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

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是，通过开发激发牲畜放牧本能的技术，帮助恢复草原生态系统，减少牲畜的温室气体净排放量。草原生态系统已被证明受益于促进水分吸收和补充重要养分的大型动物群体。然而，美国西部的大多数牲畜目前分散在大牧场上，允许单独漫游。该项目旨在开发和测试低成本的耳标，这种耳标使用音频和电刺激来加强单个动物在离开群体时的自然群体本能。高种群密度/低持续时间放牧显示了减少牲畜温室气体排放和将牧场变成净碳汇的潜力。更高的植被多样性、更多的水分吸收、更少的侵蚀和更多的野生动物栖息地只是这项技术预期的生态效益的一部分。这项技术还可以促进更有效和更具成本效益的牧场管理。牲畜被盗的风险将降低，对栅栏的需求也将减少，因为牲畜的迁徙本能在更大的土地上发挥最大作用。这个SBIR第一阶段项目将开发和测试一种新的方法，刺激牲畜的羊群本能，而不是在地理上限制它们。实施这一方法的关键是额外创新了一种独特的低成本策略，使用带有低功率射频(RF)收发器的耳标来根据个人距离估计的累积计算羊群接近度。这项技术将使用一个高度集成的系统，在牛群中的每一只动物身上都系上一个耳标。每个标签将使用低功率射频收发器定期向群中的其他标签发送简短信号。标签将使用信号强度测量来计算自己与其他标签之间的大致距离。然后，每个标签将使用一种算法来确定它是否在与牛群其余部分的适当接近范围内。如果一只动物开始离开兽群，标签会发出音频警报，随后可能会有电刺激，以鼓励动物重新加入同伴的行列。以每英亩10,000至1,000,000磅的密度饲养牛群的能力将是衡量成功的关键指标。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势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.