Intelligent feeding control system based on Internet of Things

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of live pig feeding control. The invention aims at providing an intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things. The intelligent feeding control system comprises a central server and a plurality of terminal feeding subsystems which are in communication connection with the central server through relay communication boxes. The terminal feeding subsystem is arranged in a pigsty and comprises an image acquisition device; a pig identification device; a feeding device; and a repelling mechanism. Precise feeding can be carried out on the individual pigs according to the actual conditions such as the body shapes and the back fat of the pigs, and the conditions of insufficient feeding and excessive feeding are avoided. The system adopts the central server as a localized intelligent control center, has a real-time figure and backfat monitoring function, a pig high-precision identification function, a pig activity identification function, an individual adaptive feeding function, an overeating expelling function and the like aiming at individual pigs, and integrally realizes automatic high-precision intelligent feeding; and the method has positive significance on optimal management of modern pig farms.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of pig feeding control, and in particular to an intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things. Background Art

[0002] Although the pig farming industry has undergone years of modernization and has essentially achieved automated and timed feeding within pens, significantly reducing labor costs and personnel burdens, it still generally relies on relatively traditional centralized feeding methods, resulting in a high feed-to-meat ratio. This puts it under increasing pressure in the increasingly competitive market economy. Data shows that feed costs account for approximately 55%-75% of total pig farming costs. Only by taking into account individual differences in feed conversion capacity and growth stage (such as age and backfat) can precise feeding of pigs be achieved, reducing the feed-to-meat ratio and ultimately lowering the proportion of feed costs in the overall cost of pig production. This process requires systematic consideration and design of issues such as pig identification, the collection of pig body and behavioral information, the design of feeding equipment, and the removal of overfeeding pigs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things that can achieve precise feeding of pigs. It can assist managers in scientifically and intelligently managing and making decisions on farms, achieve precise feeding of individual pigs, and have positive significance for reducing the feed-to-meat ratio and reducing the overall market cost.

[0004] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is an intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things, which includes a central server and several sets of terminal feeding subsystems that are connected to the central server through relay communication boxes;

[0005] The terminal feeding subsystem is arranged in the pig pen and includes:

[0006] Image acquisition device, used to collect and transmit back the pig's body shape and backfat image information;

[0007] Pig identification device, which realizes pig identification and feedback through interaction with the passive tag set in the pig's ear tag;

[0008] A feeding device, used to perform feeding operations according to control instructions issued by the central server;

[0009] The driving-away mechanism is used to drive away the pigs according to the control instructions issued by the central server;

[0010] The central server processes the image information returned by the image acquisition device and the pig identity information returned by the pig identification device, and generates and issues control instructions for controlling the actions of the feeding device and the driving mechanism.

[0011] Preferably, the pig identification device includes an NFC reader, an RFID reader, as well as an NFC tag and an RFID tag correspondingly arranged in the pig ear tag;

[0012] A plurality of NFC readers are provided and arranged at each feeding position of the feeding trough in the pigsty, and the identity information of the pigs at the corresponding feeding positions is identified through near-field communication with the NFC tag;

[0013] A plurality of RFID readers are provided and distributed at multiple points in the pigsty. A single RFID tag communicates with multiple RFID readers synchronously. While obtaining the identity information of the pigs, the position of the pigs in the pigsty is determined by judging the strength of the communication signals with each RFID reader.

[0014] Preferably, the driving-away mechanism includes a driving-away pan-tilt and a driving-away laser head mounted on the driving-away pan-tilt. The driving-away laser head emits laser to form a dynamic light spot to drive away the pigs, and the driving-away pan-tilt and the driving-away laser head are communicatively connected to the central server.

[0015] Preferably, the image acquisition device includes a camera pan-tilt and a high-position camera mounted on the camera pan-tilt.

[0016] Preferably, the central server is communicatively connected to a cloud server, and the cloud server is communicatively connected to an intelligent mobile terminal.

