I’m currently working on a project idea that I’d love some input on. The goal is to develop a wearable sensor system for cattle that can monitor their heart rate and location in real-time, sending this data to the cloud and making it accessible via a web/mobile app for farmers to monitor their livestock remotely. I've used the Arduino before for smaller scale projects and I really like it.
Here’s what I’m thinking the system would involve:
Heart Rate Sensor: Something small and non-invasive that can be worn on the cattle to track heart rate. GPS Module: To track the cattle’s location within a geofence. Microcontroller: I’m thinking of using an Arduino (probably something like an Arduino uno) to collect and transmit the sensor data.
Wireless Communication: Data would be sent to the cloud using LoRa, Wi-Fi, or GSM, depending on location/network availability. Power Source: The system needs to run off a small battery (possibly with solar charging) and last for extended periods without maintenance.
The project’s goal is to make this as cost-effective as possible for small farmers who can’t afford high-end solutions. My background is in software, so I’m comfortable with coding the app and handling the cloud side of things, but hardware is pretty new to me.
My Questions:
How feasible is this with Arduino components? I have a few sensors laying about somewhere that are made for arduinos. They were really cheap, so are there any you guys recomend for this project?
Power management: What’s the best way to manage power for something that needs to run long-term in an outdoor environment?
Signal transmission: Would LoRa be a good choice for sending data over long distances in rural areas, or would I be better off with GSM? What other challenges might I face here?
Build complexity: How hard would it be to build and maintain a system like this? Any recommendations for components or tutorials that could help?
I’d really appreciate any advice or suggestions from anyone with experience in similar projects!
I should probably note that this project is just a proof of concept. I want to build it for a class in college. My uni has a bunch of parts for arduinos, which makes me want to use it even more. I would strap the device around their neck using a fabric strap and use a 3d printer to make the enclosure.
With respect, there is a huge amount being asked from volunteers.
This is a hobby forum, sounds like this is for a commercial venture, if so, it might be best to pay for all the reasearch you are asking people to invest their time in.
Hey you're in luck. There's somebody on the Arduino subreddit right now with exactly the same issue. Maybe the two of you can put your heads together and collaborate. Good luck with your project!
This could not be further from a commercial venture haha, I'm just a college kid and need to build a prototype and I have some cattle and thought they would go well together.
Do you think this would be too hard to build for one person? It doesnt really have to be scaleable, as long as I can show my professor it can handle like one cow it'll be fine. I was thinking about using .net maui for the front end.
I just thought I'd ask people who actually know what theyre talking about, maybe I did word vomit too much haha
Sarcasm? Nothing could be farther from the truth. I'd noticed the other posting and was merely trying to help you out. But if that's the way you're going to be, good-bye!
What we do here is try to help out with things users need explaining or when they run into road blocks.
You might start with firming up those things that must be, it must work for 5 miles, it’s must be less than 1 pound, it must be able to run on a battery for 3 weeks . . . . .
Right now, it just needs to run at all. Lets say bare basic, getting it to transmit test data from my room connected to a battery and can weigh anything. as long as it goes from the device to a database. I would be interested in getting it to work for about 5 miles, a cow is heavy so i dont think that an arduino can ever get heavy enough to the point where it disturbs it. I can see how it could grow too large and impractical but I'm talking bare basics right now. Coding wise I think I am fine, but hardware is where I am falling flat
A quick google search shows several solar powered GPS ear tags for cattle, so it is certainly possible.
Cattle tend to be outdoors in unobstructed areas, so getting a GPS signal should not be a problem. The main challenge would be power management, need the ability to shut everything down to bare minimal power, then periodically wake up to get the location and send the data.
I have no idea how you would monitor heart rate for cattle, that could be a significant problem.
It's certainly possible, but is it possible on arduino hardware? Also, a lot of options are really expensive, I want to prove its possible to build one cheaper
Do you think it was take much power to send two strings? one being the heartrate, which can be an integer(cows resting rate is between 48 and 84 beats per minute) , and the other being a longer coordinate double (-54.xxxxx, -xx.xxxx etc)?
I dont think that it would need to transmit often, maybe once every five minutes or so.
Monitoring the heart rate could be as simple as putting the sensor along the vein in their neck. If it stops beating, alert the farmer, if its high for too long, alert the farmer. This doesnt need to win any awards haha. It wont be used for anything serious, moreso a proof of concept
You have been around cows. How long will it take for another cow to discover their friend now smells different and that thing need washing and possible rubbing off?
The features you describe can be found in the wrist or chest mounted fitness trackers made for humans.
However, anything attached to cattle has to survive being crushed against trees, fences, other cattle and covered in dirt. It's difficult to imagine any of the usual optical or electrical heart rate sensors surviving under these conditions.
As a proof of concept for a class, certainly it's possible. As a real system expected to be out in the field, you'd have to put far more work into it.
The biggest problem, TBH, would be finding a suitable HR sensor and a suitable point on the animal to mount it. Talk to your ag dept or a local large animal vet for suggestions.
It doesnt really need to be a device that will be strapped on a cow for long periods of time, its for a college project so as long as I get it to work then its fine. Even getting it to work with mock data will be fine. Essentially sending data from the device to the front end
