertial force of a farm animal. Accordingly, a screed 1 1 with a high modulus of elasticity has a higher rigidity than a screed 1 1 with a lower modulus of elasticity. The elastic behavior of the screed 1 1 is further determined by the area moment of inertia, which is a parameter derived from the geometry of the cross-sectional area of the screed 1 1. For the same material properties - ie the same modulus of elasticity - has a screed having the same width a greater height than another plank a lower deformation under the same force on than this other plank. By selecting planks with different modulus of elasticity and / or different area moment of inertia, therefore, the elastic deformation behavior of the screed can be adapted to different loading conditions. Fig. 2A-C shows an instrumented screed 20 which can be attached as part of the slatted floor 10 to the support members 13 of the substructure. The instrumented screed 20 consists of the screed 11 itself and an acceleration sensor 30. The acceleration sensor 30 is arranged and configured so that it is immovably fixed to a section 200 of the instrumented screed 20 and thereby accelerates the ground contact surface 10 in the region of the Bohle 20 of the livestock breeding bay can record lossless. In the example shown, the acceleration sensor 30 is fastened to the screed 11 by means of a stud screw 31. This fastening device requires a threaded bore in the screed 1 1 and a fastening thread in the acceleration sensor 30 and can thereby connect the acceleration sensor 30 rigidly and reliably to the instrumented screed 20. This type of coupling can be used for permanent mounting of the acceleration sensor 30. It should be understood, however, that the example of docking shown is just one of a variety of other docking modes suitable for mounting the acceleration sensor within an activity sensing device.

In the example shown, a cable 32 is used as a signaling connection between the acceleration sensor 30 and the data processing device. In order to minimize the movement of the cable 32, which is connected to the acceleration sensor 30 via the connector 33, the cable 32 can be fastened with a cable clamp 34, as shown in the example. This attachment can avoid the movement of the cable 32 relative to the acceleration sensor 30 and the resulting measurement errors. In this case, the cable 32 can be fastened by means of the cable clamp 34 such that a sufficient loop 35 is left in order to be able to avoid mechanical stresses acting on the acceleration sensor 30. The portion 200 of the instrumented screed 20 to which the acceleration sensor 30 is attached should be elastically deformable for the purpose of activity measurement and therefore have a defined distance 201 in the horizontal direction to the support elements 13 in order to accommodate the vertical acceleration of the ground contact patch 10. In a preferred embodiment, the acceleration sensor 30 may be oriented such that the direction of the expected acceleration corresponds to the direction of a measurement axis of the acceleration sensor 30. The sensitivity of the activity detection device according to the invention can be determined by the elasticity of the instrumented screed 20, the horizontal distance 201 of the section 200 to which the acceleration sensor 30 is attached to the instrumented screed 20 and a parameter of the acceleration sensor 30 itself can be determined. the. The selected portion 200 of the instrumented screed 20, to which the acceleration sensor 30 is attached, can influence the deflection of the test body of the acceleration sensor 30, since the deflection, ie the orthogonal component of the offset of the deformed layer to the undeformed position of the instrumented screed 20, is greater in the center than in the vicinity of the fastening device of the instrumented screed 20 on the support elements 13.

FIGS. 3A-D show various embodiments of the activity detection device, wherein in each case at least one acceleration sensor 30 of the same type with identical parameters is attached to exactly one instrumented screed 20 and the activity detection device includes two acceleration sensors 30 each. In these embodiments, the electronic interface is designed as a screen 40 and shows the user a first signal of a first acceleration sensor and a second signal of a second acceleration sensor.

As shown in Figure 3A, the activity detector consists of two instrumented planks 120a, b. The instrumented planks 120a, b have an identical cross-sectional area, and the horizontal distance a 201a of the first portion 150a of the first instrumented plank 120a to which the first acceleration sensor 130a is attached corresponds to the horizontal distance a 502 of the second portion 150b of the second instrumented plank 120b the second acceleration sensor 130b is mounted. Fig. 3A corresponds to the arrangement of two acceleration sensors 130a, b, which integrates a user within a livestock housing bay, if he wants to capture the livestock activity exactly and exclude any measurement errors. For the embodiment according to the invention, both acceleration sensors 130a, b can record signals 141a, b and can offset deviations of the two activity detections by averaging 141.

