WO2005034617A1

WO2005034617A1 - A system for providing notification of the presence of animals

Info

Publication number: WO2005034617A1
Application number: PCT/NO2004/000313
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bjørn THORSTENSEN; Tore Syversen; Trond Are BJØRNVOLD
Original assignee: Telenor Asa
Priority date: 2003-10-15
Filing date: 2004-10-14
Publication date: 2005-04-21
Also published as: NO319425B1; NO20034615L; NO20034615D0; NZ547075A; AR046545A1; CN1893820A; EP1681920A1; CN100444723C; AU2004279271A1

Abstract

A system for providing notification of the presence of animals (40, 50) that travels within areas where their presence can cause danger, and especially indicating the presence of animals walking on railway tracks (10) or any other busy routes. A number of animals (lead animals) (40) are equipped with an electronic unit (1). containing a GPS receiver and a GSM transceiver. The position is transferred via the GSM network to a control centre (37). The critical part of the communication route is included within security zones defined by virtual border lines (20, 30). The positions of the border lines are also registered in the control centre. The control centre compares positions of animals and border lines registering animals that cross the border lines entering the security zones. This can be notified on a Web page, that can be read on terminals aboard on vehicles/trains (90). Alternatively, the vehicle (90) may be equipped with a corresponding electronic unit transferring its position to the control centre. The control centre may then alert the driver of the vehicle/train if animals are present in the road/railway track.

Description

A system for providing notification of the presence of animals

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a system for providing notification of the presence of animals in an area, especially animals that travel within areas where their presence can cause danger, and especially indicating the presence of animals walking on railway tracks or any other busy routes.

Background of the invention

Many reindeer are hit by trains on railway tracks every winter. When snow is deep, the reindeer wander towards the railway line, where the snow has been cleared. In addition, it is easier for the reindeer to find food in the area along the line. The most important preventative measure that has been undertaken is to remove shrubbery along the cleared line. This makes it easier for the locomotive driver to spot the reindeer, as well as providing less shrubbery on which the reindeer can feed. This has, to a certain degree, been successful, but a large number of animals are still killed every winter.

The idea behind the present invention is to equip reindeer along railway lines with transmitters and positioning equipment that can communicate with railway companies and trains as well as people in reindeer husbandry.

Norwegian patent application 20005721 teaches a system particularly adapted for shepherding sheep, where each sheep carries a collar with an electronic unit. The unit comprises a GPS receiver and a transceiver. The position of the animal is reported to base stations placed in the terrain. The owner can then contact the base stations on a GSM connection and read the position of the animal. The applicant's early international patent application WO 03/079773 describes a similar system where only a few animals (lead sheep) are equipped with a collar and an electronic unit. In this case, the unit comprises a GPS receiver, a GSM-transceiver for direct contact with the GSM net, as well as a further transceiver for short distance communication. The system is based on making use of the herd instinct of the animals. The remainder of the herd is equipped with an ear tag comprising a small short range transceiver. The unit on the lead sheep regularly "signals" the members of the flock and the sheep that returns a signal (are present) are registered in a table. This table can be retrieved directly via the GSM net.

Today, reindeer (domesticated reindeer) are herded in a similar manner. It is of particular interest to receive notice if the reindeer migrate towards the railway line. Several difficulties have however been encountered with the technical equipment for herding reindeer as opposed to sheep. The season for sheepherding is relatively short and occurs in the warm season, whereas in the case of reindeer, the equipment must be carried throughout the year, and must also function at low temperatures. The reindeer are also much more mobile than sheep and will often migrate across large remote areas where there is no GSM service coverage. It has proven difficult to make the equipment batteries last sufficiently long. A long time may pass between each battery change and batteries loose capacity drastically when temperatures are running low.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that can prevent collision with animals near roads and railway lines. It is also an object of the invention to provide a system that can operate in areas where the mobile telephone network provides no coverage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for safeguarding animals that is capable of working to satisfaction over long periods and at low temperatures.

This is achieved by a system as disclosed in the appended patent claims.

