The invention relates to a method for automatically locating an animal by means of radio waves and a plurality of nodes, wherein the animal is located on a ground and is equipped with a node of the radio locating system to be located and with one or more acceleration sensors. By evaluating the measurement results of the acceleration sensors, a conclusion is drawn about which activity the animal is presently performing and at which height above the ground the node is located. The calculation of the position of the node to be located from the measurement results of the radio locating system is influenced by the assumption of said height as a constraint.

The invention includes a location tracking device in an RFID environment, a system and method for tracking tag objects. Preferred embodiments include location tracking for livestock and a system and method for categorizing animal health. The location tracking device is an active or passive RFID device having a low power, long range transceiver for tracking the location and movement of the tag animal. The RFID device further includes a temperature reader circuit that induces an activation voltage on an inductive coupled temperature sensor having an LC circuit. The activation voltage is selectively cycled on and off to measure the decay of the LC circuit by its resonant frequency. Changes in capacitance of the LC circuit are converted to temperature readings thereby providing temperature monitoring of the animal. The system and method includes logic in the form of predetermined movement categories which indicate whether an animal may be potentially sick or healthy. The movement categories include frequency of movement and distances traveled by a monitored animal.

A bioabsorbable tissue support is inserted into a tissue of a subject during, or after, puncture of the tissue. The bioabsorbable tissue support includes a material that is gradually absorbed into the punctured tissue in time, and disappears. The bioabsorbable tissue support may be inserted standing alone, or in association with a permanent or temporary non-bioabsorbable tissue support, may define the shape of the punctured hole, and/or may release useful or ornamental chemicals into the punctured tissue. The chemical may include an antibacterial material, an antifungal material, an antimicrobial material, topical anesthetic, a temporary or permanent dye material, and/or an antiproliferative agent. The non-bioabsorbable tissue support may include a self-expanding material that enlarges the size of the puncture in time. The bioabsorbable tissue support may have the form of a tube and/or a mesh of variable peripheral shapes, be elongated, and/or have attachable and detachable end plates and pointed tips.

An animal health monitoring system includes a plurality of animal tag assemblies configured for being disposed on members of an animal population, each of the animal tag assemblies including one or more sensors configured to measure one or more animal characteristics of a member of the animal population. The system includes a concentrator communicatively coupled to the plurality of animal tag assemblies and configured to acquire one or more animal characteristics from the plurality of animal tag assemblies. The system includes a controller communicatively coupled to the concentrator and configured to receive the acquired one or more animal characteristics from the plurality of animal tag assemblies from the concentrator, determine a health state of one or more of the members of the animal population based on the received one or more animal characteristics and report the determined health state to one or more user devices.

In a method and system for managing a social group, the method includes determining a group member behavior from a member position relative to the social group, and inferring a member state from the member behavior. Spatial, spatio-temporal, and biometric data may be used. A social group management system includes an inference engine that infers a member state from the behavior of a monitored member. Another social group management method includes characterizing a first monitored member of the social group as a first discrete element; characterizing at least a second monitored member of the social group as at least a second discrete element; and determining a characteristic displacement between the first monitored member and at least the second monitored member in accordance with a discrete element method.

This disclosure relates to a system for monitoring pasture intake by a grazing animal species. The system comprises a sensor spatially associated with a body part of the animal to generate movement data indicative of movement of the body part of the animal associated with multiple points in time and a processing server. The processing server comprises a data interface to receive the movement data and a processor that is configured to evaluate the received movement data to determine for each of the multiple points in time an indication of a behaviour of the animal at that point in time. Based on the indication the processor determines a time value indicative of a time the behaviour was shown by the animal, and determines a pasture intake value based on the time value.

A system can comprise a radio frequency (RF) monitoring device configured to collect information relating to livestock and transmit the collected information to a management device, and a management device configured to process the collected information and generate corresponding livestock management information.

A system and method are disclosed for tracking animals, which may include production animals as well as pets. The system and method may comprise a tag system that is attached to an animal that generally has at least a near-field-communication (NFC) tag. The tag system comprises at least an NFC tag and a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. For NFC tags, such tags may be read with a portable computing device, such as a mobile telephone running NFC reader application software. The phone may communicate with a communications network and ultimately a computer server in order to relay information received from a respective electronic tag. The electronic tags may be fastened, embedded, or ingested by an animal. The electronic tags may be part of a mechanical coupling. Each mechanical coupling may comprise a different structure depending on the whether the tags are fastened to, embedded in, or ingested by the animal.

An animal health monitoring system includes a plurality of animal tag assemblies configured for being disposed on members of an animal population, each of the animal tag assemblies including one or more sensors configured to measure one or more animal characteristics of a member of the animal population. The system includes a concentrator communicatively coupled to the plurality of animal tag assemblies and configured to acquire one or more animal characteristics from the plurality of animal tag assemblies. The system includes a controller communicatively coupled to the concentrator and configured to receive the acquired one or more animal characteristics from the plurality of animal tag assemblies from the concentrator, determine a health state of one or more of the members of the animal population based on the received one or more animal characteristics and report the determined health state to one or more user devices.

A method of smart cattle reproduction management and digital farm to market transparency metrics tracks, monitors, and predicts reproductive efficiency, providing actionable information that allows the cattle rancher to optimize operations to ensure a high calf crop percentage. Using conventional ear tags to track and monitor the location, temperature, and movement of each animal in the herd, a highly accurate and data-driven reproductive performance score may be calculated for open heifers, cows, and bulls, thereby allowing actions to be taken to enhance reproductive efficiency. In addition, given the high risk of losing a heifer during calving, a method provides a means to detect, in advance and remotely, when a pregnant heifer is about to start calving to allow the cattle rancher to go on site, locate the animal, and provide any veterinary assistance that may be required should the delivery be difficult.