Figures 3B-D correspond to arrangements of two acceleration sensors 30 that may be used to detect the livestock activities of several farm animals. It is advantageous for these embodiments if a plurality of instrumented planks 20 have different sensitivities, in this case also livestock activities of livestock with different weights can be detected in good resolution and with a good signal-to-noise ratio. The spaced arrangement of two instrumented planks 20 also allows a spatial resolution of livestock activities within the bay by their signals are evaluated in temporal resolution to each other. According to the invention, truncated planks can be equipped as follows:

As shown in Figure 3B, the activity detector may consist of two instrumented planks 220a, b. The instrumented planks 220a, b have an identical cross-sectional area in this embodiment, and the horizontal distance b 503 of the first portion 250a of the first instrumented plank 220a to which the first acceleration sensor 230a is mounted differs from the horizontal distance c 504 of the second portion 250b of FIG second instrumented plank 220b to which the second acceleration sensor 230b is attached. According to this arrangement, the instrumented planks 220a, b have different sensitivities due to the respective selected portions 503 and 504 to which an acceleration sensor 230a and 230b are respectively attached. The deflection of the instrumented screed 220a with the acceleration sensor 230a at the portion 503 with the distance b 503 is greater in the example shown than at the portion 250b with the distance c 504 and thus also the specimen of the acceleration sensor 230a at the portion 250a with the distance b 503 more distracted. For this reason, the sensitivity of this instrumented screed 220a is greater and can be used for the activity detection of livestock with a lower weight. The signals 241a, b of such a design can be displayed to a user according to the invention via a screen 240. The lower sensitivity signal 241b may indicate the activity of the heavier farm animal. The difference in the signal 241b of the lower sensitivity device and the signal of the second higher sensitivity device may indicate the activity of a lighter working animal in signal 241a.

As shown in Figure 3C, the activity detector may consist of two instrumented planks 320a, b. The instrumented planks 320a, b have a different cross-sectional area in the example shown because the first instrumented plank 320a has a height f14 that is less than the height e15 of the second instrumented plank 320b. The horizontal distance d 505 of the first portion 350a of the first instrumented plank 320a to which the first acceleration sensor 330a is attached corresponds to the horizontal distance d 506 of the second portion 350b of the second instrumented plank 320b to which the second acceleration sensor 330b is attached. According to this Arrangement, the instrumented planks 320a, b different stiffness, since the cross sections and thus the area moments of inertia of the two instrumented planks 320a, b are different. For this reason, the sensitivity of the instrumented plank 320a having the height f14 is greater in the example shown, as this instrumented plank 320a has a smaller cross-sectional area and can be used for the activity detection of livestock with a lower weight. The signals 341a, b of such an embodiment can be displayed to a user according to the invention via a screen 340. The lower sensitivity signal 341b may indicate the activity of the heavier farm animal. The difference in signal 341b of the lower sensitivity device and the higher sensitivity signal of the second device may indicate the activity of a lighter working animal in signal 341a.

As shown in Figure 3D, the activity sensing device may include a single instrumented screed 420 consisting of the one instrumented screed 420 and two acceleration sensors 430a, b. The first horizontal distance g 507 of the first acceleration sensor 430 a differs in the example shown from the second horizontal distance h 508 of the second acceleration sensor 430 b. According to this arrangement, only one instrumented screed 420 is integrated into the ground contact patch 10 of the livestock bay, but may be equipped with two acceleration sensors 430a, b at different sections 405a, b. In the example shown, due to the selected portions 430a, b, to each of which exactly one acceleration sensor 430a, b is attached, the instrumented screed 420 has two different sensitivities, as the deflection of the instrumented screed 420 of the horizontally spaced portion 430a with the distance For this reason, the specimen of the acceleration sensor 430a with a distance g 507 can also be deflected more strongly and an activity of lighter livestock can be detected. The signals 441a, b of such a configuration can be displayed to a user according to the invention via a screen 440. The lower sensitivity signal 441b may indicate the activity of the heavier farm animal. By the difference between the signal 441 b of the device with the lower sensitivity and the signal of the second With the higher sensitivity, the activity of a lighter livestock can be indicated in signal 441 a.

