SBIR Phase I: Developing Technology for Stimulating the Herd Instinct of Livestock to Improve Environmental Impact

小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是通过开发刺激牲畜群体本能的技术，帮助恢复草原生态系统，减少牲畜的净温室气体排放。草原生态系统已被证明受益于大群动物，促进水分吸收和补充重要的营养物质。然而，美国西部的大多数牲畜目前分散在大牧场上，并允许单独漫游。 该项目旨在开发和测试低成本的耳标，该耳标使用音频和电刺激来加强个体动物在偏离群体时的自然羊群本能。高种群密度/低持续时间放牧已证明有可能减少牲畜温室气体排放，并将牧场变成净碳汇。更高的植被多样性，更多的水吸收，减少侵蚀和更多的野生动物栖息地只是这项技术的一些预期生态效益。这项技术还可以促进更有效和更具成本效益的牧场管理。牲畜被盗的风险将减少，对围栏的需要也将减少，因为牲畜的迁徙本能在更大的土地面积上发挥最大作用。SBIR第一阶段项目将开发和测试一种新的方法，刺激牲畜的群体本能，而不是在地理上限制它们。实施这种方法的关键是一种独特的低成本策略的额外创新，即使用带有低功率射频（RF）收发器的耳标，根据个人距离估计的累积来计算畜群接近度。这项技术将使用一个高度集成的系统，使用一个耳标连接到牛群中的每只动物。每个标签将使用一个低功率RF收发器定期发送简短的信号，以其他标签在牛群。标签将使用信号强度测量来计算它们自己到每个其他标签的近似距离。然后，每个标签将使用一种算法来确定它是否与牛群的其余部分在适当的接近度内。如果动物开始偏离牛群，标签将发出音频警报，随后可能会进行电刺激，以鼓励动物重新加入同伴。以每英亩10，000至1，000，000磅的密度饲养牛群的能力将是成功的关键指标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to help restore grassland ecosystems and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from livestock by developing technology to stimulate the herd instinct of livestock. Grassland ecosystems have been shown to benefit from large herds of animals that promote water absorption and replenish important nutrients. However, most livestock in the western United States are currently scattered in large pastures and allowed to roam individually. This project aims to develop and test low-cost ear tags which use audio and electrical stimulation to reinforce the natural herd instinct of individual animals when they stray from the group. High stock density/low duration grazing has demonstrated the potential of reducing livestock greenhouse emissions and turning rangelands into a net carbon sink. Higher vegetation diversity, more water absorption, reduced erosion, and more wildlife habitat are just some of the expected ecological benefits of this technology. This technology could also facilitate more efficient and cost-effective ranch management. The risk of livestock theft will be reduced, and the need for fences would decrease since the migratory instincts of livestock work best on larger land areas. This SBIR Phase I project will develop and test a novel approach of stimulating the herd instinct of livestock rather than geographically confining them. Key to the implementation of this approach is the additional innovation of a unique and low-cost strategy to use ear tags with low-power radiofrequency (RF) transceivers to calculate herd proximity from an accumulation of individual distance estimates. This technology will use a highly integrated system using an ear tag attached to each animal in the herd. Each tag will use a low power RF transceiver to periodically send brief signals to the other tags in the herd. The tags will use signal strength measurements to calculate their own approximate distance to every other tag. Each tag will then use an algorithm to determine whether it is within an appropriate proximity to the rest of the herd. If an animal begins to stray from the herd, the tag will give an audio alert potentially followed by electrical stimulation to encourage the animal to rejoin its peers. The capability of holding a herd at a density from 10,000 to 1,000,000 pounds per acre will be a key metric of success.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.