Method for buiding small-scale sustainable livestock system valuechain between farmers, distributors and breeding manager
Patent Information
- Application Number
- KR1020250047814
- Authority / Receiving Office
- KR · KR
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-04-14
- Publication Date
- 2026-10-21
Smart Images
Figure PAT00001_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technology Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a method for establishing a small-scale sustainable livestock system value chain among farm owners, distributors, and livestock management personnel. More specifically, it relates to a business model achievable by targeting small-scale free-range poultry farms with 5,000 or fewer chickens. Specifically, the invention relates to a business model that enables smooth service provision and benefit among three entities by providing a modular farm system to farm owners who have obtained a free-range chicken farm permit or are receiving support from a local government's return-to-farming program, providing livestock management (productivity, disease management, feed supply, etc.), connecting them with distributors to secure sales channels that guarantee 100% full purchase, and having livestock management personnel provide consulting services necessary for the farm owners, such as eco-friendly certification consulting. Background Technology
[0002] Rural areas are currently facing a crisis of extinction. There are 118 cities, counties, and districts across South Korea at risk of extinction. Areas such as Pyeongchang, Yeongwol, Jeongseon, and Hoengseong in Gangwon Province are already included in the high-risk areas for extinction.
[0003] If this rural decline accelerates, social problems could intensify.
[0004] The concentration of population aging in rural areas may lead to a decline in agricultural productivity, while the deterioration of local finances could worsen the regional economy and exacerbate inequality. Furthermore, the lack of essential living infrastructure and increased social isolation could result in the collapse of social infrastructure.
[0005] In this situation, there are some people who return to farming, and although local government programs are provided to them, they experience numerous trials and errors in establishing a farm system because they are completely unaware of the licensing, regulations, and policies.
[0006] Furthermore, even if one undergoes such trial and error, there is also the problem that it is difficult to generate profit because sales channels cannot be secured.
[0007] Furthermore, as time goes by, producing eco-friendly products such as HACCP certification, eco-friendly certification, and free-range egg production is becoming a competitive advantage. However, local farm owners are often completely unaware of these certification methods or eco-friendly production techniques, and there is frequently a lack of information sharing with those who are knowledgeable. In particular, Europe has introduced strict standards, such as mandating non-cage rearing since 2012 following the implementation of the first animal welfare regulations for laying hens in 1986, and Korea has also been operating an animal welfare livestock farm certification system since 2012. Consequently, operating an animal welfare farm is becoming a determining factor in product competitiveness.
[0008] Therefore, in order to meet the needs of the future era requiring carbon reduction technology, prevent the extinction of rural areas, and provide stable and fundamental income to many farm owners, including those returning to farming, it is urgently necessary to rebuild the value chain. The problem to be solved
[0009] The present invention aims to secure stable profits for farm owners by targeting small-scale free-range poultry farms with 5,000 or fewer chickens, and by providing the farm owner with a modularized farm system to provide management services (productivity, disease management, feed supply, etc.), connecting them with distributors to secure sales channels that guarantee 100% full purchase, and providing necessary consulting services such as eco-friendly certification consulting.
[0010] Specifically, the present invention aims to enable all three parties to achieve business goals by establishing a value chain that facilitates smooth mutual needs fulfillment among the livestock manager, farm owner, and distributor. means of solving the problem
[0011] As a technical means for achieving the technical problem described above, the present invention relates to a method for providing an automatic management and operation system for a poultry farm, which is performed by a server according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprising: (a) receiving operation information, facility information, and disease control information regarding the poultry farm collected through a plurality of sensors installed in the poultry farm; (b) controlling the operation facilities, environmental facilities, control facilities, and disease control facilities of the poultry farm based on the received operation information, facility information, and disease control information, and providing the operation information, facility information, and disease control information to a poultry farm owner's terminal; (c) receiving yield, quality information, and expiration date information of eggs produced at the poultry farm from the poultry farm owner's terminal, and, when the poultry farm supplies eggs to a distributor, providing at least one of the yield, quality information, and expiration date information of the eggs supplied by the poultry farm to a distributor's terminal; and (d) providing poultry farm operation status information for a plurality of affiliated poultry farms to the distributor's terminal, and providing consulting information regarding livestock barn operation to the poultry farm owner's terminal.
[0012] In addition, the above operational information includes egg production per unit of time, egg laying records by individual, mortality rate and health status by individual, worker entry and working hours, and packaging and shipping information for produced eggs; the above facility information includes temperature, humidity, CO2, NH3 (ammonia) concentration, harmful gas concentration, illuminance and noise levels, feed supply amount per unit of time, feed consumption amount per unit of time, water supply amount per unit of time, water consumption amount per unit of time, water purification filter replacement cycle, water contamination status, air conditioning facility operation information, information on whether chickens are housed in the coop or free-range, and electricity usage; and the above disease prevention information may include disease occurrence status, UV and plasma sterilization operation time, virus concentration in the air inside the coop, whether egg conveyor belts are sterilized and disinfected, operation records of sterilization gates for worker entry, whether vehicles and transport tools are disinfected, and whether work clothes and shoes are sterilized.
[0013] Additionally, the above step (a) may involve collecting the operational information according to an object detection technique based on images collected through a plurality of image sensors installed in the poultry farm, collecting the facility information through temperature and humidity sensors, air quality sensors, illuminance sensors, acoustic sensors, water quality sensors, and power consumption sensors installed in the poultry farm, and collecting the disease control information through virus detection sensors installed in the poultry farm.