[0017] Preferably, the pigsty is a square pigsty, and the four sides of the pigsty form a feeding area for installing the feeding device; the feeding device includes a feeding trough arranged along the length direction of the side wall of the pigsty, as well as a drinking water ring pipe and a liquid food ring pipe arranged outside the feeding trough. The drinking water ring pipe is connected to a drinking water pump and a drinking water tank through a pipeline, and the liquid food ring pipe is connected to a liquid food pump and a liquid food stirring and storage tank through a pipeline. The drinking water pump, the drinking water tank, the liquid food pump, and the liquid food stirring and storage tank are all communicatively connected to the central server;

[0018] The feeding trough is divided into several feeding positions by a plurality of partition boards. An NFC reader is installed at each feeding position, and a water supply pipe and a liquid food pipe extending into the feeding trough are respectively led out from the corresponding drinking water ring pipe and liquid food ring pipe at each feeding position. Flow control valves communicatively connected to the central server are arranged on both the water supply pipe and the liquid food pipe.

[0019] Preferably, the feeding trough includes a trough body. A food attracting trough is arranged on the top surface of the side wall of the trough body close to the inside of the pigsty. The food attracting troughs on all the feeding troughs are connected to form an annular through trough; another path is led out from the liquid food ring pipe and communicated with the food attracting trough, and a food attracting control valve is separately arranged.

[0020] Preferably, the bottom of the feeding trough is connected to an emptying pipe, which leads to a manure storage tank located below the pigsty floor.

[0021] Preferably, RFID readers are installed at the four corners and the center of the pigsty.

[0022] Preferably, the driving-away mechanism is installed on the ceiling at the center inside the pigsty.

[0023] Preferably, the image acquisition device is installed at a high position in the middle of the four sides of the pigsty.

[0024] The beneficial effects of the present invention are mainly reflected in:

[0025] 1. It can perform precise feeding for individual pigs according to the actual conditions such as the body shape and backfat of the pigs, avoiding the situations of underfeeding and overfeeding.

[0026] 2. This system uses a central server as the center of local intelligent control, with functions such as real-time monitoring of the body shape and backfat of individual pigs, high-precision pig recognition function, pig activity recognition function, individual adaptive feeding function, overeating driving-away function, etc. It realizes automatic high-precision intelligent feeding as a whole, which has a positive significance for the optimized management of modern pig farms.

[0027] 3. Adopting the form of NFC near-field identification + RFID distance identification can accurately identify the pigs being fed. Cooperating with the image acquisition device, it can effectively monitor the activity rate, activity distance, etc. of the pigs in the pen.

[0028] 4. Creatively adopting the double-trough feeding design of a lure trough + a feeding trough, by introducing a small amount of liquid food for luring into the lure trough and only controlling the feeding of the lure through a single lure control valve, it can induce the pigs in the whole pen to enter the feeding position, and then accurately feed according to the needs of the pigs through a flow control valve, truly realizing feeding on demand.

[0029] 5. Through the original driving-away mechanism, when situations such as occupying the trough or changing the trough occur, it can drive away the overeating pigs, and at the same time, it can also drive away the pigs that maintain the lying position for a long time, keeping the activity of the pigs, which has a positive significance for improving the fattening ratio of the pigs.

[0030] 6. Through the cloud server and intelligent mobile terminal, the working conditions of the pig farm can be presented non-locally and remotely controlled, with the characteristics of high intelligence and remoteness, which has a positive significance for reducing the overall feeding labor cost of the pig farm. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] Figure 1 is the principle block diagram of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 2 is the schematic diagram of the plane layout structure of the terminal feeding subsystem of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 3 For Figure 2 Enlarged view of part A in;

[0034] Figure 4 Structural schematic diagram of the feeding position of the present invention;

