System and method for remote guidance of an animal to and from a target destination

Abstract

A system and method for remote guidance of a dog or other suitable animal to and from a selected location using GPS related triangulation methods. The system using a series of audible cues or electrical shocks to guide the dog from a current location to a target location by continually monitoring the current GPS location of the dog and establishing a waypoint target for the animal as it moves. The system issues cues such as audible signals to control the dog and keep it confined within a suitable corridor so that the next waypoint may be attained. Using the invention, a dog owner can control the movement of the dog as the owner moves in its proximity, thereby creating an invisible tether or “virtual leash” or to the animal.

I claim: 
     
         1 . In conjunction with an electronic collar having an electronics module and including means for communicating wirelessly through the internet to a remote internet protocol address, means for determining a latitude and longitude for said module on the Earth, a battery, a speaker, means for communicating over a cellular network, means for controlling the internal electronics of said module, and means positioned adjacent to said module for attaching said module to an animal, a method of remotely controlling the movements of said animal wearing said electronic collar by an owner comprising the steps of:
 a. said electronic collar determining its latitude and longitude on the Earth;   b. said electronic module receiving a dynamic boundary file, said file including geographic boundary information capable of being dynamically altered from one location to another; and,   c. said electronic module continuously monitoring its position with respect to said dynamic boundary and issuing motivating actions to restrict movement of said animal to within the then current boundary limits.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said step of issuing motivating actions comprises issuing at least one aural cue to said animal. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 2 , wherein said step of issuing motivating actions comprises issuing at least one shock to said animal. 
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 3 , wherein said step of establishing a control boundary for said animal comprises the step of establishing a circular geo-positional boundary based upon a single geo-positional radius point corresponding to the current geo-positional location of said owner, and wherein said radius point moves in identical relation to said owner as they move such that motivating actions are continually issued by said module to keep said animal within said radial boundary as said owner moves along. 
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 4 , wherein said step of establishing a control boundary further includes the step of said person updating a remote database with geo-positional information and wherein said step of said electronic module receiving a dynamic boundary file comprises receiving said updated geo-positional information from said remote database. 
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 5 , further including the step of said owner establishing direct radio communications with said module for controlling said same. 
     
     
         7 . In conjunction with an electronic collar having an electronics module and including means for communicating wirelessly through the internet to a remote internet protocol address, means for determining a latitude and longitude for said module on the Earth, a battery, a speaker, means for communicating over a cellular network, means for controlling the internal electronics of said module, and means positioned adjacent to said module for attaching said module to an animal, a method of remotely controlling the movements of said animal wearing said electronic collar by an owner comprising the steps of:
 a. said electronic collar determining its latitude and longitude on the Earth;   b. said electronic module creating a dynamic boundary, wherein said electronic module continually updates said dynamic boundary such that the boundary moves from one location to another; and,   c. said electronic module continuously monitoring its position with respect to said dynamic boundary and issuing motivating actions to said animal such that its movements are restricted to be within the then current boundary limits.   
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein said step of establishing a control boundary for said animal comprises the step of establishing a circular geo-positional boundary based upon a single geo-positional radius point corresponding to the current geo-positional location of said owner, and wherein said radius point moves in identical relation to said owner as they move such that motivating actions are continually issued by said module to keep the animal within said radial boundary as said owner moves along. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 8 , further including the step of establishing a buffer zone contiguous with and inside said radial boundary. 
     
     
         10 . An animal control collar for remotely controlling the movements of an animal by an owner, comprising:
 a. an electronic collar having an electronics module and including means for communicating wirelessly through the internet to a remote internet protocol address, means for determining a latitude and longitude for said module on the Earth, a battery, a speaker, means for communicating over a cellular network, means for controlling the internal electronics of said module, and means positioned adjacent to said module for attaching said module to an animal;   b. means running on said electronic module for receiving a dynamic boundary file, said file including geographic boundary information capable of being used for dynamically creating a geographically based boundary such that said boundary can be continuously moved from one geographical location to another;   c. means running on said electronic module for continuously monitoring its position with respect to said dynamic boundary and issuing motivating actions to restrict movement of said animal to within the then current boundary limit,   d. responsive to a loaded geo-position boundary in said module, means for producing a series of aural cues through said speaker for controlling an animal wearing said collar for motivation to stay within said boundary;   e. means for attaching said control collar to said animal; and,   f. means in communication over a global information network with said module for managing a database record holding information associated with the location, health, status, ownership and geo-positioning boundary information associated assigned to said module.   
     
     
         11 . The animal control collar as recited in  claim 10 , further comprising:
 g. means for loading starting and ending destination points held by said dynamic boundary file; and,   h. means responsive to said boundary file for calculating a plurality of line segments each having end points of A and B, where point A is a starting point and point B is an ending point of each segment, serially aligning said segments such that movement from point A to B through said each segment forms a trek corresponding to said starting and ending destination points, and creating a corridor boundary within each said segment such that a continuous boundary corridor is created from said starting and ending it destination points.   
     
     
         12 . The control collar as recited in  claim 11 , further including means for creating a moving boundary wall spanning the walls of said boundary corridor, wherein said boundary wall moves from point A to point B in each segment at a predetermined speed such that movement of said boundary wall causes movement of said animal from point A to point B in each segment in succession, thereby causing said animal to move from said start point to said end point. 
     
     
         13 . The control collar as recited in  claim 12 , further including means for monitoring the geographic position of said animal within each segment and sending said geographic position to said database continually. 
     
     
         14 . The control collar as recited in  claim 10 , wherein said control boundary means further comprises means for establishing a circular geo-positional boundary based upon a single geo-positional radius point corresponding to the current geo-positional location of said owner, and wherein radius point moves in identical relation to said owner as they move such that motivating actions are continually issued by said module to keep the animal within said radial boundary as said owner moves along. 
     
     
         15 . The control collar as recited in  claim 14 , wherein said module includes means for warning said owner upon the transit of said animal beyond said geo-position boundary. 
     
     
         16 . The control collar as recited in  claim 15 , further including shocking prongs positioned on said module and responsive to same for shocking said animal. 
     
     
         17 . The control collar as recited in  claim 16 , further including means running on an electronic device operated by said owner for said owner to trace out one or more geo-positional coordinates on a map and for causing said coordinates to be saved in said remote database, and wherein said geo-positional coordinates comprise the geographic basis for said dynamic boundary file.