Short description of the drawings

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings, where

Figure 1 shows an area with a railway line and at least one herd of reindeer in the same area, in which at least one of the reindeer is equipped with a system according to the invention,

Figure 2 shows a reindeer equipped with an electronic unit for notifying its position,

Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a system according to the invention for monitoring signs placed by road or railway tracks,

Figure 4 shows how the system according to Figure 3 can be used in the field.

Detailed description of the invention

Figure 1 shows a railway line 10 and a herd of reindeer (within circle 60 in the figure) approaching the line. The lead reindeer 40 is equipped with an electronic unit 1 (Figure 2) mounted on a collar. Each animal 50 of the herd is equipped with a simpler electronic unit, in the shape of an ear tag or collar (radio tag) as explained in the applicant's patent application WO 03/079773. The unit 1 of the lead reindeer reports the position of the herd to a control centre via a mobile communication system, such as GSM, GPRS or UMTS. The GSM-connection is suggested by a base station in the tower 80.

Each electronic unit 1 is equipped with a GSM transceiver as well as a system for positioning, e.g. GPS. Additionally, the unit 1 is equipped with a transceiver for close range communication, e.g. in the 433 MHz band. Every radio tag is equipped with a corresponding transceiver for short range communication, and is also equipped with an identifying code. Each radio mark communicates with the electronic unit 1 placed on the lead reindeer, directly or by multi hop by way of other radio tags. Thus, the lead reindeer is equipped to pass on information to the control centre of which animals are present in the herd.

The invention is based on defining a set of "virtual boundaries/fences", as suggested by the dashed lines 20, 30 in Figure 1. When the flock approaches the railway line 10, and particularly when crossing the boundary line 20, the control centre is set up to notify possible trains 90 that happen to be in the area.

The notification can be made in several ways, e.g. by displaying the position of the reindeer herd in a map, accessible via the Internet. The locomotive driver in the area can see the map on the Web and spot the areas where there is a risk of hitting reindeer.

Another method is to equip the train with a GPS receiver that continuously reports the position of the train to the same control centre. Said control centre compares the positions and transmits a warning to the engine driver when the positions of the herd and the trains are closing in on one another.

In a third method, the control centre is set up to control warning signs placed along a track or road. This solution is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

In Figure 3, each animal is equipped with a radio tag 31, 32, 33 in the ear, instead of the normal visual identification tag. Each tag 31, 32, 33 communicates with a Mobile Access Point (MAP) 34. This Mobile Access Point may be embedded in a collar worn by the lead reindeer, as explained in further detail in WO 03/079773. The MAP 34 communicates with a data capture system 35. The data capture system 35 is connected to a database 36, said database 36 registering information on the current position of each animal. The data capture system 35 is also connected to a control unit 37 controlling the information shown on road signs 38. The signs 38 are placed along a road or railway track where it is known that reindeer may be present.

The data capture system 35, database 36 and control unit 37 may be incorporated in a control centre. Alternatively, some of the components, notably the control unit, may be included in a control box located at the road sign 38. Ultimately, the entire control centre may be placed in said control box.

The MAP 34 may also be set up to control the sign 38 directly without consulting the database 36.

Figure 4 shows this system in overview. The animals 41 are equipped with radio tags 42 and MAPS 43. The MAPs 43 reports the position of the herd 41 to a control database 44. When the herd 41 approaches the road 46, or more correctly crosses the polygon of danger 47, defined geographically as a virtual fence, the system controls the danger sign 45 to provide a warning to the traffic on the road 46.

This system works fairly well as long as the area has GSM coverage. If this is not the case, the complete system will fail. Therefore, the present system is equipped with a "fail-safe mechanism" or reserve system. This system is based on using the short range communication system embedded in the ear tags and the central unit. The train is equipped with a corresponding short range communication system that continually polls other units in the area nearby. If a response is detected, an alarm is set off which alerts the driver. Thereby the train will be able to detect the presence of animals in the vicinity of the railway line. Even in cases where the position is not plotted on a map, the driver will receive a signal indicating that there is danger afoot.