[0035] 0, Pigsty; 1, NFC reader; 2, RFID reader; 3, Feeding trough; 4, Feeding position; 5, Driving-off mechanism; 6, Image acquisition device; 7, Drinking water loop pipe; 8, Liquid food loop pipe; 9, Drinking water pump; 10, Drinking water tank; 11, Liquid food pump; 12, Liquid food stirring and storage tank; 13, Partition board; 14, Water inlet pipe; 15, Liquid food pipe; 16, Flow control valve; 17, Inducing feeding trough; 18, Inducing feeding control valve; 19, Emptying pipe. Specific embodiments

[0036] As Figure 1 Shown is an intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things, which is applied in modern pig farms to achieve highly refined feeding control for individual pigs. Generally speaking, as Figure 1 Shown, the present invention includes a central server and several sets of terminal feeding subsystems that are communicatively connected to the central server through relay communication boxes. To meet the modern breeding requirements such as remote control, remote monitoring, and "cloud feeding", generally, the central server is arranged locally in the pig farm, and the central server is communicatively connected to a cloud server to achieve cloud platform management and control. The cloud server is connected to intelligent mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones and tablets to achieve remote wireless communication. The main function of the central server is to process the image information transmitted back by the image acquisition device 6 and the pig identity information transmitted back by the pig identification device, generate and issue a series of control instructions for controlling the actions of the feeding device and the driving-off mechanism 5, and has a database function, capable of exporting various reports and statements, such as: backfat growth curve graph, exercise volume curve graph, feeding volume curve graph, etc. ]>

[0037] The terminal feeding subsystems of the present invention are arranged in each pigsty in the pig farm, and are adaptively arranged according to the number and form of pigsties in the pig farm. They are connected to the central server in the local computer room through relay communication boxes. In addition to cloud remote control, unified centralized control can also be achieved in the local computer room. The relay communication box, as the connection between the central server and the terminal feeding subsystem, can select various high-integration wired I / O communication boxes, wireless I / O communication boxes, or wired + wireless dual-function communication boxes commonly used in various communications.

[0038] The block diagram of the terminal feeding subsystem of the present invention is as Figure 1As shown in the figure, it is set inside each pigsty 0 and includes an image acquisition device 6 for acquiring and transmitting back the body shape and backfat image information of pigs. The image acquisition device 6 generally consists of a camera pan-tilt and a high-position camera mounted on the camera pan-tilt. Both are connected to the central server, interact with the central server for data, and are controlled by the central server. The camera is installed obliquely at a high position, and the captured video, graphics and other image data are transmitted back to the central server, and the data is processed by various image processing methods of oblique photography. The central server summarizes, archives and constructs a database, which serves as the data source for various subsequent presentation report tools in pig farm management.

[0039] All kinds of data processing of the present invention can be directly completed locally on the central server, or can be arranged on the cloud server for centralized processing to realize the cloudification of data processing. At this time, the central server undertakes more functions of a relay server and a local database. Under the control of the central server, the camera pan-tilt can adjust the camera viewing angle and dynamically track according to the needs of image capture. Generally, the image acquisition device 6 is installed at a high position in the middle of the surrounding of the pigsty 0 to facilitate capturing the body shape, gait, backfat and other characteristics of pigs. By collaborating with multiple image acquisition devices 6 to capture images, the specific quantity and installation position of the high-position cameras can be adaptively designed according to the camera model and the pigsty site.

[0040] A pig identification device is used to identify the specific identity of pigs. In order to achieve low cost, it generally realizes pig identity identification and transmission back by interacting with a passive tag set in the pig ear tag. As Figure 1 shown, the pig identification device includes an NFC reader 1 and an RFID reader 2, as well as an NFC tag and an RFID tag correspondingly set in the pig ear tag. Its overall control logic is to give full play to the characteristics of high-precision NFC near-field identification and two-way information writing to accurately identify the pigs entering the feeding position (entering the feeding position 4), and to accurately feed the identified pigs. NFC has the characteristics of high identification accuracy, low misidentification rate, and effective resistance to surrounding interference. Its general ideal identification distance is about 20-30 cm, and it can be installed on the back of the feeding trough 3 in the feeding position 4, or other positions with strong anti-interference ability of surrounding pig tags and convenient installation. That is to say, multiple NFC readers 1 of the present invention are set and set on each feeding position 4 of the feeding trough 3 in the pigsty 0 to identify the pig identity information on the corresponding feeding position 4 through near-field communication with the NFC tag.