[0014] In addition, the above step (b) comprises: (b-1) a step of controlling the operating facility to monitor real-time egg production, analyze and record individual egg laying rates, record individual mortality rates and health status data, package and ship the produced eggs, and record worker entry and working hours; (b-2) a step of controlling the environmental facility to regulate the temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, and NH3 (ammonia) concentration inside the poultry farm, regulate light intensity and noise, and operate the air conditioning system considering the season and weather conditions; (b-3) a step of controlling the above-mentioned control equipment to regulate the amount of feed supplied, supplying water through a water supply facility, and accommodating or grazing chickens in a chicken house through a partition; and (b-4) a step of controlling the above-mentioned disinfection equipment to remove airborne viruses inside the poultry house, sterilizing and disinfecting the egg conveyor, sterilizing and disinfecting the sterilization gate for worker entry, isolating the chicken house where airborne viruses are detected with a partition, sterilizing and disinfecting the egg transport vehicle and transport tool, and disinfecting work clothes and shoes; may be included.
[0015] Additionally, the above step (b-3) may further include the step of, upon receiving a signal from the poultry farm owner terminal requesting the production of fertilized eggs, controlling the partition between the hen house and the rooster house to combine the hen house and the rooster house so that fertilized eggs are produced.
[0016] Additionally, the above step (c) may include: (c-1) a step of generating learning data by matching the yield, quality information, and shelf life information of eggs received from the poultry farm owner's terminal with the operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information collected from the plurality of sensors; (c-2) a step of constructing a production optimization model by performing machine learning with the learning data as input values, and outputting operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information capable of harvesting more than the target yield when a target yield is input; and (c-3) a step of automatically controlling the operation equipment, environmental equipment, control equipment, and disease prevention equipment of the poultry farm based on the output value of the production optimization model.
[0017] In addition, the above step (c-3) may involve the production optimization model automatically controlling the operating equipment, environmental equipment, control equipment, and disease prevention equipment to meet the relevant certification standards with priority over egg production volume when the poultry farm owner terminal requests compliance with the certification standards for any one of animal welfare certification, HACCP certification, and eco-friendly certification.
[0018] Additionally, step (d) above may involve providing a consulting request page to the poultry farm owner terminal, and when a consulting request is received from the poultry farm owner terminal, recommending customized consulting based on collected operational information, facility information, and disease control information, and providing a dashboard that displays the status of at least one customized consulting provided to the poultry farm owner terminal.
[0019] In addition, the aforementioned customized consulting may include expert connection consulting that provides matching with HACCP, eco-friendly certification experts, and animal welfare experts; animal welfare application consulting that provides guidelines for producing animal welfare eggs; rearing environment improvement consulting that increases production by improving the rearing environment; HACCP certification consulting that provides guidance on the HACCP certification process and automatically generates and provides checklists for each step of the certification and application documents; government support consulting that provides information on government subsidies and support policies available based on the status of the poultry farm; eco-friendly consulting that provides methods for using eco-friendly feed, supplier information, and a guide on introducing solar power technology; and ESG consulting that provides strategic materials for ESG management.
[0020] A server providing an automatic poultry farm management and operation system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a memory storing a program for performing a method for providing an automatic poultry farm management and operation system; The system includes a processor for executing the above program, wherein the processor receives operational information, facility information, and disease control information regarding the poultry farm collected through a plurality of sensors installed in the poultry farm by the execution of the above program, controls the operational equipment, environmental equipment, control equipment, and disease control equipment of the poultry farm based on the received operational information, facility information, and disease control information, provides the operational information, facility information, and disease control information to the poultry farm owner's terminal, receives yield, quality information, and expiration date information of eggs produced in the poultry farm from the poultry farm owner's terminal, and when the poultry farm supplies eggs to a distributor, provides at least one of the yield, quality information, and expiration date information regarding the eggs supplied by the poultry farm to the distributor's terminal, provides poultry farm operation status information for a plurality of affiliated poultry farms to the distributor's terminal, and provides consulting information regarding livestock barn operation to the poultry farm owner's terminal. Effects of the invention
[0021] The present invention can establish a value chain between distributors, farm owners, and livestock managers, and provide a small-scale sustainable future livestock system model with 5,000 or fewer chickens.
[0022] The present invention can provide a modular farm system to farm owners who have obtained a permit for a free-range egg farm, farm owners who are beneficiaries of a local government's return-to-farming program, or other farm owners who are experiencing many difficulties in farm management or who wish to expand the number of farms, and enable stable production.
[0023] The present invention enables livestock managers to smoothly support the management of productivity, disease control, and feed supply by utilizing smart farm sensors, ICT communication, and terminal information sharing technologies; by connecting distributors to farm owners to secure stable sales channels and proposing other eco-friendly consulting programs, it can contribute to securing revenue for livestock managers while simultaneously supporting the stable operation of farm owners.
[0024] From the perspective of a distributor, since eggs are supplied from farms that are managed safely and uniformly, the present invention allows for the supply of products of uniform and superior quality, and also enables the supply of eco-friendly products produced under animal welfare conditions through eco-friendly consulting.
