Research platform for the virtual confinement of bovines

Abstract

Prior work in virtual fences has proposed different schemes to keep cattle confined within a remotely configured perimeter. These techniques share a common pattern that consists of placing an electronic device in the animal capable of applying stimuli when it approaches the pre-established limits. The use of electric shocks as a method of stimulation is widely used. This work proposes a solution compatible with animal welfare, which avoids electric shocks, based only on sound and tactile stimuli (using a vibrating motor). For this, a system was developed consisting of an electronic device that is placed on the animal's neck, and has the capacity to stimulate and send information wirelessly; a central server that is able to receive, process and store that information; and a graphical user interface, where the animal's position can be visualized and several parameters can be configured to evaluate different virtual confinement techniques. The tests performed on animals suggest that the stimuli used is aversive, so it is estimated that they could achieve their goal after a period of training. The research on the effectiveness of the proposed confinement techniques using our platform should be carried out in a next stage by an interdisciplinary team.