Wireless Pet Containment Using GPS Zone Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pet containment systems using GPS and radio links face limitations such as accuracy issues, battery life problems, interference from environmental factors, and reliance on static structures or aversive training methods, leading to ineffective training and potential harm to pets.
Innovation Solution
A wireless location-assisted zone guidance system with a self-contained collar that uses GPS and other location systems to define safe, alert, and out-of-bounds zones, providing positive reinforcement stimuli to guide pets back into safe areas without aversive training, and can be easily set up and moved.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS and radio link systems are used for pet containment, then location tracking capability is improved, but accuracy and reliability deteriorate due to environmental interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a data table as an intermediary structure that stores pre-calculated zone values at discrete geographic locations. Instead of directly comparing real-time GPS coordinates with complex zone boundaries, the system uses this intermediary data table to map GPS positions to behavioral zones (safe, alert, out-of-bounds), thereby reducing the impact of GPS accuracy variations and environmental interference on system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary calculations by pre-defining zone boundaries and storing zone values in a data table before actual pet containment operations. This preliminary action creates a reference framework that simplifies real-time decision-making and reduces dependency on high-precision GPS during critical moments, improving reliability under environmental interference.
2Reliability
If static containment structures like fences are used, then territory control is improved, but adaptability and portability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical mechanical containment structures (fences, walls) with an electronic system consisting of GPS receivers, processors, and stimulus delivery mechanisms. This substitution allows the containment boundary to be defined by software data tables rather than physical barriers, enabling easy relocation and adaptation to different geometries without physical construction or demolition.
Solution Approach 2:
The containment system transitions from static physical structures to dynamic virtual boundaries that can be easily reconfigured through software. The data table structure allows rapid modification of zone boundaries and geometry, enabling the system to adapt to different locations and unusual geometries while maintaining reliable territory control.
3Reliability
If leashes and cables are used for pet restraint, then movement control is improved, but ease of operation and safety worsen due to tangling and entrapment risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical restraint systems (leashes, cables, physical barriers) with an electronic monitoring and stimulus-based guidance system. The GPS-tracked virtual boundaries eliminate the need for physical connections between the pet and owner, removing tangling and entrapment hazards while maintaining movement control through conditional stimulus delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a computational intermediary (processor and data table) that mediates between the pet's location and the containment boundary. This intermediary enables sophisticated boundary definitions (including unusual geometries) without requiring physical structures, and provides stimulus-based guidance that avoids the mechanical hazards of traditional restraint systems.
4Productivity
If aversive training methods are used, then behavioral correction is improved, but pet well-being and acceptance of training deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a graduated feedback system with multiple behavioral zones (safe, alert, out-of-bounds) that provide different stimulus intensities based on the pet's location and movement direction. The system analyzes sequential GPS positions to determine whether the pet is moving toward or away from boundaries, providing constructive feedback that guides the pet back into acceptable areas rather than purely punitive measures, thereby improving training acceptance and pet well-being.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different stimulus characteristics to different spatial zones and behavioral contexts. Rather than uniform aversive stimulation, the patent delivers location-specific and direction-specific stimuli that are tailored to the pet's immediate behavior and position relative to boundaries, making training more effective and less harmful by adapting the response to local conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
An assisted guidance region has a plurality of zones, each with an associated set of behavioral guidance characteristics. Behavioral guidance is extended to a wayward dog who has moved outside of an alert zone by providing stimuli to shepherd the dog back in. Calculation of relative movement direction outside of and relative to the alert zone is preferably based upon reading a future position guidance zone value located in a path of sequential future position guidance zone values stored in said data table that are defined in direction by a displacement from said second represented current position relative to said first represented current position and defined in location sequentially extending away from both of said second represented position and said first represented current position. In some embodiments, two or more calculation techniques are selected from or used in combination to determine relative movement direction.