RFID Scale Controller for Livestock Weight Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Livestock producers face challenges in accurately determining the weight of individual animals in large automated facilities, leading to inefficiencies in feeding and grading, as existing methods fail to provide reliable and efficient identification and weighing solutions.
Innovation Solution
An animal weighing system that combines a weighing scale with a scale controller and active RFID technology, where the scale controller receives a weight signal and a wireless identification signal from an animal's transmitter, associates the weight with the animal's identification, and transmits this data to a storage unit, using signal strength to distinguish between multiple animals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated facilities hold large numbers of animals, then productivity increases, but it becomes difficult to accurately identify and weigh individual animals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual identification and weighing methods with an automated system using RFID tags for identification and load cells for weight measurement. The scale controller automatically reads RFID signals and processes weight data, eliminating the need for manual animal handling and data recording, thus maintaining individual measurement accuracy while enabling high-throughput processing of large numbers of animals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces RFID tags as intermediaries attached to individual animals for automatic identification. These tags enable the system to uniquely identify each animal without manual intervention, allowing the scale controller to accurately associate weight measurements with specific animals even in large herds, thereby resolving the contradiction between handling large numbers of animals and maintaining individual measurement precision.
2Device complexity
If manual identification and weighing methods are used, then device complexity is low, but time consumption and labor requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual identification and weighing processes with an automated electronic system. RFID readers automatically detect and read animal tags, while load cells continuously monitor weight. The scale controller processes this data automatically, reducing the time required for each animal from minutes to seconds and eliminating manual labor, thus accepting increased device complexity in exchange for significant time savings.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous weight monitoring through load cells that constantly measure animal weight as they move through the facility. Combined with automatic RFID identification, this creates an uninterrupted data collection process that eliminates the need for separate weighing events, significantly reducing total time required while the automated processing handles the increased operational complexity.
3Quantity of substance
If animals are fed for longer periods to reach optimal weight, then weight gain increases, but feed wastage occurs and grading quality decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback system where the scale controller continuously monitors individual animal weights and compares them against target weights. When an animal reaches its optimal weight, the system alerts producers, enabling immediate removal from the herd. This real-time feedback prevents overfeeding, ensuring animals are shipped at optimal weight without excessive feed consumption, thus resolving the contradiction between achieving target weight and avoiding feed wastage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes predetermined target weights for different animal categories before feeding begins. By setting these weight goals in advance and continuously monitoring progress toward them, the system enables producers to remove animals at the precise moment they reach optimal weight, preventing both underfeeding (which would require refeeding) and overfeeding (which causes wastage), thus optimizing feed efficiency.
4Productivity
If individual animal tracking is implemented, then feeding optimization improves, but data management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines RFID identification, weight measurement, and data processing into a single integrated scale controller system. The controller automatically links each animal's RFID identifier with its weight measurements and feeds this data to central management software. This merging of functions simplifies data management by automating data collection, storage, and analysis, allowing producers to optimize feeding strategies without being overwhelmed by manual data handling complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This system enables precise and efficient identification and weighing of livestock, optimizing feeding processes by ensuring animals are shipped at optimal weights, reducing feed wastage and improving grading outcomes.
Implementation Method 1
a weighing scale for translating a weight of the animal into a weight signal
Implementation Method 2
a transmitter on the animal is an active RFID attached to the animal for actively transmitting a wireless identification signal from the animal
Implementation Method 3
The scale controller can measure a strength of the wireless identification signal for the animal and the strength of the other wireless identification signals to identify the wireless identification signal for the animal
Data Source
AI summary
A scale controller is in communication with a weighing scale for receiving a weight signal, translating the weight signal into a weight for the animal, receiving a wireless identification signal from a transmitter on the animal, translating the wireless identification signal into an animal identification value, associating the weight of the animal with the animal identification value, and transmitting to a data storage unit a data packet containing the weight of the animal and the animal identification value.