One such embodiment can be used, for example, in birth monitoring. In this case, the activity with the one acceleration sensor 30a can be permanently detected and monitored. By the second acceleration sensor 30b with a higher sensitivity, additionally occurring vibrations can be detected by a newborn and the time of birth can be determined. As a result, a plurality of additionally occurring vibrations due to a multiple birth can be detected and the time intervals between them can be determined. In addition, the activity of the heavy animals, in this case the mother, and the lighter animals, in this case the newborns, can be individually recorded and monitored by means of a continuous differential analysis. If the weight of the juvenile is sufficiently large, the values of the difference analysis can approach zero and thus the time at which the juveniles should be separated from the mother can be determined. This application option is preferably implemented by means of a random point measurement.

Another application of one of the embodiments 3B-D is the weight control of the livestock, in particular the monitoring of the weight gain of the livestock. The livestock activity can be randomly recorded and monitored as a point measurement with an acceleration sensor 30a. The second acceleration sensor 30b in this embodiment has a lower sensitivity and detects only accelerations by the movement of a livestock above a certain weight. By this configuration, a weighing process can be initiated from a defined weight gain, a feed composition can be adjusted due to a lack of weight gain or the like. In combination with the livestock activity detection, the weight control can serve to determine a lack of space due to low livestock activity and weight gain of livestock within a bay and to report. As a result, for example, a manual and / or an automated selection of the livestock can be stopped according to the respective weight.

A user of the device may therefore equip individual livestock housing bays or multiple livestock housing bays of his animal residence area as needed and individually record the activities of his livestock in each livestock housing bay. LIST OF REFERENCES:

10 gap floor, ground contact area

1 1 planks

12 columns between the planks 1 1

13 supporting elements of the beams

14 defined height f of the screed 1 1

15 defined height e of the screed 1 1

20 instrumented screed

20a first instrumented plank

20b second instrumented screed

30 acceleration sensor

30a first acceleration sensor

30b second acceleration sensor

31 Fastening device, stud

32 cables

33 connectors

34 Cable clamp

35 loop of the cable 32

40 electronic interface, screen

41 signal of the acceleration sensor 30th

41a signal of the first acceleration sensor 30a

41b signal of the second acceleration sensor 30b

50 section where the acceleration sensor 30 instrumented at the

Bohle 20 is attached

51 horizontal distance of the section 50 to the support elements 13th

120a first instrumented plank 20; Embodiment 3A

120b second instrumented plank 20; Embodiment 3A

130a first acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3A

130b second acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3A

140 electronic interface, screen

141 Signal of the acceleration sensor

141a signal of the first acceleration sensor 130a 141b signal of the second acceleration sensor 130b

150a first section 50; Embodiment 3A

150b second section 50; Embodiment 3A

220a first instrumented plank 20; Embodiment 3B

220b second instrumented plank 20; Embodiment 3B

230a first acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3B

230b second acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3B

250a first section 50; Embodiment 3B

250b second section 50; Embodiment 3B

320a first instrumented plank 20; Embodiment 3C

320b second instrumented plank 20; Embodiment 3C

330a first acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3C

330b second acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3C

350a first section 50; Embodiment 3C

350b second section 50; Embodiment 3C

420 instrumented plank 20; Embodiment 3D

430a first acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3D

430b second acceleration sensor 30; Embodiment 3D

450a first section 50; Embodiment 3D

450b second section 50; Embodiment 3D

500 horizontal section 50 section

501 horizontal distance of the section 150a; Embodiment 3A

502 horizontal distance of the section 150b; Embodiment 3A

503 horizontal distance of the section 250a; Embodiment 3B 504 horizontal distance of the section 250b; Embodiment 3B