[0025] Through this, a value chain can be established in which all three parties—distributors, livestock managers, and farm owners—can be satisfied and services and goods can be provided smoothly to each other. Brief explanation of the drawing
[0026] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a business model utilizing a system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart regarding the execution sequence of a method for providing an automatic poultry farm management and operation system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an automatic poultry farm management and operation system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a server providing an automatic poultry farm management and operation system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a plurality of facilities required for automatic management of a poultry farm according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of a server, a poultry farm owner terminal, and a distributor terminal constituting an automatic poultry farm management and operation system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Specific details for implementing the invention
[0027] Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the attached drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the invention. However, the present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, in order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts unrelated to the explanation have been omitted, and similar parts throughout the specification are denoted by similar reference numerals.
[0028] Throughout the specification, when a part is described as being "connected" to another part, this includes not only cases where they are "directly connected," but also cases where they are "electrically connected" with other components interposed between them. Furthermore, when a part is described as "including" a certain component, this means that, unless specifically stated otherwise, it does not exclude other components but may include additional components.
[0029] In this specification, the term "part" includes a unit realized by hardware, a unit realized by software, and a unit realized using both. Additionally, one unit may be realized using two or more pieces of hardware, and two or more units may be realized by one piece of hardware. Meanwhile, "part" is not limited to software or hardware, and "part" may be configured to reside in an addressable storage medium or configured to run on one or more processors. Accordingly, as an example, "part" includes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, as well as processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided within the components and "parts" may be combined into a smaller number of components and "parts" or further separated into additional components and "parts." In addition, the components and '~parts' may be implemented to play one or more CPUs within the device or secure multimedia card.
[0030] The "user terminal" mentioned below may be implemented as a computer or portable terminal capable of connecting to a server or other terminal via a network. Here, the computer may include, for example, a laptop, desktop, or notebook equipped with a web browser, and VR HMDs (e.g., HTC VIVE, Oculus Rift, GearVR, DayDream, PSVR, etc.). Here, the VR HMD includes PC models (e.g., HTC VIVE, Oculus Rift, FOVE, Deepon, etc.), mobile models (e.g., GearVR, DayDream, Storm Mirror, Google Cardboard, etc.), console models (PSVR), and stand-alone models implemented independently (e.g., Deepon, PICO, etc.). Portable terminals are wireless communication devices that ensure portability and mobility, and may include, for example, smartphones, tablet PCs, and wearable devices, as well as various devices equipped with communication modules such as Bluetooth (BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy), NFC, RFID, Ultrasonic, Infrared, WiFi, and LiFi. Additionally, "network" refers to a connection structure capable of exchanging information between each node, such as terminals and servers, and includes Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), the World Wide Web (WWW), wired and wireless data communication networks, telephone networks, wired and wireless television communication networks, etc.Examples of wireless data communication networks include, but are not limited to, 3G, 4G, 5G, 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), LTE (Long Term Evolution), WIMAX (World Interoperability for Microwave Access), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth communication, infrared communication, ultrasonic communication, Visible Light Communication (VLC), and LiFi.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention enables a livestock management company to provide livestock management services regarding productivity, disease control, and feed supply, as well as eco-friendly certification and eco-friendly farm operation consulting, to a farm owner, thereby allowing the farm owner to secure a stable sales channel by supplying products produced in such an environment to a distributor. In addition, the distributor receives farm data from the livestock management company, verifies stable farm management operations, and simultaneously receives products of superior and uniform quality. As this three-party value chain is stably established, a business model can be built that satisfies the farm owner, the distributor, and the livestock management company.
[0032] Referring to FIG. 2, the process of providing an automatic management and operation system for a poultry farm according to one embodiment of the present invention is briefly described as follows: First, the present invention involves a server (100) collecting operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information regarding a poultry farm through a plurality of sensors (400) installed in the poultry farm (S110); based on the received operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information, controlling the operation facilities (210), environmental facilities (220), control facilities (230), and disease prevention facilities (240) of the poultry farm, while simultaneously providing the operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information to a poultry farm owner terminal (200) (S120); receiving yield, quality information, and expiration date information of eggs produced in the poultry farm from the poultry farm owner terminal (200); and, in the case where eggs are supplied from the poultry farm to a distributor, providing at least one of the yield, quality information, and expiration date information of the eggs supplied from the poultry farm to a distributor terminal (300) (S130), and then the distributor The process may involve providing information on the operational status of multiple poultry farms affiliated with the terminal (300) and providing consulting information regarding livestock farm operation to the poultry farm owner's terminal (200) (S140).
[0033] Referring to FIG. 3, for this purpose, an automatic management and operation system for a poultry farm according to one embodiment of the present invention may be composed of a server (100), a poultry farm owner terminal (200), a distributor terminal (300), and a sensor (400) as illustrated. Although not illustrated in the drawings, the poultry farm may be constructed to include a smart farm system (not illustrated). Furthermore, this smart farm system may be a system capable of performing environmental management, operational management, etc., for the poultry farm based on IoT technology through the server (100) and a plurality of sensors (400). The smart farm system may provide the poultry farm owner with information necessary for operating the poultry farm and information necessary for distributing the produced eggs, and may provide the distributor with distribution information regarding the eggs supplied by the poultry farm owner, as well as information regarding the management status and egg laying status of each poultry farm.
[0034] Here, the distributor may be a business operator that provides infrastructure and licenses for poultry farming permits to poultry farm owners and exclusively receives eggs from them. Additionally, the operator of the smart farm system may be an entity that collaborates with the distributor, acting as an entity that provides the information and system control services necessary for the poultry farm owners to operate their farms. Therefore, as the distributor operates a business of receiving exclusive egg supplies from multiple poultry farm owners and needs to manage each farm to some extent, it is necessary to collaborate with the smart farm system to receive and verify management information regarding the poultry farms.
