ECE 4760: Final Project

Poultry Movement Monitor

with Bluetooth communication

Trisha Dey (td259@cornell.edu)

Kevin Kreher (kmk279@cornell.edu)



Introduction    

Our project aims to create an un-intrusive movement tracking system that will be worn by a domesticated bird. The system will be capable of detecting and recording animal movements and body temperature and wirelessly reporting the collected data to a computer via Bluetooth. Bluetooth modules on different birds will also interact in order to detect distance between them. This technology provides avenues for accurately tracking the health or status of individual birds by deriving this from their movement and distance data. Potential applications include tracking the activity levels of a bird for comparison to other birds and monitoring social interactions between birds. Two prototypes of the system will be made, so that the social activities between 2 birds can be recorded and analyzed.

The device will be placed on the back of a chicken (we will look into best practice for keeping it in place). For the most part the module will rest on top of the feathers and be electrically isolated with a smooth plastic encasement. A thermocouple built into the IMU will be the only component continuously moving against the bird (aiming to be closer to the skin). Our end goal is to keep the prototype on the bird for approximately 30-45 minutes, however, testing it in 5 minute increments will be sufficient. We plan on measuring each occurrence of different movements, tracking temperature, and with two devices we will have proximity tracking between birds.


Figure 1: Finished versions of the poultry movement monitors (contains all necessary hardware, straps, velcro fasteners, and foam lining for chicken's comfort.

Figure 2: Working monitors connected to the uART interface via Bluetooth outputting both test data and real time tracking data.

Figure 3: Prototype on chicken.

Video Demonstration of Working Project