Project Summary

Our proposed project is a method for tracking the hydration of animals. Dehydration in animals can lead to many health problems. This can be especially costly for livestock. The proposed solution would use sensors for tracking proximity to water sources and orientation of the head, to confirm the animal is drinking.
You can find the evolving document with component links here.

Deliverables

  • Proximity tracking
  • Orientation sensor tracking
  • Communication to app
  • Tested and demoed without animals

Critical Features

  • Low power collar tracks head orientation
  • Base station tracks each collar: time spent drinking (with head bowed) at water station
  • Bluetooth communication with mobile app

Performance Metrics

  • Measuring success and speed of bluetooth connection of collar and base station when animal collar is within range/near the water source
  • Time animal has actually spent drinking water vs time calculated
  • Head tilt- success rate of accelerometer readings when the animal is drinking water

Milestones

  1. Establish bluetooth communication between MSP EZ430 with BLE module and Adafruit Feather nRF52840
  2. RSSI implementation/access on Adafruit Feather nRF52840
  3. Working accelerometer readings on MSP EZ430
  4. Power calculations for collar (MSP EZ430, BLE Module, Accelerometer)
  5. Select a power scheme for collar
  6. Form factor/pcb development for collar if necessary
  7. Establish bluetooth communication between Adafruit Feather and mobile device/app
  8. Writability to base station memory
  9. Select power scheme for base station
  10. Data representation on mobile app
  11. Implement features on app (reach)

Responsibilities of Each Team Member

Website: Weekly updates by each team member regarding what they worked on that week. Assignments that are posted to the website will be completed together.

App: App development will be managed by Tanpreet.

Collar: Collar development will be managed by Hafsa. Some work (SPI developement and PCB design will be shared between Hafsa and Ishaan).

Base Station: Base station development will be managed by Ishaan.

Materials & Outside Help Needed

  • Microcontrollers
  • Adafruit Feather nRF52840 (Base station)
  • TI MSP EZ430 (Collar)
  • Accelerometer
  • BTLE for Collar
  • Mobile/Web App
  • Power
  • AA Batteries for collar

Budget

  • Adafruit Feather nRF52840 - $24.95
  • TI MSP EZ430 - $31.92
  • HM-10/AT-09 BLE Module x 2 - $10.50
  • Low-power accelerometer x 1 - $16.95
  • PCB for collar x 1 - $30.00
  • Power circuit components for collar - $25.00

Risks

  • Unable to determine distance over BLE
  • Confusing grazing/lowered head with drinking
  • Bluetooth takes too long to connect
  • Power consumption too high on base station and collar
  • Data communication rate may be too low

  • How Risks Will Be Addressed

  • Assume BLE connection close enough or implement RFID
  • Observe animals drinking water and collect data on their movements to determine the difference between grazing and drinking.
  • Experiment with connection times to determine how risky this is. Assume animals drink for a sufficient amount of time.
  • If power consumption is too high at the base station we can add more batteries/increase solar panels since size is less of an issue in this case. For decreasing power consumption of the collar, we can tune the interrupts from the ball tilt sensor to better recognize lowering head for longer periods to drink vs moving head around.
  • Storing data on collar and sending as it is able to, and use simple data (true or false over BLE) instead of sending other info. Do all processing on the base station or app.