Abstract

ARCE, A.I.C.; TECH, A.R.B.; SILVA, A.C.S.  and  COSTA, E.J.X.. Wireless sensor networks for bovine herd monitoring. Arch. zootec. [online]. 2009, vol.58, n.222, pp.253-263. ISSN 1885-4494.

This paper presents a prototype system for monitoring bovine herds developed using electronic instrumentation and wireless techniques. It is able to acquire physiological data for ethological studies. The main stimulus of this work was the precision animal production researcher's interest in developing and testing new techniques that could allow data acquisition with less interference in animal behavior. In order to test the feasibility of the wireless sensor network technology in this area, an infrastructure was developed using electronic instrumentation and radio frequency wireless communication techniques. The network was projected to support the floating base sensor network protocol that is a special kind of adhoc topology with randomic selection of path nodes. The developed prototypes were used to acquire brain electrical activity and body temperature from bovines. In order to optimize the spatial distribution of the wireless networks infrastructure, a software to simulate herd displacement was developed for assist the achievement of minimum-cost for antennas distribution. The results obtained prove that the wireless sensor networks can be considered as an efficient technique to be used to acquire bovine's physiological data.

Keywords : Telemetry.

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