Camera based automation of the analysis of personalities and social structures of a herd of dairy cows using neural networks and dynamic network analysis

农场动物的个体需求和行为影响动物的健康和生产力，在动物友好型畜牧业中应予以考虑。这个精确畜牧业项目的目的是分析传统群体饲养奶牛的不同性格，并了解性格的相互作用以何种方式影响畜群结构。将录制长期视频，并实现对日常行为（例如喂食、使用牛刷、使用的路径）的自动化观察，以及确定奶牛之间的社会互动。作为对单个动物个性进行常规评估的数据基础，将对所分析畜群中的所有奶牛进行完善的气质测试。然后解释人格特质与日常活动之间的关系。为了实现独立于人类观察者的行为和动物相互作用的自动测定，将专门开发软件。机器学习模型（神经网络）将使用视频材料进行训练，然后用于指定动物的活动。对于这些详细信息的分析，将采用动态网络分析。群体结构（奶牛对应节点，相互作用对应边缘）或资源的使用将被建模为网络。计算节点排序参数和关于整个网络的参数，以揭示人格和群体结构之间的关系。个体动物的重复行为或反复出现的互动星座等模式可以通过收集的数据（日常活动、网络分析）来描述。该研究项目的另一个目的是分析这些模式对外部事件的影响（如进食的变化）和人格维度之间的关系（如攻击性-支配性或恐惧-活动性）。模式识别的方法将被应用于预测模式的当代发展。这样，与社会结构的实际发生状态进行比较，就可以分析外部事件的影响。此外，比较奶牛确定参数的个体模式可以为人格维度组合的出现提供解释方法。这种动物性格分析是基于图像处理、网络分析和模式识别，并处理各种类型的信息。可以预期的是，关于如何在测试情境之外评估个性以及个性如何成为管理决策和改善动物福利的资产的重要发现。

The individual needs and behaviours of farm animals affect the animals’ health and productivity and should be considered in an animal-friendly husbandry. The aim of this Precision Livestock Farming project is to analyse the different personalities of conventionally group housed dairy cows and to understand, in which manner the interaction of personalities affects the herd structure. Long-term videos will be recorded and an automation of the observation of everyday behaviour (e.g. feeding, use of cow brush, used paths) as well as of the determination of social interactions between the cows is aspired. As data basis for the conventional evaluation of personalities of individual animals, well established temperament tests will be conducted concerning all cows in the analysed herd. Then relations between personality traits and everyday activities will be explained. To achieve an automated determination of behaviour and animal interactions that is independent from a human observer, software will be specifically developed. Machine Learning models (Neural Networks) will be trained using the video material and will afterwards be used to specify the animals’ activities. For the analysis of this detailed information, dynamic network analysis will be applied. Herd structures (cows correspond to nodes, interactions correspond to edges) or the use of resources will be modelled as networks. Parameters to rank the nodes and parameters regarding the complete network will be calculated to reveal relationships between personalities and herd structure. Patterns like repeating behaviours of individual animals or recurring constellations of interactions can be described by means of the gathered data (everyday activity, network analysis). An analysis of these patterns with regard to the effects of external events (e.g. changes in feeding) and to relations between personality dimensions (e.g. aggression – dominance or fear - activity) is another aim of this research project. Methods of pattern recognition will be applied to predict contemporary developments of the patterns. In this way a comparison with the actually occurred state of the social structure will enable an analysis of the effects of external events. Furthermore, to compare individual patterns of the determined parameters of the cows can supply explanatory approaches for the emergence of combinations of personality dimensions. This analysis of animal personalities is based on image processing, network analysis and pattern recognition and dealing with various types of information. It is to be expected that important findings on how the personality can be assessed outside of test situations and how personality can be an asset for management decisions and improvement of animal welfare.