Real-time pair-feeding of animals

Automatic pair-feeding system was developed which immediately dispenses same amount of food to control animal as has been consumed by experimental animal that has free access to food. System consists of: master feeding system; slave feeding station; and control mechanism. Technique performs real time pair-feeding without attendant time lag

Personalization framework for adaptive robotic feeding assistance

The final publication is available at link.springer.comThe deployment of robots at home must involve robots with pre-defined skills and the capability of personalizing their behavior by non-expert users. A framework to tackle this personalization is presented and applied to an automatic feeding task. The personalization involves the caregiver providing several examples of feeding using Learning-by- Demostration, and a ProMP formalism to compute an overall trajectory and the variance along the path. Experiments show the validity of the approach in generating different feeding motions to adapt to user’s preferences, automatically extracting the relevant task parameters. The importance of the nature of the demonstrations is also assessed, and two training strategies are compared. © Springer International Publishing AG 2016.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Changes in behavioural response of Mediterranean Seabass (Dicenthratus labrax L.) under different feeding distributions

Captive-induced behavioural deviations may involve many aspects of fish behaviour such as swimming activity and enhancement of individual aggressiveness. We studied seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) behaviour as a function of manual and automatic feeding distribution modes. Under manual mode, the food is distributed over an extended area for a longer period, and its precise location is not always predictable, while with pneumatic automatic feeders, fish receive the same amount of resource, which is concentrated in the same surface area over a shorter period. We compared seabass behaviour under automatic and manual conditions collecting video image recordings before, during, and after feeding distribution, in the morning and in afternoon, on two different days, and analysing data within independent sessions of measurements. Feeding modes significantly affected swimming behaviour: automatically- fed fish were characterised by vertical movements through the water column (towards the surface and bottom) and by horizontal swimming. Manually-fed fish were instead characterised by sharp direction changes during their swimming, mostly towards the surface. Feeding distribution induced changes in collision frequency and elicited aggressive behaviour. In particular, agonistic behaviour (i.e. a fish attacks another fish) was almost exclusively recorded during the feeding under automatic distribution, whereas it was constantly expressed during all the distribution phases under manual mod

Reducing cross-sucking of group housed calves by an environmental enriched building design

Group housing is a natural and economic way of raising calves. One major disadvan-tage of group housing calves is the occurrence of cross-sucking as an abnormal behaviour. The main objective of our study on organic calf housing was the reduction of cross-sucking related to milk feeding. A new feeding stall with automatic gates was attached to an automatic teat feeder. One gate opened to an enriched area immedi-ately when the calves had finished their milk meal. In this zone calves could use rub-ber teats or a hay net (treatment optimized). The design for the control group used a simple feeding stall without attached enriched zone. 168 female calves (German Holstein) from one origin (herd) were randomly assigned to 14 groups with 12 calves each. Thus, each treatment could be repeated seven times. Two groups were used for preliminary testing of housing and technique. Calves were fed whole milk, according to EU-organic-farming-guidelines. The behaviour of calves was observed directly for 20 minutes following milk intake. In addition, 24 hour video observation completed the behavioural monitoring. The videos were analyzed with the continuous sampling method; statistical analysis was done with the SAS statistical software package and non-parametric procedures. As one result, cross-sucking of calves decreased signifi-cantly in the optimized housing treatment compared to the control treatment: cross-sucking behaviour occurred for 12% of the calves of the optimized treatment vs. 60% cross-sucking calves in the control treatment. Regarding the intensity of cross-sucking, the control group showed 200 cross-sucking bouts per 100 calves and meal, in comparison with a frequency of 16 bouts of the optimized treatment. Our study supports the thesis, that design of housing and environment could be used to reduce cross-sucking of group housed calves. However, future research should be done to evaluate interactions between feeding techniques, environment and physiological processes related to cross-sucking behaviour of calves

Automatic real-time pair-feeding system for animals

A pair feeding method and apparatus are provided for experimental animals wherein the amount of food consumed is immediately delivered to a normal or control animal so that there is a qualitative, quantitative and chronological correctness in the pair feeding of the two animals. This feeding mechanism delivers precisely measured amounts of food to a feeder. Circuitry is provided between master and slave feeders so that there is virtually no chance of a malfunction of the feeding apparatus, causing erratic results. Recording equipment is also provided so that an hourly record is kept of food delivery