When the herd is within the security line (solid polygon in Figure 2), a more accurate determination of the position of each animal may be necessary. The animals spread out in an area around the lead reindeer, and the reindeer in the lead is the only one equipped with a GPS receiver. In order to determine the positions of each member of the herd, triangulation from more lead reindeer in the area is used. The triangulation is based on distance positioning (measuring propagation time) for more nodes (lead reindeer) with a known position. If an ear tag is within the range of three base stations (lead reindeer) , it is possible with quite great accuracy to determine the position of the reindeer with the ear tag.

In some cases there will be no connection between an ear tag and all three base stations. With the inventive system, it will be possible to triangulate based not only on base stations, but other ear tags. If the one unit that is to be positioned is out of range of three base stations, but within range of two stations and another ear tag, this ear tag might have a direct link to a base station. It would then be possible to utilize this ear tag as the third position (point) in the triangulation. The positions will not be as accurate as with three base stations, but the advantage is that, provided with a system like this, a position of the units can always be obtained.

Such triangulation can be carried out in several ways, all of which are based on a subset of nodes in an area having positions that are known. By ascertaining with which nodes with known positions there is a radio connection, and simultaneously knowing the radio range of these positions, it is possible to calculate the unknown position and the accuracy of the said position. By using elementary geometry and vector arithmetic, it is possible to measure distance or angles, and positioning each single node relative to each other.

Measuring distance employs either radio together with ultrasound, or only one of these. Radio combined with ultrasound make the use of the fact that audio and radio have very different velocity, and based on the time difference between the radio signal received and the ultrasound signal received, the distance can be calculated. Time difference by means of radio or ultrasound is measured either one-way, or "round trip". One-way signals require synchronizing clocks between sender and receiver, and by measuring differences between your own clock and the signal received, the distance can be calculated. This method is used in GPS. "Round-trip" measurements work according to the principle that, upon transmitting a signal, and as soon as this signal is received by a node, the node returns a signal. When the receiver receives this signal, it is simple to determine the time lapsed.

Angular measurements use the received signal angle to determine the position. In order to determine the angle, beam antennas are required, so that it is possible to detect from which direction the signals come. Trigonometry using known positions for some of the nodes, is used to determine the position of the remaining nodes. Angular measurement is less suitable in the present case, however.

As mentioned, the capacity of the power source restricts the operation of the equipment, as well as the performance of the system. In order to increase the capacity of the power source, three different steps are provided:

1) Supplying of electricity for recharging the batteries from solar cells mounted on the collar. This is shown in Figure 2, where a collar 3 carrying an electronic unit 1 is shown. Solar cells 4 are mounted on the collar 3. The solar cells are connected to the electronic unit 1 where a battery is recharged by said cells.

2) Maintaining high battery capacity when temperatures are low. To this end, the batteries are placed on the inside of the electronic unit 1. In Figure 2, this is shown as the lid of the battery 2 placed on the interior surface of the box housing the battery and electronic unit. The batteries are facing the body of the animal and are heated by their body temperature.

3) Limiting the time the equipment is switched on consuming power. This is achieved by the electronic unit 1 periodically being set in a resting position as follows: the control centre records the positions of the lead reindeer. The position of the security lines are recorded simultaneously. The control centre is equipped for calculating the distance from the lead reindeer 30 to the closest boundary line, being line 20 in Figure 1. This distance is thereby divided by the highest possible pace of the herd 60 in order to calculate the time needed by the herd to reach the security line. The control centre can then send a command disconnecting the unit 1 so that the unit is either switched off or switched to a resting state during this period. The unit is switched on when this time has lapsed, a new position is set etc. and the unit is thereafter switched back off for another period.

The system is described in connection with reindeer and railway lines. However, the same system can be employed advantageously on roads, e.g. vehicles often servicing the stretch being equipped with warning installations. Said installations can be advantageous for trucks, taxis, ambulances, etc. Also, the system can easily be made accessible for the public in general. Naturally, the system can be used for other living creatures, and may in fact be applied to control non-living structures as well. This can for example be bridges, or sections of a road exposed to severe weather conditions, with formation of ice on the track, or heavy wind, or snow avalanches. For these applications, the RADIO tags may be integrated with suitable sensors.