[0035] The server (100) of the present invention may be configured to include a memory in which a program or application is stored for the method of providing an automatic management and operation system for a poultry farm, and a processor that executes the said program.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 4, the server (100) may also include a database (DB) and a communication module, and can perform various functions depending on the execution of a program stored in the processor and memory. These various functions will be explained in detail later.
[0037] Next, the poultry farm owner terminal (200) and the distributor terminal (300) may include a standard desktop, laptop, tablet PC, and smartphone, having a program or application pre-installed that displays information provided from the server (100) through the poultry farm automatic management and operation system provision method.
[0038] Additionally, the sensor (400) may include a plurality of image sensors, temperature and humidity sensors, air quality sensors, illuminance sensors, acoustic sensors, water quality sensors, power consumption sensors, and virus detection sensors, and may collect various information while installed inside or outside the poultry farm and transmit it to the server (100). At this time, depending on various embodiments of the present invention, various sensors such as IoT (Internet of Things) sensors, infrared sensors, and weight sensors may be further included.
[0039] Hereinafter, a method for providing an automatic poultry farm management and operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is performed through the system described above, will be explained.
[0040] A method for providing an automatic management and operation system for a poultry farm according to one embodiment of the present invention may be disclosed by a server (100) receiving operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information regarding a poultry farm collected through a plurality of sensors (400) installed in the poultry farm.
[0041] Here, operational information includes egg production per unit time, egg laying records per individual, mortality rate and health status per individual, worker entry and working hours, packaging information and shipping information for produced eggs, and for this purpose, the server (100) may analyze images collected through a plurality of image sensors installed in the poultry farm according to an object detection technique and collect the analysis results as operational information.
[0042] To this end, according to an additional embodiment of the present invention, the server (100) can count eggs that are not counted as scattered eggs by utilizing an object detection model learned through a deep learning-based object detection technique.
[0043] In the corresponding embodiment, R-CNN, Fast R-CNN, and Faster R-CNN models of the R-CNN (Region-Based Convolutional Neural Networks) family may be utilized. These models are trained prior to the implementation of the present invention. When receiving input images of eggs, chickens, feed, water, and carcasses captured by an image sensor (camera) within a poultry farm at various angles, lighting conditions, and resolutions, the models can output a label indicating which object the objects included in the images relate to.
[0044] In addition, when constructing training data during the training process of the above object detection model, a process can be performed to improve the performance of the model by augmenting the data through the generation of additional data with transformations applied, such as image rotation, scaling, brightness adjustment, and noise addition, and utilizing this as training data.
[0045] For example, if a hen is incubating a single egg inside a poultry house, the egg may not be captured by the image sensor if the hen does not move, and thus the laid egg may not be recognized. The present invention acquires training data by augmenting an image of a hen sitting with various data such as rotation, zooming in and out, and brightness adjustment. This allows for a more sophisticated analysis of the hen's sitting posture and behaviors, making it clear whether the hen appearing in a specific image is in a sitting state. If the model recognizes that the hen is in a sitting state, it may output a value indicating that the hen is sitting while incubating a laid egg. In this case, the number of eggs the hen is incubating can be estimated based on the difference between the hen's typical number of eggs laid over a period and the actual number of eggs produced by that hen in the poultry house.
[0046] Next, facility information includes temperature, humidity, CO2 and NH3 (ammonia) concentrations, hazardous gas concentrations, illuminance and noise levels, feed supply amount per unit time, feed consumption amount per unit time, water supply amount per unit time, water consumption amount per unit time, water purification filter replacement cycle, water contamination status, air conditioning facility operation information, information on whether chickens are housed in the chicken coop or grazed, and power consumption, and may be collected through temperature and humidity sensors, air quality sensors, illuminance sensors, acoustic sensors, water quality sensors, and power consumption sensors installed in the poultry farm.
[0047] In addition, disease control information includes the occurrence of disease, UV and plasma sterilization operating hours, virus concentration in the air inside the poultry house, whether egg conveyor belts have been sterilized and disinfected, records of operation of sterilization gates for worker entry, whether vehicles and transport tools have been disinfected, and whether work clothes and shoes have been sterilized, and may be collected through virus detection sensors installed in the poultry farm.
[0048] In summary, the operational information according to one embodiment of the present invention may be information collected during the process of producing and shipping eggs at a poultry farm, information regarding individual animals, or management information regarding egg production workers. For example, information related to eggs that is verified in real time by infrastructure installed at the poultry farm (monitoring such as CCTV, conveyor belts, or egg shipping facilities) may correspond to operational information rather than the aforementioned facility information.
[0049] On the other hand, facility information and disease control information may be information for measuring or controlling the livestock barn environment and the status of other facilities within the poultry farm, in addition to the aforementioned operational information, and disease control information may include information regarding disease control-related facilities installed in the poultry farm, such as disinfectant sprayers or work clothes disinfection devices for workers entering and exiting.
[0050] After receiving the above information, the server (100) can control the poultry farm's operating equipment (210), environmental equipment (220), control equipment (230), and disease prevention equipment (240) based on the received operating information, facility information, and disease prevention information.