[0041] The RFID interaction data is mainly used as the data source for judging the activity distance and activity rate of pigs in the pen. When multiple RFID devices are set up, a horizontal coordinate system can be constructed based on multiple RFID readers. By the difference in signal strength between the RFID tags on each pig and each RFID reader, the position of the pig in the pen can be distinguished. Inside the RFID reader, there is a signal strength comparison circuit for judging the strength of the signal level. By comparing the signal strength between the RFID tag and each RFID reader, the distance between the pig and each RFID reader can be judged, thus realizing positioning. Theoretically, at least 3 RFID readers should be set up to form a horizontal coordinate system. The more RFID readers there are, the higher the positioning accuracy of the pigs. However, considering cost and the limited size of pen 0, usually not too many should be set up. As shown in Figure 2 , generally 4 are set up, one at each of the four corners and one in the middle. That is to say, multiple (at least three) RFID readers 2 are set up in the present invention, and are distributed at multiple points in pen 0. A single RFID tag communicates with multiple RFID readers 2 synchronously. While obtaining the pig's identity information, the position of the pig in pen 0 is determined by judging the strength of the communication signal between the pig and each RFID reader 2.

[0042] The feeding device is used to perform the feeding operation according to the control instructions issued by the central server. In the present invention, a square pen 0 is taken as an example. As shown in Figure 2 , the four sides of pen 0 form a feeding area for installing the feeding device. The feeding device includes a feeding trough 3 arranged along the length direction of the side of pen 0, and a drinking water ring pipe 7 and a liquid food ring pipe 8 arranged outside the feeding trough 3. The drinking water ring pipe 7 is connected to a drinking water pump 9 and a drinking water tank 10 through pipelines. The liquid food ring pipe 8 is connected to a liquid food pump 11 and a liquid food mixing and storage tank 12 through pipelines. The drinking water tank 10 is generally an electrically controlled water tank with functions such as water replenishment and filtration. Considering the shelf life of the mixed liquid food, the liquid food mixing and storage tank 12 usually has a box body and storage partitions, water storage partitions, mixing partitions, etc. inside the box body. The dry granular raw materials of the liquid food are stored in the storage partition. Before feeding, the granular raw materials and water are pumped to the mixing partition by a pump machine, evenly stirred and then sent out. The drinking water pump 9, the drinking water tank 10, the liquid food pump 11 and the liquid food mixing and storage tank 12 are all communicatively connected to the central server and are controlled by the central server.

[0043] Combined with Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown in the figure, the feeding trough 3 is divided into several feeding positions 4 by multiple partition plates 13. An NFC reader 1 is installed at each feeding position 4. The drinking water loop pipe 7 and the liquid food loop pipe 8 corresponding to each feeding position 4 respectively lead out a water inlet pipe 14 and a liquid food pipe 15 extending into the feeding trough 3. Flow control valves 16 communicating with the central server are arranged on both the water inlet pipe 14 and the liquid food pipe 15. Exhaust valves for discharging air in the pipes are generally arranged on the two loop pipes. After the feeding device is started, liquid food, drinking water, etc. are pumped into the two loop pipes, and the materials are discharged and metered through the flow control valves 16 and then fed back to the central server. In order to achieve functions such as trough flushing or discharging of dirt in the trough, an emptying pipe 19 can also be connected to the bottom of the feeding trough 3 and introduced into a manure storage tank under the bottom plate of the pigsty 0. An independent valve is arranged on the emptying pipe 19 and is controlled by the central server.

