The future link between animals and the electronics industry

Global positioning system technology (GPS- Global Positioning System) used to track vehicles is now being used to track cows.

Animal research scientist Dean M. Anderson of the US Department of Agriculture (ARS) has taken some further steps with a set of headphones like the Walkman that allows him to "whisper" orders through Wireless transmission to the herd to control their activities in the grasslands - and even drove cattle into a stable from a distance.

He and his colleagues realized that this is a technology of future generations, but they can still imagine when these technologies will be cheaper and useful within the application range from dynamic activities. objects to control and control the activities of some wild animals or even domestic pets.

Anderson of the Jornada Center Experimental Range of the US Department of Agriculture in Las Cruces, New Mexico with Daniela Rus and a team of engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge are conducting research to equip a device. It was named Ear-A-Round (EAR) with advanced electronics. Their latest model is a donut-shaped headset worn on both ears. Anderson's headset design and his knowledge of animal ecology are combined with the electronic skills of MIT scientists in robotics and mobile computing.

ARS scientists are working on inventing a technology that not only can track cattle with GPS technology but can also control their activities throughout the grasslands - and even Can be placed in a remote animal shelter.(Photo: Keith Weller)

Prior to joining MIT, Anderson invented the virtual barrier barrier technology called Directional Virtual Fencing (DVF). This technology focuses around giving cows the 'left' and 'right' touch signals to make them move away from the area where the sounds are loud.

Researchers at MIT's artificial intelligence lab have invented and built a model of a miniature electronic package for DVF devices powered by solar power and packaged as a device. wearing ears. The circuit board contains a processor, data storage, WiFi device for remote communications, a global satellite receiver, and sensors such as magnetometers and families. Speedometer records the orientation and body shape of animals.

The orders vary from the cowboy's familiar songs in the animal sledding sessions to the barn to the sounds of the whistle and even mild electric stimuli if needed to make the cow. move or avoid entry into prohibited boundaries.