[0051] Referring to FIG. 5, the plurality of facilities required to automatically manage a poultry farm in the present invention may be configured to include an operation facility (210), an environmental facility (220), a control facility (230), and a disease prevention facility (240).
[0052] Each facility that can be utilized in the present invention may be implemented in different forms according to various embodiments, but in a representative embodiment, the operating facility (210) may include a feed supply facility that automatically supplies feed to chickens at regular intervals and collects individual feeding amount data, a water supply facility that continuously supplies clean water and monitors individual water intake, a conveyor facility that automatically moves and sorts eggs laid by chickens, a sorting facility that distinguishes between broken eggs and normal eggs, a carcass removal facility that automatically detects carcasses using a camera and AI object detection and performs automatic collection using a conveyor or robot system, and a worker management facility that automatically records access authentication (face recognition, RFID card) and working hours.
[0053] In the case of the environmental equipment (220), the equipment for creating an environment in which chickens can grow healthily may include a temperature and humidity control equipment that maintains optimal temperature and humidity by season and time of day, an air conditioning equipment that ventilates the air inside the poultry house periodically or non-periodically, a CO₂ and ammonia (NH₃) gas detection sensor, a lighting control equipment that adjusts the lighting schedule considering the biological rhythm of the chickens, a cleaning equipment that collects and washes excrement, and a noise detection and blocking equipment that detects and mitigates noise so that the chickens do not get stressed.
[0054] Additionally, the control equipment (230) may include a monitoring facility for monitoring the health, temperature, humidity, gas concentration, egg production, etc. of chickens in real time by integrating the above-described environmental facilities (220) in the form of an IoT-based dashboard; an individual recognition and analysis facility for detecting the activity level, egg-laying status, and abnormal behavior of individual chickens; a partition facility for housing or grazing chickens in the chicken house through a partition, or for automatically controlling entry and exit after a certain period of time and preventing external intrusion; a remote control facility for monitoring and remotely controlling the above-described facilities in real time through a smartphone application or computer program; and a power management system for reducing the energy consumed by each facility by utilizing solar panels and a battery storage system.
[0055] Next, the disease prevention facility (240) is for disease prevention and hygiene management and may include a disinfection facility for disinfecting vehicles and workers entering and exiting the chicken house, a purification facility for purifying the air inside the chicken house through a HEPA filter and a UV-C sterilization system, a disease detection facility for detecting abnormal behavior and disease symptoms (feather condition, reduced movement, etc.) of chickens, an automatic vaccine and antibiotic injection facility for automatically administering vaccines or antibiotics according to the health condition of each individual, and an isolation space and emergency treatment facility that provide a space for isolating sick chickens and an emergency treatment facility.
[0056] The server (100) controls the operating facility (210) to monitor real-time egg production, analyze and record individual egg laying rates, record individual mortality rates and health status data, package and ship the produced eggs, and record worker entry and working hours.
[0057] Additionally, the server (100) controls the environmental equipment (220) to regulate the temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, and NH3 (ammonia) concentration inside the poultry house, regulates the light intensity and noise, operates the air conditioning system considering the season and weather conditions, and controls the control equipment (230) to monitor in the form of an IoT-based dashboard, thereby regulating the amount of feed supplied, supplying water through the water supply facility, and housing or grazing the chickens in the poultry house through the partition wall.
[0058] Here, in an additional embodiment of the present invention, when the server (100) receives a signal from the poultry farm owner terminal (200) requesting the production of fertilized eggs, the partition between the hen house and the rooster house can be controlled to combine the hen house and the rooster house so that fertilized eggs are produced.
[0059] In the corresponding embodiment, the server (100) treats the first egg produced from the time when the hen and rooster were housed together as an unfertilized egg, and can determine that the egg produced after a preset period from the said time is a fertilized egg.
[0060] This is intended to prevent unfertilized eggs from being identified as fertilized eggs at the time of mating.
[0061] Additionally, the server (100) may control the disinfection equipment (240) to remove airborne viruses inside the poultry farm, sterilize and disinfect the egg conveyor, sterilize and disinfect the sterilization gate for worker entry, isolate the poultry house where airborne viruses are detected with a partition, disinfect and sterilize egg transport vehicles and transport tools, and disinfect work clothes and shoes.
[0062] The server (100) can provide operation information, configuration information, and disease control information as described above to the poultry farm owner terminal (200), and can provide these information in the form of a dashboard displayed through an application installed on the poultry farm owner terminal (200).
[0063] Next, the server (100) receives information on the yield, quality, and expiration date of eggs produced at the poultry farm from the poultry farm owner terminal (200), and when the poultry farm supplies eggs to a distributor, it can provide at least one of the information on the yield, quality, and expiration date of the eggs supplied by the poultry farm to the distributor terminal (300).
[0064] Referring to FIG. 6, a machine learning model can be utilized to automatically control poultry farm facilities (S102) based on poultry farm data (S101) measured through a plurality of sensors (400).
[0065] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the server (100) can generate learning data by matching the yield, quality information, and expiration date information of eggs received from the poultry farm owner terminal (200) with the operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information collected from the plurality of sensors (400).
[0066] The server (100) can build a production optimization model that performs machine learning using such training data (dataset) as input values and outputs operational information, facility information, and disease control information that can harvest more than the input target yield when a target yield is input.
