Method and System for Tracking Health in Animal Populations

Abstract

An animal health monitoring system includes a plurality of animal tag assemblies configured for being disposed on members of an animal population, each of the animal tag assemblies including one or more sensors configured to measure one or more animal characteristics of a member of the animal population. The system includes a concentrator communicatively coupled to the plurality of animal tag assemblies and configured to acquire one or more animal characteristics from the plurality of animal tag assemblies. The system includes a controller communicatively coupled to the concentrator and configured to receive the acquired one or more animal characteristics from the plurality of animal tag assemblies from the concentrator, determine a health state of one or more of the members of the animal population based on the received one or more animal characteristics, and report the determined health state to one or more user devices.

1 . An animal tag assembly for monitoring one or more characteristics in an animal population, comprising:
 one or more sensors configured to measure one or more animal characteristics of an animal of the animal population, the one or more sensors including one or more temperature sensors;   a tag body configured for placement on an ear of the animal of the animal population, wherein the tag body includes a first end and a second end opposite the first end along a longitudinal direction, wherein the first end is configured to orient at least one of the one or more temperature sensors to an ear canal of the animal of the animal population to acquire a temperature measurement of the animal of the animal population, and   a strap connected to the tag body at a first location along the longitudinal direction, wherein the strap is connected to the tag body at a non-orthogonal angle measured between the longitudinal direction and a direction normal to a surface of the tag body, wherein the strap is configured to wrap around at least a portion of the ear of the animal of the animal population and connect with the tag body at a second location along the longitudinal direction via a tag pin passing through the ear of the animal of the animal population.   
     
     
         2 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the non-orthogonal angle is between 55 and 85 degrees. 
     
     
         3 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the strap includes one or more ports configured for receiving the tag pin, wherein the animal tag body includes one or more attachment pass-throughs, wherein animal tag body is securable to the ear of the animal via the tag pin by passing a portion of the tag pin through a port in the strap, the ear of the animal, and an attachment pass-through in the animal tag body. 
     
     
         4 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the strap is configured to wrap around the ear of an animal of the animal population. 
     
     
         5 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors further include at least one of: one or more inertial measurement units, one or more accelerometers, one or more magnetometers, one or more gyroscopes, one or more location sensors, or a heart monitor for measuring the heart rate of the animal. 
     
     
         6 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the animal population comprises at least one of: a population of livestock, a population of horses, a population of pet animals, a population of zoo animals, a population of wild animals, or a population of humans. 
     
     
         7 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising communication circuitry, configured to transmit data to one or more concentrators via a communication protocol executed by the concentrator. 
     
     
         8 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the data includes processed temperature measurements processed from a plurality of temperature measurements acquired over a course of a selected time period. 
     
     
         9 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors include two or more temperature sensors, a first temperature sensor of the two or more temperature sensors measures a temperature within the ear canal of the animal, and a second temperature sensor of the two or more temperature sensors measures an ambient temperature usable to compensate for environmental circumstances affecting the temperature, and wherein the plurality of temperature measurements include measurements acquired by the first temperature sensor and by the second temperature sensor. 
     
     
         10 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the communication circuitry wirelessly communicates with the concentrator via a local wireless communication link. 
     
     
         11 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 7 , further comprising one or more processors; and
 Wherein the communication circuitry is further configured to receive a beacon signal from the concentrator, wherein the one or more processors are configured to enter a search mode when the communication circuitry fails to detect the beacon signal during a selected global data period, and wherein the one or more processors periodically switch the communication circuitry between an on-state and an off-state while in the search mode.   
     
     
         12 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the communication circuitry is further configured to transmit a provisioning packet to the concentrator in a provisioning time slot and wherein the concentrator is configured to transmit an allotted data timeslot to the communication circuitry in response to receiving the provisioning packet, wherein the communication circuitry is configured to transmit one or more signals indicative of the one or more characteristics to the concentrator at a time corresponding to the allotted data timeslot received from the concentrator. 
     
     
         13 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more animal characteristics comprise at least one of a physiological characteristic or a behavioral characteristic. 
     
     
         14 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the physiological characteristic comprises at least one of a temperature or a heart rate. 
     
     
         15 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 13 , wherein the behavioral characteristic comprises at least one of a position characteristic, an activity characteristic, or a posture characteristic. 
     
     
         16 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the posture characteristic comprises a head tilt measurement. 
     
     
         17 . The animal tag assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the activity characteristics include at least one of: step count, feeding count, coughing, frequency of chewing, duration of chewing, range of motion, body movements, frequency of trips to a feed and/or to a water source, duration of trips to the feed and/or to the water source.