Animal tracking

Animal Tracking

 

People kept animals and always took care of them. With new technology, it’s even easier to keep animals. Farm animals are often lost or killed on their way to pasture. Introducing cellular IoT technology should help to transform animal tracking solutions from a nice-to-have to an efficient solution that will save farmers’ time and money. 

what is animal tracking

We've been looking for interesting use cases in cellular IoT. Agriculture seem to be well suited for IoT-driven transformation. There are unique long-distance requirements and cellular is an exact match. Now let's see exciting devices on the market.

Previously the animal tracking technology was large and heavy, and needed to be hung around the animals neck. But now there is a new technology that can track animals using NB-IoT enabled tags.

Earlier tracking animals using wireless communication has not been very effective. Tags were heavy and big and the cost was high for the equipment.

For many applications, this is not a cost-effective solution. In short, there is not a very good solution for many farmers. With the introduction of cellular IoT technology, animal tracking solutions have changed from practical to efficient solutions, saving farmers time and money.

With the introduction of low-power IoT technology, the possibility of cellular IoT technology, animal tracking and it’s solutions have changed from the practical to efficient solutions, saving farmers time and money.

What is Animal tracking

Remotely monitoring the animals by using NB-IoT devices can send data about the animals to the cloud. It helps farms locate animals and identify which ones need treatment. Also it could possibly show a predator attack. 

Any significant changes can indicate illness, injuries or possibly a predator attack.Such changes are reported via NB-IoT, with GPS providing location information.There are also time and cost savings thanks to the low-power nature of this device. Previous tag solutions often consumed significant power, resulting in frequent battery changes.The low energy consumption of NB-IoT devices contributes to offering a battery lifetime of a few years on these new generation animal trackers.

How it works?

If you’re having trouble keeping track of where your animals are getting lost, IoT enabled sensors could help. Many owners take precautions against the loss of their animals, whether the fence is broken or animals go into dangerous zones. The older versions of trackers were tracking animals by installing it on the animal’s ear or had to be hung on the neck of cows or other animals. It was not the most comfortable way to track animals. Of course, for many applications, this is not a cost-effective solution. The situation is changing thanks to low-cost, small-scale cellular IoT technology. You can use this technology to keep track of your animals routes and keep knowing where your lost animals are.

Now a common thing for owners of animals is to add microchips to their pets to increase their chances of reuniting if they go missing. A microchip is a chip that is embedded between the animal’s scapula and stores a unique ID number that veterinarians and animal shelters can match against the animal registry to find their owner’s contact information. Unlike the microchip, IoT-enabled animal tracking solutions allow owners to play an active role in finding pets. By connecting to your smartphone or web application, your pet tracker can show you the location and history of your pet in real time, so you don’t have to wait for your pet to come back.

Value Proposition of animal tracking

Value Proposition of Animal tracking

Smart animal tracking is used to find lost animals when they return to the barn, or to prevent theft or loss. It’s also a good thing to keep track of where they go and know the routes of the animals. Using mobile phones and other devices, these tracking tags can provide frequent updates about animals, such as location and movement patterns.

  1. Track the health and vitality of the animals. Tracking in real time so that the farmers can treat the animal and prevent the spread of the diseases.

  2. Track grazing animals to avoid casualties and find grazing patterns.

  3. Collect and analyse historical data to identify trends in cattle health, track disease epidemics, track mating and calving readiness, prevent loss of new calves and optimise breeding practices.

value of animal tracking

Did you know?

That using mobile phones and other devices with enabled NB-IoT technology, you can see frequent updates about animals, such as location and movement patterns.

Benefits

Animal tracking can give a lot of valuable data about animals.  Analysing data you can do research on some species of animals. Also you can:

  • Secure a route for animals to go. Once you have seen all the animals move to a particular location, you can collect that data and redesign the grazing road if it is seriously damaged or dangerous to the animals. 

  • Keep a history of your animal’s or pet’s activities to help you plan your animal’s health and weight, to ensure it gets what it needs. 

  • Update regularly to track and monitor the location of animals so that if they get injured you can find your animals and take them to your vet without resorting to anyone. 

  • Set a geofence for a specific area. Get updates when your pet leaves the expected area or moves to another location.

These are some of the benefits of tracking animals in the field. Cellular trackers are not 100% accurate and narrows the position of the animal up to 1-2 miles, but it can get a good start for the farm animal owners.

NB-IoT for Animal Tracking FAQs

  • Animal tracking with Narrowband IoT uses IoT devices to monitor animals, send data to the cloud, and alert about potential illnesses or predator attacks​.

  • IoT-enabled sensors are installed on animals, providing real-time location and movement history via smartphone or web application​.

  • Benefits include secure route planning, health and weight management, real-time location updates, and geofencing capabilities​​.

  • It aids in preventing loss, tracks animal health and grazing patterns, and optimizes breeding practices by analyzing historical data​​.

  • It helps prevent animal loss and provides valuable insights, saving farmers' time and money​​.