[0067] As a method for constructing the production volume optimization model of the present invention, a combination of multiple machine learning techniques may be utilized rather than a single machine learning technique. For example, regression analysis and deep learning regression models may be utilized as machine learning methods to predict target production volume during the learning process, and reinforcement learning (DQN, PPO), etc., may be utilized to optimize operating conditions. In addition, clustering and recommendation systems, etc., may be utilized to analyze operating patterns and recommend the optimal combination.
[0068] Each of these techniques can be utilized depending on the number of possible combinations, but in a preferred embodiment, a combination of XGBoost, Random Forest, Reinforcement Learning (PPO / DQN), and CNN+LSTM may be the most suitable method for poultry farm automation and optimization.
[0069] This is because XGBoost and Random Forest have strengths in analyzing and predicting the impact of various factors, such as feed quantity, temperature and humidity, and individual health status, on yield; CNN+LSTM can analyze individual health status based on images and predict long-term yield changes using time-series data; and by combining this with reinforcement learning (PPO / DQN), optimal operating conditions (feed supply, ventilation settings, disease prevention measures, etc.) can be adjusted in real time to achieve target yields, thereby enabling flexible responses to environmental changes.
[0070] For example, the server (100) collects training data set as inputs, such as feed quantity, barn temperature, barn humidity, individual health status, number of individuals, 7-day average feed quantity, seasonal information, and whether disease occurred within a pre-set period, and as outputs, such as egg production data. Subsequently, missing values in the data regarding disease occurrence are treated as 0, and outliers in each data are detected using Z-scores to remove abnormal data. Subsequently, the seasonal information is normalized to spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and the disease occurrence is normalized to 0 or 1 to complete the preprocessing process. Afterward, training is performed using an XGBoost model with 70% of the total training data, but overfitting is prevented by stopping the training early at an appropriate time using a callback function called Early Stopping. The remaining 30% of the training data is used for validation. Subsequently, important variables are derived using SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations). For example, if feed quantity and individual health status are identified as important variables, retraining is performed by adding weights to that data. Through this, a model can be constructed to predict egg production from environmental data such as feed quantity, temperature and humidity, and individual health status.
[0071] Additionally, the server (100) can collect images from multiple cameras placed in the barn to predict egg production based on the individual's health status. Specifically, images can be collected, and the hen's health status index can be scaled to a value between 0 and 1, and then the health status index can be labeled for each image. Images with normal feather condition can be labeled as 1, images with damaged feather condition as 0.5, and images with missing feather condition as 0. In this way, labeling is performed in advance for the hen's movement frequency (labeled as 0 to 1 depending on normal, reduced, or abnormal), body shape change (labeled as 0 to 1 depending on thin, normal, or obese), feeding behavior (labeled as 0 to 1 depending on active, average, or low), and disease status (labeled as 0 to 1 depending on normal, suspected, or confirmed). Afterward, when the collected images and labeled data are input into a CNN model, only feature values regarding the hen's health status are output. When the output feature values are input into the LSTM, a final score is output, and 0.9–1 can be classified as healthy, 0.6–0.8 as normal, and 0–0.5 as abnormal. Additionally, by averaging the scores for each individual, the average health score of the hens in the barn at a specific point in time can be calculated.
[0072] By calculating production volume forecasts using the XGBoost model described above for each accumulated time period and collecting them in a time-series manner, a graph of the time-series production trend can be obtained. Additionally, by collecting data for each accumulated time period from a model combining CNN and LSTM as described above, a graph of the time-series health status can be obtained. By deriving the correlation (i.e., function) between the two graphs obtained here, an estimation formula regarding "feed amount, barn temperature, barn humidity, individual health status, number of individuals, 7-day average feed amount, seasonal information, occurrence of disease within a pre-set period, image, and health status" and "egg production volume" can be derived. In other words, assuming that the value regarding egg production volume is input by the user and specific values such as the number of individuals or average feed amount are input as fixed variable values, an estimation formula can be derived to estimate the remaining variables (variables regarding operational information such as barn temperature and barn humidity, facility information, and disease control information). To derive the optimal production yield based on this estimation formula, one can identify environmental data such as temperature and humidity, or determine how to configure the environment within the livestock barn, thereby establishing an environment that enables the production of optimal yields. Here, temperature and humidity are merely examples, and various environmental data can be utilized as training data. Meanwhile, by inputting a target yield into the above estimation formula, a production optimization model can be constructed to output operational, facility, and disease control information that enables a harvest exceeding the target yield.
[0073] Next, the server (100) can automatically control the poultry farm's operating equipment (210), environmental equipment (220), control equipment (230), and disease prevention equipment (240) based on the output value of the production optimization model constructed in this way (i.e., data regarding the livestock farm environment or operation, such as temperature, humidity, and number of individuals, to maximize egg production).
[0074] Automatic control of the poultry farm performed by the server (100) is set by default to operate to satisfy the input target production volume, but if the poultry farm owner terminal (200) requests compliance with the certification standards for any one of animal welfare certification, HACCP certification, and eco-friendly certification, the production volume optimization model may control the operating equipment (210), environmental equipment (220), control equipment (230), and disease prevention equipment (240) to satisfy the corresponding certification standards with priority over egg production volume.
[0075] Next, the server (100) can provide poultry farm operation status information (S110) for multiple poultry farms affiliated to the distributor terminal (300), and provide consulting information regarding livestock farm operation (S111) to the poultry farm owner terminal (200).