Claims

C l i m s

1. A system for providing notification of the position of an animal in relation to a means of transport, characterized in that the system comprises a first electronic unit (1, 34, 43), designed to be worn by a first animal (40), said unit (1, 34, 43) including at least a positioning means and a first transceiver for communication over a public mobile communications network, and a power supply,

a control centre connected to the mobile network, said control centre having access to a database containing information on at least one security zone defined by boundary lines (20, 30, 47), in which the security zone encompasses a route (10, 46) for the transportation means (90),

the control centre being designed to read the position of the animal (40), decide the distance between the animal (40) and the boundary lines (20, 30, 47), and, if the distance is below a predefined value, send a warning signal to a second electronic unit, the second electronic unit including at least a second transceiver and a means for indicating a warning signal to a driver of the transportation means.

2. A system for providing notification of the position of an animal in relation to a transportation means, characterized in that the system comprises a first electronic unit (1, 34, 43), designed arranged to be worn by a first animal (40), said unit (1, 34, 43) including at least a positioning means and a first transceiver for communication over a public mobile communications network, and a power supply, a control centre connected to the mobile network, said control centre having access to a database for storing the current position of the animal (40),

a second electronic unit located in the transportation means (90), the second electronic unit including at least a second transceiver for communication over the public mobile communication network, a terminal for reading information from the database, and a display means,

the terminal being designed to read the position of the animal (40), indicate the position on the display means, determine the distance between the animal (40) and boundary lines (20, 30, 47) defining a security zone that encompasses a route followed by the transportation means, and, if the distance is below a predefined value, to send a warning signal to a driver of the transportation means.

3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the second electronic unit is located in the transportation means (90), the second electronic unit including at least a second transceiver for communication over the public mobile communication network.

4. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the second electronic unit is located in a road sign visible from the route (10, 46) followed by the transportation means (90).

5. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the power supply is a rechargeable battery housed in a collar (3) , said collar (3) is equipped with solar cells, said solar cells are connected to the battery and are designed to charge the battery.

6. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the power supply is a rechargeable battery, the battery is arranged in the first electronic unit (1) adjacent to the animal's body, whereupon it is heated by the body.

7. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the control centre or the first electronic unit is designed to determine the smallest possible time period for when the animal can approach the security zone defined by the boundary lines (20, 30) , based on the position of the animal, the position of the boundary lines, and the maximum travel velocity of the animals, to send a command setting the first electronic unit in a power conserving rest mode during said time period, the first electronic unit being designed to wake up at the end of said period and resignal its position.

8. A system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first electronic unit includes a third transceiver for short range communication.

9. A system as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the second electronic unit includes a fourth transceiver for short range communication, said unit being designed to detect a signal emitted by the third transceiver, and at the presence of such a signal, to warn the driver of the transportation means .

10. A system as claimed in claim 8 or 9, characterized in that a second animal (50) belonging to the same herd (60) as the first animal (40) is provided with a third electronic unit, the third electronic unit is provided with a fifth transceiver for short range communication, the third and fourth transceivers are designed to detect the presence of said fifth transceiver.

11. A system as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the first electronic unit is designed to determine the distance to the third electronic unit, and signal this distance to the control centre.

12. A system as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that said distance is determined based on the time it takes to receive a signal sent from the third transceiver to the fifth transceiver and again back to the third transceiver.

13. A system as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the first electronic unit contains a first acoustic transceiver, the third electronic unit contains a second acoustic transceiver, and the distance is calculated based on the time it takes for the signals sent simultaneously from the fifth transceiver and the second acoustic transceiver to reach the first electronic unit.

14. A system as claimed in claims 11 - 13, characterized in that the position of the second animal (50) is determined based on measurements of the distance to a plurality of animals (40) in the area, said animals being provided with a first electronic unit, and having radio and alternatively acoustical contact with the third electronic unit carried by the other animal (50) .