505 horizontal distance of section 350a; Embodiment 3C

506, horizontal distance of section 350b; Embodiment 3C

507 horizontal distance of section 450a; Embodiment 3D

508, horizontal distance of section 450b; Embodiment 3D

Claims

claims

An activity detecting device for detecting an activity of a farm animal, comprising:

an acceleration sensor (30) having fixing means (31) for fixedly fixing the acceleration sensor (30) to a portion (200) of a ground contact patch (10) of a livestock bay, data processing means being signaled and connected to the acceleration sensor (30) to detect an acceleration of the section (200) of the ground contact patch (10) of the livestock bay and to calculate a calculated livestock activity from this acceleration, and

an electronic interface (40) adapted to signal the calculated livestock activity.

Activity detecting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the ground contact surface (10) consists of a plurality of planks (1 1) fixedly connected to each other on a substructure of a plurality of support members (13) and the acceleration sensor (30) in a vertically movable portion (200) one of the planks (1 1) is fixed, which is horizontally spaced (201) attached to the support elements (13) to accommodate the vertical acceleration of the ground contact surface (10).

An activity detecting apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a first instrumented screed (20a), characterized in that a first acceleration sensor (30a) is rigidly attachable to and aligned with a first portion (200) of the first instrumented screed (20a) of a first livestock bay Direction of acceleration of the first portion (200) of the first instrumented screed (20a) corresponds to a direction of a measuring axis of the first acceleration sensor (30a) and further characterized by a first sensitivity of the first instrumented screed (20a) passing through

an elasticity of the first instrumented screed (20a) and / or the portion (200) to which the first acceleration sensor (30a) is attached, and / or a parameter of the first acceleration sensor (30a) being affected.

An activity detecting device according to claim 3, comprising a second instrumented plank (20b), characterized in that a second acceleration sensor (30b) is rigidly attached to a second portion (200) of the first instrumented plank (20a) or the second instrumented plank (20b ) and is oriented such that a direction of acceleration of the second portion (200) of the instrumented screed (20) corresponds to a direction of a measurement axis of the second acceleration sensor (30b), the second instrumented screed (20b) within the ground contact surface (10) the first livestock breeding bay or a second livestock pen bay, and further characterized by a second sensitivity of the second orchestrated lath (20b) which passes through

an elasticity of the second instrumented screed (20b) and / or the portion (200) to which the second acceleration sensor (30b) is attached, and / or a parameter of the second acceleration sensor (30b)

is affected, wherein the second sensitivity is different or identical to the first sensitivity.

5. The activity detecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first (20a) and the second instrumented screed (20b) are disposed within the first livestock bay, characterized in that the data processing means comprises a first signal (41a) of the first acceleration sensor (30a) and a second signal (41 b) of the second acceleration sensor (30 b) detected and

precisely calculating one livestock activity from the two signals (41), wherein the two instrumented planks (20) have an identical sensitivity, or - to calculate from the two signals (41) a first livestock activity and a second livestock activity, the second instrumented lath (20b) has a sensitivity different from the first instrumented plank (20a).

6. Activity detecting device according to claim 4, characterized in that the first instrumented screed (20a) is arranged within the first livestock bay, the second instrumented screed (20b) is located within a second livestock bay,

and that the data processing device is signally connected to the first instrumented screed (20a) and the second instrumented screed (20b) and configured to individually calculate the livestock activity for each of the two livestock housing pens.

An activity detecting apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data processing means is adapted to calculate a position of the farm animal at the time of the calculated livestock activity with respect to the position (200) of the acceleration sensor (30) within the livestock bay.