[0044] In order to enable pigs to stably enter each feeding position 4, before feeding, the present invention induces pigs to the feeding trough 3 by putting out attracting feed (a small amount of liquid food). When attracting feed, the present invention can directly discharge a small amount of liquid food into the feeding trough 3 through the flow control valve 16 for attracting feed. However, in actual application, since the liquid food pipe 15 usually has a relatively large diameter, it is not conducive to controlling the quantity of attracting feed discharged in small amounts by the flow control valve 16. If a separate pipeline is connected to each feeding position 4 and a dedicated high-precision valve is set to meet the need for attracting feed, it will lead to a sharp increase in the overall cost, especially the cost of the valve, and at the same time increase the complexity of control.

[0045] Therefore, a better way of the present invention can also be, as Figure 2 and Figure 4 shown in the figure, the feeding trough 3 includes a trough body. An attracting feed trough 17 is arranged on the top surface of the side wall of the trough body close to the inside of the pigsty 0. The attracting feed troughs 17 on all the feeding troughs 3 are connected to form an annular through trough. Another pipeline is led out from the liquid food loop pipe 8 and communicated with the attracting feed trough 17, and an attracting feed control valve 18 is separately arranged. The attracting feed trough 17 is designed as a shallow trough and a through trough, and generally has a certain horizontal inclination (height difference). The flow of liquid food into the attracting feed trough 17 is controlled by an attracting feed control valve 18. This form of using a shallow trough and a through trough as the attracting feed trough 17 is also convenient for cleaning the attracting feed trough 17 and is more convenient to use.

[0046] Finally, the present invention further includes a driving-away mechanism 5 for performing a driving-away operation on pigs according to the control instructions issued by the central server. Thus, the pigs occupying the trough and overeating are driven away. At the same time, the activity of the pigs can be increased, the risk of their illness can be reduced, and their fat-to-thin ratio can be made more appropriate. The driving-away mechanism 5 includes a driving-away cloud platform and a driving-away laser head mounted on the driving-away cloud platform. The driving-away laser head emits laser to form a dynamic light spot to achieve the driving-away of pigs. The driving-away cloud platform and the driving-away laser head are communicatively connected to the central server. The driving-away cloud platform and the driving-away laser head are communicatively connected to the central server. Generally, only one ceiling-mounted driving-away mechanism 5 is provided at the center inside the pigsty 0 to be responsible for driving away the pigs in the entire pen area. Of course, according to the floor area of the pigsty 0, multiple driving-away mechanisms 5 can also be provided for combined use. The driving-away laser head emits laser to achieve the driving-away of pigs. Its working principle is as follows: The driving-away laser head emits low-power laser (50-100 mW, to avoid excessive power causing stress) and focuses on irradiating near the pigs to form a light spot. Through the visual stimulation of the pigs, pigs have an instinctive alertness to the moving light spot. The dynamic change of the light spot will make the pigs have a perception of "foreign object approaching", so they will actively move to avoid. The light spot formed by this laser irradiation has high clarity. Due to the low power, it has no physical harm itself. It only triggers the escape reaction of the pigs through visual signals. Generally, the light spot needs to move continuously (such as swinging left and right, back and forth) to avoid the pigs gradually adapting to the fixed light spot and weakening the driving-away effect. Since compared with sound and physical driving, the driving-away by the laser light spot is gentler, not likely to cause panic in the pig group, and can be remotely operated, effectively reducing the stress caused by human contact. It should be noted that during use, the direct irradiation of the light spot on the pig's eyes should be avoided, and the driving-away time each time should not be too long (usually not exceeding 30 seconds at a single time) to prevent the pigs from being overly stressed; the light spot movement mode needs to be changed regularly to prevent the pigs from getting used to it.

