Precision Livestock Management: Cattle Monitoring and Herding Using Cooperative Drones

The resources for skilled laborers for monitoring and moving animals is dwindling within the US livestock industry. Recent advances in coordinated control of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and photogrammetry have enabled new methods for monitoring unconfined cattle. The cost of these new technologies and the complexity of implementation are a challenge towards adoption as margins are small and producers have limited time to learn complex systems. The overarching objective of this work is advancing the understanding of the UAS and beef cattle interaction in pasture and collect physiological measurements. We propose four specific objectives: 1) Develop a new decentralized coordinately control technique that implements situational awareness and RTK-level GNSS positioning to allow multiple UAS to operate within close proximity without the need for an observer UAS; 2) Develop vison based system for drones to monitor fence lines and gates; 3) validate remotely sensed physical measurements of cattle volume as a proxy for mass; and 4) develop an economic model to appropriately size UAS technology to beef cattle operations. We will accomplish these objectives using an interdisciplinary approach the integrates engineering, animal science, and economics. Graduate and undergraduate trainees supported by the project will be co-advised across two or more disciplines to enhance their experience. The technical outcomes of this work will be: 1) a novel multi-agent control technique for semi-autonomous interaction with livestock and gates; 2) established UAS beef cattle reaction response; 3) quantification of accuracy of UAS based cattle volume measurements; and 4) UAS economic decision aids.