Automatic and frequency-programmable systems for feeding TMR: state of the art and available technologies

La tecnica di razionamento TMR (Total Mixed Ration) per bovine da latte si \ue8 molto diffusa grazie ai vantaggi offerti. La meccanizzazione si basa su carri miscelatori azionati da operatore. Alcuni limiti sono associabili alla bassa frequenza di distribuzione (1-2 volte/giorno). La recente diffusione di sistemi automatici per la preparazioone e distribuzione di TMR consente di introdurre inedite possibilit\ue0 di gestione dell'alimentazione. Circa 15 costruttori operanti su diversi concetti progettuali sono stati individuati. Tra le principali innovazioni vi \ue8 la possibilit\ue0 di variare la frequenza di distribuzione, modulare la razione, controllare gli orari di distribuzione, stimolare l'attivit\ue0 delle bovine, gestire l'ingestione di sostanza secca. Il lavoro presenta una panoramica sullo stato dell'arte della tecnologia e propone una classificazione dei robot per TMR

Cow welfare aspects in automatic milking systems

This paper deals with the aspects of cow welfare in automatic milking systems, using literature and observations from the Suitia research farm and the first Finnish private farms. The welfare of a cow is largely dependent on her stockperson, also in automatic milking systems. Cow traffic arrangements are decisive in the cow's welfare

The influences of basic physical properties of clayey silt and silty sand on its laboratory electrical resistivity value in loose and dense conditions

Non-destructive test which refers to electrical resistivity method is recently popular in engineering, environmental, archaeological and mining studies. Based on the previous studies, the results on electrical resistivity interpretation were often debated due to lack of clarification and evidences in quantitative perspective. Traditionally, most of the previous result interpretations were depending on qualitative point of view which is risky to produce unreliable outcomes. In order to minimise those problems, this study has performed a laboratory experiment on soil box electrical resistivity test which was supported by an additional basic physical properties of soil test like particle size distribution test (d), moisture content test (w), density test (ρbulk) and Atterberg limit test (LL, PL and PI). The test was performed to establish a series of electrical resistivity value (ERV) with different quantity of water content for clayey silt and silty sand in loose and dense condition. Apparently, the soil resistivity value was different under loose (L) and dense (C) conditions with moisture content and density variations (silty SAND = ERVLoose: 600 - 7300 Ωm & ERVDense: 490 - 7900 Ωm while Clayey SILT = ERVLoose: 13 - 7700 Ωm & ERVDense: 14 - 8400 Ωm) due to several factors. Moreover, correlation of moisture content (w) and density (ρbulk) due to the ERV was established as follows; Silty SAND: w(L) = 638.8ρ-0.418, w(D) = 1397.1ρ-0.574, ρBulk(L) = 2.6188e-6E-05ρ, ρBulk(D) = 4.099ρ-0.07 while Clayey SILT: w(L) = 109.98ρ-0.268, w(D) = 121.88ρ-0.363, ρBulk(L) = -0.111ln(ρ) + 1.7605, ρBulk(D) = 2.5991ρ-0.037 with determination coefficients, R2 that varied from 0.5643 – 0.8927. This study was successfully demonstrated that the consistency of ERV was greatly influenced by the variation of soil basic physical properties (d, w, ρBulk, LL, PL and PI). Finally, the reliability of the ERV result interpretation can be enhanced due to its ability to produce a meaningful outcome based on supported data from basic geotechnical properties

Design project 1968/9: management report

1. INTRODUCTION The design of an automatic assembly machine with versatility in application was undertaken as a group project by post-graduate students attending a course in production technology. This report summarises the work clone and conclusions reached during the project. In addition there are available five other reports which describe the designing of different areas of the machine in full detail (refs. 1 to 6). There is also the report of a technical survey which was carried out to investigate industrial requirements for automatic assembly. In order that this report may serve as a guide, a summary of the content of each of the other reports is included