Claims

1. An intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things, characterized in that: It includes a central server and several terminal feeding subsystems that form a communication connection with the central server through relay communication boxes; The terminal feeding subsystem is arranged in the pigsty (0) and includes: An image acquisition device (6) for acquiring and transmitting back the body shape and backfat image information of pigs; A pig identification device that realizes pig identification and transmits back through interaction with a passive tag set in the pig ear tag; A feeding device for performing a feeding operation according to a control instruction issued by the central server; A driving-away mechanism (5) for performing a driving-away operation on pigs according to a control instruction issued by the central server; The central server processes the image information transmitted back by the image acquisition device (6) and the pig identification information transmitted back by the pig identification device, and generates and issues a control instruction for controlling the actions of the feeding device and the driving-away mechanism (5).

2. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 1, wherein: The pig identification device includes an NFC reader (1) and an RFID reader (2), as well as an NFC tag and an RFID tag correspondingly set in the pig ear tag; A plurality of NFC readers (1) are provided and are arranged on each feeding position (4) of the feeding trough (3) in the pigsty (0). The identity information of the pigs on the corresponding feeding position (4) is identified through near-field communication with the NFC tag; A plurality of RFID readers (2) are provided and are distributed at multiple positions in the pigsty (0). A single RFID tag communicates with multiple RFID readers (2) synchronously. While obtaining the pig identity information, the position of the pig in the pigsty (0) is determined by judging the strength of the communication signal with each RFID reader (2).

3. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 2, characterized in that: The driving-away mechanism (5) includes a driving-away pan-tilt and a driving-away laser head mounted on the driving-away pan-tilt. The driving-away laser head emits laser to form a dynamic light spot to drive away the pigs. The driving-away pan-tilt and the driving-away laser head are communicatively connected to the central server.

4. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 3, wherein: The image acquisition device (6) includes a camera pan-tilt and a high-position camera mounted on the camera pan-tilt.

5. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 4, wherein: The central server is communicatively connected to a cloud server, and the cloud server is communicatively connected to an intelligent mobile terminal.

6. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 5, characterized in that: The pigsty (0) is a square pigsty (0). The four sides of the pigsty (0) form a feeding area for installing the feeding device; the feeding device includes a feeding trough (3) arranged along the length direction of the side of the pigsty (0), and a drinking water ring pipe (7) and a liquid food ring pipe (8) arranged outside the feeding trough (3). The drinking water ring pipe (7) is connected to a drinking water pump (9) and a drinking water tank (10) through a pipeline. The liquid food ring pipe (8) is connected to a liquid food pump (11) and a liquid food stirring and storage tank (12) through a pipeline. The drinking water pump (9), the drinking water tank (10), the liquid food pump (11), and the liquid food stirring and storage tank (12) are all communicatively connected to the central server; The feeding trough (3) is separated into a number of feeding positions (4) by a plurality of partition plates (13). An NFC reader (1) is installed at each feeding position (4). A water supply pipe (14) and a liquid food pipe (15) that extend into the feeding trough (3) are respectively led out from the corresponding drinking water loop pipe (7) and liquid food loop pipe (8) at each feeding position (4). Flow control valves (16) that are communicatively connected to the central server are provided on both the water supply pipe (14) and the liquid food pipe (15).

7. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 6, wherein: The feeding trough (3) includes a trough body. A feeding attraction trough (17) is provided on the top surface of the side wall of the trough body close to the inner side of the pigsty (0). The feeding attraction troughs (17) on all the feeding troughs (3) are connected to form an annular through trough. Another pipe is led out from the liquid food loop pipe (8) to communicate with the feeding attraction trough (17), and a feeding attraction control valve (18) is separately provided.

8. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 7, characterized in that: The bottom of the feeding trough (3) is connected to an emptying pipe (19), which is led into a manure storage tank located below the bottom plate of the pigsty (0).

9. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 8, characterized in that: RFID readers (2) are installed at the four corners and the center of the pigsty (0).

10. The intelligent feeding control system based on the Internet of Things according to claim 9, characterized in that: The driving-away mechanism (5) is installed on the ceiling at the center inside the pigsty (0). The image acquisition device (6) is installed at a high position in the middle of the four sides of the pigsty (0).

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