[0076] At this time, the server (100) provides a consulting request page to the poultry farm owner terminal (200), and when a consulting request is received from the poultry farm owner terminal (200), it can recommend customized consulting based on collected operational information, facility information, and disease prevention information.
[0077] Here, the status of at least one customized consulting provided to the poultry farm owner terminal (200) can be provided as a dashboard.
[0078] The customized consulting provided may include expert matching consulting, which offers matching with HACCP, eco-friendly certification, and animal welfare experts; animal welfare application consulting, which provides guidelines for producing animal welfare eggs; rearing environment improvement consulting, which increases production volume by improving rearing conditions; HACCP certification consulting, which provides guidance on the HACCP certification process and automatically generates checklists for each step of the certification and application documents; government support consulting, which provides information on government subsidies and support policies available based on the status of the poultry farm; eco-friendly consulting, which provides methods for using eco-friendly feed, supplier information, and guides for introducing solar technology; and ESG consulting, which provides strategic materials for ESG management. Furthermore, this customized consulting can be provided tailored to the user. For example, by considering data regarding the poultry farm's production volume, revenue, and rearing environment such as temperature and humidity, and by referring to information on whether the farm is close to the minimum requirements for HACCP certification or satisfies the minimum requirements for applying to poultry farm support policies, optimal customized consulting can be recommended to the poultry farm owner's terminal.
[0079] Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 6, the execution sequence of the method for providing an automatic poultry farm management and operation system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be summarized once again.
[0080] A method for providing an automatic management and operation system for a poultry farm according to one embodiment of the present invention first involves a server (100) collecting operation information, facility information, and disease control information regarding a poultry farm through a plurality of sensors (400) installed in the poultry farm. At this time, poultry farm data is measured (S101) through the plurality of sensors (400).
[0081] Based on the received operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information, the server (100) controls the poultry farm's operation facilities (210), environmental facilities (220), control facilities (230), and disease prevention facilities (240) (S102), and provides the operation information, facility information, and disease prevention information to the poultry farm owner's terminal (200) (S103).
[0082] Under the control of the server (100), eggs are harvested (S104) at the poultry farm, and the server (100) receives information on the yield, quality, and expiration date of the eggs produced at the poultry farm from the poultry farm owner's terminal (200) (S105), and when the poultry farm supplies eggs to a distributor, at least one of the yield, quality, and expiration date information for the eggs supplied by the poultry farm is provided to the distributor's terminal (300) (S106).
[0083] Afterwards, the produced eggs are delivered from the poultry farm to a distributor (S107) and sold (S108), and the proceeds from the sale of the eggs are settled from the distributor to the poultry farm owner (S109).
[0084] The server (100) provides information on the operational status of multiple poultry farms affiliated with the distributor terminal (300) (S110), and provides consulting information regarding livestock farm operation to the poultry farm owner terminal (200) (S111).
[0085] After the above-described process is performed, payment of fees (S112) for services (consulting and automatic control, etc.) provided from the distributor and the poultry farm owner to the server (100) is performed.
[0086] One embodiment of the present invention may also be implemented in the form of a recording medium comprising computer-executable instructions, such as program modules executed by a computer. A computer-readable medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, and both removable and non-removable media. Additionally, a computer-readable medium may include all computer storage media. A computer storage medium includes both volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented by any method or technique for storing information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data.
[0087] Although the method and system of the present invention have been described in relation to specific embodiments, some or all of their components or operations may be implemented using a computer system having a general-purpose hardware architecture.
[0088] The foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will understand that other specific forms can be easily modified without altering the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single unit may be implemented in a distributed manner, and components described as distributed may likewise be implemented in a combined form.
[0089] The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims set forth below rather than by the detailed description above, and all modifications or variations derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and equivalent concepts thereof should be interpreted as being included within the scope of the present invention. Explanation of the symbols
[0091] 100: Server 200: Poultry farm owner terminal 210: Operating Facilities 220: Environmental Equipment 230: Control Equipment 240: Disinfection Facilities 300: Distributor Terminal 400: Sensor
Claims
Claim 1 A method for the automatic management and operation of a poultry farm, which enables the establishment of a small-scale sustainable livestock system value chain among a farm owner, a distributor, and a livestock manager, performed by a server, comprising: (a) receiving operational information, facility information, and disease control information regarding the poultry farm collected through a plurality of sensors installed in the poultry farm; (b) controlling the operational equipment, environmental equipment, control equipment, and disease control equipment of the poultry farm based on the received operational information, facility information, and disease control information, and providing the operational information, facility information, and disease control information to a poultry farm owner's terminal; (c) receiving yield, quality information, and expiration date information of eggs produced at the poultry farm from the poultry farm owner's terminal, and, if the poultry farm supplies eggs to a distributor, providing at least one of the yield, quality information, and expiration date information of the eggs supplied by the poultry farm to a distributor's terminal; and (d) a step of providing poultry farm operation status information for a plurality of poultry farms affiliated with the distributor terminal, and providing consulting information regarding livestock barn operation to the poultry farm owner terminal; comprising a poultry farm automatic management and operation method. Claim 2 In claim 1, the above-mentioned operational information includes egg production per unit time, egg laying records per individual, mortality rate and health status per individual, worker entry and working hours, packaging information and shipment information for produced eggs; the above-mentioned facility information includes temperature, humidity, CO2, NH3 (ammonia) concentration, harmful gas concentration, illuminance and noise levels, feed supply amount per unit time, feed consumption amount per unit time, water supply amount per unit time, water consumption amount per unit time, water purification filter replacement cycle, water contamination status, air conditioning facility operation information, information on housing in the poultry house or grazing status, and power consumption; and the above-mentioned disease prevention information includes disease occurrence status, UV and plasma sterilization operation time, virus concentration in the air inside the poultry house, whether the egg conveyor belt was sterilized and disinfected, operation records of the sterilization gate for worker entry, whether vehicles and transport tools were disinfected, and whether work clothes and shoes were sterilized. This describes a method for automatic management and operation of a poultry farm. Claim 3 In paragraph 2, the above step (a) is to collect the operation information according to an object detection technique based on images collected through a plurality of image sensors installed in the poultry farm, to collect the facility information through temperature and humidity sensors, air quality sensors, illuminance sensors, acoustic sensors, water quality sensors, and power consumption sensors installed in the poultry farm, and to collect the disease control information through virus detection sensors installed in the poultry farm, a method for automatic management and operation of a poultry farm. Claim 4 In claim 1, the above step (b) comprises: (b-1) a step of controlling the operating equipment to monitor real-time egg production, analyze and record individual egg laying rates, record individual mortality rates and health status data, package and ship produced eggs, and record worker entry and working hours; (b-2) a step of controlling the environmental equipment to regulate the temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, and NH3 (ammonia) concentration inside the poultry farm, regulate lighting and noise, and operate the air conditioning system considering the season and weather conditions; (b-3) a step of controlling the control equipment to regulate the feed supply amount, supply water through the water supply facility, and house or graze chickens in the chicken coop through the partition; and (b-4) a step of controlling the disinfection equipment to remove airborne viruses inside the poultry farm, sterilize and disinfect the egg conveyor, sterilize and disinfect the sterilization gate for worker entry, isolate the chicken coop where airborne viruses are detected with a partition, disinfect and sterilize egg transport vehicles and transport tools, and work clothes and shoes A method for automatic management and operation of a poultry farm, including a disinfection step. Claim 5 A poultry farm automatic management and operation method, wherein the above step (b-3) further comprises the step of, upon receiving a signal from the poultry farm owner terminal requesting the production of fertilized eggs, controlling the partition between the hen house and the rooster house to combine the hen house and the rooster house so as to produce fertilized eggs. Claim 6 In claim 1, the above step (c) comprises: (c-1) a step of generating learning data by matching egg yield, quality information, and shelf life information received from the poultry farm owner terminal with operational information, facility information, and disease prevention information collected from the plurality of sensors; (c-2) a step of constructing a production optimization model by performing machine learning with the learning data as input values, and outputting operational information, facility information, and disease prevention information capable of harvesting more than the target yield when a target yield is input; and (c-3) a step of automatically controlling the operation facilities, environmental facilities, control facilities, and disease prevention facilities of the poultry farm based on the output values of the production optimization model. Claim 7 In claim 6, the above step (c-3) is a method for automatic management and operation of a poultry farm in which, when the poultry farm owner's terminal requests compliance with the certification standards for any one of animal welfare certification, HACCP certification, and eco-friendly certification, the above production volume optimization model automatically controls the above operating facilities, environmental facilities, control facilities, and disease prevention facilities so that they meet the relevant certification standards with priority over egg production volume. Claim 8 A poultry farm automatic management and operation method according to claim 1, wherein step (d) provides a consulting request page to the poultry farm owner terminal and, when a consulting request is received from the poultry farm owner terminal, recommends customized consulting based on collected operational information, facility information, and disease control information, and provides a dashboard configuring the status of at least one customized consulting provided to the poultry farm owner terminal. Claim 9 In claim 8, the above-mentioned customized consulting includes: expert connection consulting, which provides matching with HACCP, eco-friendly certification experts, and animal welfare experts; animal welfare application consulting, which provides guidelines for producing animal welfare eggs; rearing environment improvement consulting, which increases production volume by improving the rearing environment; HACCP certification consulting, which provides guidance on the HACCP certification process and automatically generates and provides checklists for each HACCP certification procedure and certification application documents; government support consulting, which provides information on government subsidies and support policies available for application according to the status of the poultry farm; eco-friendly consulting, which provides methods for using eco-friendly feed, supplier information, and a guide for introducing solar power technology; and ESG consulting, which provides strategic materials for ESG management. Claim 10 In a poultry farm automatic management and operation server capable of establishing a small-scale sustainable livestock system value chain among a farm owner, a distributor, and a livestock manager, a memory storing a program for performing a method of providing a poultry farm automatic management and operation system; A poultry farm automatic management and operation server comprising: a processor for executing the above program; wherein the processor receives, by executing the above program, operation information, facility information, and disease control information regarding the poultry farm collected through a plurality of sensors installed in the poultry farm; controls the operation equipment, environmental equipment, control equipment, and disease control equipment of the poultry farm based on the received operation information, facility information, and disease control information; provides the operation information, facility information, and disease control information to the poultry farm owner's terminal; receives yield, quality information, and expiration date information of eggs produced in the poultry farm from the poultry farm owner's terminal; and when the poultry farm supplies eggs to a distributor, provides at least one of the yield, quality information, and expiration date information regarding the eggs supplied by the poultry farm to the distributor's terminal; provides poultry farm operation status information for a plurality of affiliated poultry farms to the distributor's terminal; and provides consulting information regarding livestock barn operation to the poultry farm owner's terminal.