Animal indicator apparatus

Abstract

An animal indicator apparatus that tracks the locations of an animal and alerts nearby persons when the animal approaches a boundary includes a location determining component operable to determine a current geographic location of the apparatus; memory for storing cartographic data representative of at least one boundary; an indicator and a processor. The processor triggers the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is near the location of the boundary.

Having thus described various embodiments of the technology, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following: 
     
         1 . An animal indicator apparatus operable to be worn by an animal, the apparatus comprising:
 a location determining component operable to determine a current geographic location of the apparatus;   memory operable to store cartographic data including data representative of a plurality of roads;   an indicator including a light-emitting device; and   a processor coupled with the location determining component, the memory, and the indicator, the processor operable to activate the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is near the location of one of the roads.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a communications component coupled with the processor and operable to transmit location information corresponding to the current geographic location of the apparatus when the current geographic location of the apparatus approaches the location of one of the roads. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the location determining component comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and utilizes received GPS signals to determine the current geographic location of the apparatus. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising;
 a housing to house at least portions of the location determining component, the indicator, the memory, and the processor; and   a collar operable to couple with the housing and be secured around the animal's neck.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further including a user interface operable to select one or more of the roads, wherein the processor is operable to activate the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is near the location of one of the selected roads. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further including a user interface operable to select one or more road classifications, wherein the processor is operable to activate the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is near the location of one of the roads corresponding to the selected road classifications. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting device includes a plurality of light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the data representative of a plurality of roads includes geographic coordinates corresponding to the roads. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the memory further including boundary data including geographic coordinates corresponding to one or more geographic boundaries. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the boundary data indicates boundaries between public land and private land. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the cartographic data is user-defined. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a communications component coupled with the processor and operable to transmit location information corresponding to the current geographic location of the apparatus to a portable navigation unit for comparison of the location information with at least one boundary stored in the memory of the portable navigation unit. 
     
     
         13 . An animal indicator apparatus operable to be worn by an animal, the apparatus comprising:
 a location determining component operable to determine a current geographic location of the apparatus;   memory operable to store cartographic data including boundary data representing geographic boundaries for (a) a plurality of roads and (b) boundaries between public and private land;   an indicator including a light-emitting device;   a processor coupled with the location determining component, the memory, and the indicator, the processor operable to activate the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is near one of the geographic boundaries; and   a housing configured to worn about the animal's neck, the housing supporting the location determining component, the memory, the indicator, and the processor.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the indicator includes a plurality of light-emitting devices. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is further operable to deactivate the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is away from one of the geographic boundaries. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is operable to active the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is within about 100 feet of one of the geographic boundaries. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the processor is operable to active the indicator when the current geographic location of the apparatus is within about 10 feet of one of the geographic boundaries. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the cartographic data is user-defined. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the location determining component comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and utilizes received GPS signals to determine the current geographic location of the apparatus. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising a communications component coupled with the processor and operable to transmit location information corresponding to the current geographic location of the apparatus when the current geographic location of the apparatus approaches one of the geographic boundaries.