An activity detecting device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electronic interface (40) is arranged as a user interface (40) to set by an input of the user a time interval in which the calculated livestock activity is detected, the observed livestock activity an observed behavior to assign the livestock

to assign animal-specific information to the calculated livestock activity, and / or

to assign an event to the calculated livestock activity comprising:

o night's sleep,

o feeding,

o birth period,

o weighing process, or

o Sorting process.

Activity detection device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electronic interface (40) is designed as a data interface (40) and that the data processing device is designed to provide information via the data interface (40) retrieve centralized control software and associate it with the calculated livestock activity, comprising:

Ambient temperature,

Humidity,

- Light intensity,

Drug delivery,

Water supply,

Feed composition and / or

Feed ration. 10. Activity detection device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data processing means comprises a memory unit which is adapted to store a detected signal profile, wherein the detected signal profile, the signal (41) of the acceleration sensor (30), the calculated livestock activity and additional information, optionally the information about the position of the farm animal at the time of the calculated livestock activity with respect to the position (200) of the acceleration sensor (30), the information associated with the user interface (40) and / or the data interface (40) associated information includes.

1 1. Activity detection device according to claim 10, characterized in that the data processing device is designed to detect a normal pattern, an empirical value and / or an event expectation by the comparison of a plurality of recorded signal profiles stored in the memory unit and to store in the memory unit.

12. Activity detecting device according to claim 1 1, characterized in that the data processing device is designed to detect a detected

Match the signal profile with the normal value, the empirical value and / or the event expectation and determine a behavioral pattern of the farm animal by means of a pattern matching, a difference analysis and / or an average comparison.

13. Activity detecting device according to claim 12, characterized in that the data processing device is designed to output via the data interface (40) a control signal for controlling at least one of the following devices:

an air conditioning unit,

a ventilation device,

a lighting device,

a medication supply device,

a water supply device, and / or

a feed supply device,

wherein the control signal is output in dependence on the detected signal profile.

14. Activity detecting device according to claim 1 1, 12 or 13, characterized in that the data processing device is designed such that the acceleration sensor (30) is driven at regular intervals for Livestock activity detection, in particular at intervals, depending on the livestock activity in normal pattern , Empirical values and event expectations are chosen such that the recorded livestock activities in two successive activity detections due to the signal profile can be assigned a complete behavior pattern, the signals, in the form of an amplitude, a frequency and / or a punctual signal, permanent, as a periodic point measurement and / or recorded as periodic sequence measurements.

15. Activity detecting device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electronic interface (40)

a screen (40) is on which the livestock activity of the livestock bay is displayed as amplitude, frequency, difference, pattern matching and / or averaging, and / or

allows wireless transmission to signal livestock activity other than the normal pattern, empirical value and / or event expectation. Method for detecting livestock activity by means of an activity detection device, comprising the steps of:

Detecting a vertical acceleration of a section (200) of a ground contact patch (10) of a livestock bay with an acceleration sensor (30),

Calculating a livestock activity from the detected acceleration by means of a data processing device, which is preferably signal-connected to the acceleration sensor (30),

Tracking the livestock activity thus detected, preferably the livestock activities of a plurality of livestock thus detected.

The method for detecting a livestock activity according to claim 16, further comprising:

Matching the calculated livestock activity with a normal pattern and / or empirical value stored in a storage unit to identify conspicuous behavior patterns, the storage unit being part of the data processing device,

Retrieving the environmental conditions at the time of Nutztieraktivitäts- detection by means of a central control software, which is preferably connected to the data processing device signaling technology,

Associating the calculated livestock activity with the environmental conditions, comprising:

o ambient temperature,

o ventilation,

o light intensity,

o feed supply,

o water supply,

o medication supply,

o time of day and

o expected events, Adjustment of environmental conditions to avoid conspicuous behavior patterns, preferably by means of a user interface (40) or a data interface (40).

Use of an instrumented screed (20) for detecting the activity of livestock, the instrumented screed (20) being part of an activity-detecting device according to one of claims 1 to 15.