LiveCare (Health Bolus) IoT Proof of Concept

Summary

Livestock production on Australian farms typically covers a much greater land area compared to other global regions, where livestock production is more industrialised and occurs in controlled environments. There are increasingly there are changing market demands and consumer expectations surrounding the consistency and quality of product, as well as facilitating transparency of provenance, from paddock to plate.

The unique practices and climate variability within the Australian livestock industry correlate to unique challenges for the adaptation and adoption of agricultural technology systems. The industry's capacity to remain competitive is dependent on the creation of technology solutions which can overcome industry challenges.  Adoption of such solutions is subject to their ability to improve the Australian Livestock industry's quality, efficiency and commercial viability within a global marketplace.

This project describes and evaluates the research and development of a proof-of-concept prototype of a IoT (internet of things) technology solution. The 'LiveCare' system is designed to integrate into farming practices to enhance the quality of care farmers can provide to their livestock, while efficiently managing the prioritisation of their human resources and ultimately, streamlining operations.

The 'LiveCare' system has already successfully undergone trials in Korea. In order to evaluate the proposed industry-wide adoption of this system within Australia, the interoperability with existing infrastructure systems that are currently prevalent in the Australian livestock industry were explored. This project was also an opportunity to use 'Design-Led Thinking' methodology and obtain from the primary users, farmers and other station-hands details of their experiences and thoughts as to how the technology can add value, or augment their work tasks.

The system consists of internet of things (IoT) devices, swallowed and embedded internally in the stomach of the cattle. These devices monitor the health and vital statistics, in real time, for each individual animal. The data is sent to a network gateway and from there is available to the farmer via a web dashboard or mobile phone app. ST Solutions recommends diversifying the deployment sites for future trials with various beef livestock producers in order to gain a wider understanding, and expand the range of tasks to which this proposed system can add value. From observing a broader scope of contemporary contexts for livestock production, in situ, identification of any additional potential overlaps or compatibility issues can occur.

Initial findings suggest that the 'LiveCare' system would not only be a technology solution to improving current practices, with continued development 'LiveCare' will also be a commercially viable solution to the problems aforementioned.

Initial Project ObjectivesProject ResultConstraints IdentifiedInstall 50 boluses and reading/recording infrastructure at feedlot6 Boluses installed.Installation halted due to unsatisfactory data collection.Install continuous Software monitoring systems (app and web dash board)Developed and deployed monitoring system.Obstacles to maintaining continuous connection potentially resolved.Report on system operation, temperature, animal health status and impact of animal health interventionsDue to network issues, the system yielded data sets that accounted for 50% to 88% of time.Such data collection levels are insufficient to apply machine learning and statistical inference.Report on issues and opportunities with the system that may lead to future R&D investmentsMilestone 1 & 2 Reports tendered with identified issues and opportunities.Competing with existing infrastructure for bandwidth and maintaining consistent connection.Provide MLA with  real-time data access throughout the duration of the ProjectThe real time portal was developed to a functional, commercially deployable level for app and web-based devices.The development of usable applications is largely a pre-existing component of this project. Ongoing UX evaluations.Recover boluses at time of slaughter5 Boluses Retrieved, all located in the same position within the stomach. 1 lost due to undiagnosed death and burial of animal.Removal process must be compatible with expected operational efficiency standards within meat processing sector.Informed MLA of the date and location of processing (for MLA to collect additional data)Processing location was co-attended by MLA and ST Solutions representatives.Bolus retrieval requires risk management to prevent damage to processing equipment and product quality.Identified and submitted additional development activity submissions to MLA.  This may include extending the life of boluses, automated recovery systems within processing plants, and an ability to change the battery so that a tag is owned and re-used by a producer for 20+ years.Identified and informed the prioritisation of development activities.This includes the ongoing network optimisation of (data transmit and receive performance) and development of recovery systems within processing plants.