Stefano Simonini

Spatial Identification of Animals in Different Breeding Systems to Monitor Behavior

The aim of this paper was to focus the evolution of the application of technologies to identify and monitor animals. In time, a lot of various solutions have been thought up in order to record spatial data and time spotting of the animals in grazing areas. From first radio-telemetry approaches in the fifties to automatic photographing or videotaping, technology has made huge progress thanks to the digital revolution. Instruments have become more sophisticated, precise and automatic. The analysis of their capacity and limits could be useful to offer a complete overview about new opportunities for planning good research methodology. Bibliographical studies point out analogies, differences and technological advances of different systems of identification useful both for wild and domestic animal populations. The survey of conventional radio technologies, satellite telemetry, and RFID systems allows investigation of the real potentials and new opportunities of different solutions. In order to collect data to conduct a comparative analysis, new RFID products were tested on pigs on an outdoor farm located in a hilly area in the north of Italy. The preliminary results of electronic identification system to monitor pig behavior are presented in this paper. Outcomes of the paper trace the working out of new features of these technologies: automatic elaboration of databases, precision of remote sensing, minimizing instrument and human mistakes. All these characteristics enable researchers to operate widely and efficiently. Furthermore, researchers will be able to integrate the technologies in order to create an environmental analysis methodology aimed to optimize and rationalize animal management performance.

Use of Radio Frequency Identification Active Technology to Monitor Animals in Open Spaces

Abstract Recent testing of an active radio frequency identification (RFID) system within an outdoor fenced-enclosure housing four fattening pigs is described. The system is a modular active-RFID system composed by marker, reader and beacon tag. The enclosure was divided into three areas using three marker’s loop-antennas. These areas were the pigs’ feeding, drinking and resting areas. The duration in seconds verified by video recordings that individual animals attended in the zones outlined by the markers was compared with the duration acquired by the active-RFID system. The results indicate an acceptable accuracy of position-data, as overall 5% underestimation was achieved. Different levels of precision were achieved by the active-RFID system according to the feeding, drinking and resting areas monitored. In particular, problems were encountered due to the behaviour of the pigs surrounding the perimeter of the marked areas, the size and positioning of the tag on the pig’s collar, and other software, hardware and calibration issues some of which may be overcome. These issues, together with the cost, are main limitation when using this technology.

Evaluating Thermal Performance of a Photovoltaic-integrated Roofing System for Livestock Buildings: Comparison with Conventional Coverings

An alternative constructive solution for photovoltaic integration in the roof, which enhances thermal performance of the building during the hot period is presented. To reduce the diurnal heat load and to increase the capacity of discharging heat through the roof at night, the proposed roofing solution was equipped with a ventilated interspace. The roof consisted of two different layers: the top cover was made up of PV modules (m-Si) and the lower layer consisted of fissured wooden boards. A scale model was realized to test the performance of this solution during the hot period in comparison with other two different types of covers: simple PV modules; insulating sandwich panels.