RFID-Enabled Smart Farming Application for Livestock Management
Customer
Finnish software company that focuses on the agricultural sector and animal management solutions based on radio frequency identification (RFID) and Internet technologies.
Challenge
The Customer decided to create a smart solution which would offer tools for livestock management and make it easier to identify and handle animals. The main function of the solution should be wireless collection of livestock data straight from the field. The solution was supposed to use RFID scanner and pidion device (palmtop) to transmit the information via Bluetooth. The Customer turned to ScienceSoft to develop an application that would help to organize effective integration between RFID scanner and pidion device (palmtop).
Solution
ScienceSoft developed the smart solution that allowed the Customer to get advantage of RFID recognition, wireless data transmission and integration.
To facilitate data gathering, the process was organized in the following way:
- RFID tag (microchip) is attached to an animal’s ear
- Farmers scan the tags by an RFID handheld scanner
- The data is wirelessly transmitted to the pidion device
Transmitted data contains the following parameters about the tracked animals: changes in weight and the location, pedigree, animal specific information, treatment codes, estimated birthing time, as well as user management data. UI of the application also contains health database, official registry and robotic milking. The solution supports simultaneous data collection and recording.
Results
The Customer received a smart solution that facilitates animal monitoring and identification as well as management of various farm activities. RFID tags and scanners help reduce time spent on data gathering and processing.
At the moment, the system is principally used on livestock and dairy farms, but it can be tailored to be applied to all kinds of livestock production if required.
The solution was nominated for best rural innovation of the year in the best Practices competition.
