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EP-4734757-A1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREVENTING UNFAIR STIMULUS APPLICATION

EP4734757A1EP 4734757 A1EP4734757 A1EP 4734757A1EP-4734757-A1

Abstract

This invention relates to a system and method for managing wearable devices for animals, specifically for detecting and disabling these devices when they apply excessive or inappropriate stimuli. The devices are capable of applying stimuli to the animals for the purpose of guidance of an animals' location or behaviour based on a command. However, there are problems with the use of such devices, as they can malfunction or be misused, leading to harm or distress to the animals. To address this issue, one example of the invention provides a system and method for detecting when a number of wearable devices have exceeded a predetermined threshold of stimulus application. If detected the system pauses the command on all devices in the group, thereby preventing any further stimuli to any animal. This improves animal welfare and promotes ethical treatment of animals.

Inventors

  • Hermansson-Scott, Marlo
  • Nieuwenhuizen, Peter
  • COPP, Devon

Assignees

  • Halter USA Inc

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230629

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A system comprising: a group of wearable devices for a group of animals, each device comprising: o one or more stimulus output components operable to apply stimulus comprising: one or more types, one or more energy intensities; o animal guidance components operable to: receive or determine a command operable to enable, change or disable operation of one or more stimulus output components to guide animals based on the received or determined command; at least one controller configured to: o determine applied stimulus data from at least one device in the group of devices; o determine a first subgroup of one or more wearable devices where the applied stimulus data has exceeded a threshold; then o communicate a command, to the group or a second subgroup of one or more wearable devices in the group of wearable devices, operable to change or disable one or more stimulus output components.
  2. 2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: o determine the applied stimulus data has exceeded a threshold for the first subgroup of one or more wearable devices; then o determine the first subgroup comprises at least a threshold amount of wearable devices; then o communicate a command, to the second subgroup of one or more wearable devices in the group of wearable devices, operable to change or disable one or more stimulus output components.
  3. 3. The system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the second subgroup comprises a selection of one or more devices from the group based on applied stimulus data indicative of where the applied stimulus data has not exceeded a threshold.
  4. 4. The system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the threshold to determine the applied stimulus data has exceeded a threshold for a first subgroup of one or more wearable devices comprises a threshold unique to at least one or more wearable devices in the group.
  5. 5. The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the applied stimulus data comprises one or more of: a quantity of output stimulus, a frequency of output stimulus, a type of output stimulus, a measure of output energy intensity over a time period, a count of stimulus applied, a quantity of output stimulus comprising shocks applied, location of animal during stimulus application based on the animal guidance components comprising one or more sensors adapted to measure geoposition, time of stimulus application, a count of the number of times the device has implemented a lockout, where the lockout is implemented when the device has applied a predetermined number of output stimuli and is subsequently locked out from applying further stimuli, and a measure of animal behaviour to elicit stimulus based on the animal guidance components.
  6. 6. The system of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the applied stimulus data comprises historic data.
  7. 7. The system of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the applied stimulus data comprises data over a fixed time period.
  8. 8. The system of any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the threshold amount of wearable devices comprises one or more of: a quantity of wearable devices in the group of wearable devices, a ratio of wearable devices in the group of wearable devices.
  9. 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the ratio of wearable devices comprises between 1 % and 99% of the group.
  10. 10. The system of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the system further comprises a wireless mesh comprising: a wireless transceiver component in a central hub; a wireless transceiver component in each device in the group of wearable devices and configured to transmit to and receive data from devices in the group of devices and/or the central hub; wherein the controller: is a component of the central hub, is one or more of the wearable devices in the group of wearable devices, and/or is a distributed controller comprising a component of both the central hub and one or more of the wearable devices in the group of wearable devices.
  11. 11 . The system of claim 10, wherein the wireless transceiver components are adapted to communicate by one or more of multicast; LoRa, Bluetooth, WiFi, Cellular, and/or Zigbee.
  12. 12. The system of any one of claims 1 to 11 , wherein the stimulus output components comprise one or more devices adapted to output of one or more of vibration, sound, and/or shock stimulus to thereby elicit a behavioural response from the animal.
  13. 13. The system of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the applied stimulus data has exceeded a threshold for the first subgroup of one or more wearable devices when the stimulus output component comprises a shock delivery device the threshold is five total number of shocks delivered.
  14. 14. The system of any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the controller communicates a command to the second subgroup when any one of: the first subgroup comprises at least a group threshold number of devices; or the first subgroup comprises at least a group threshold of at least 20% of the group. the first subgroup comprises at least 40 wearable devices.
  15. 15. The system of any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the command is communicated to the second subgroup of one or more wearable devices in the group of wearable devices, wherein the command is operable to disable one or more stimulus output components for a predetermined time period.
  16. 16. The system of any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the system further comprises a user device configured to receive and display notifications, and the controller is further configured to: send a notification to the user device when a command is communicated to a second subgroup of one or more wearable devices in the group of wearable devices, operable to change or disable one or more stimulus output components; receive a user command on the user device to change or enable one or more stimulus output components; then: communicate the change or enable command, to the first subgroup, second subgroup, or group one or more wearable devices.
  17. 17. The system of any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the applied stimulus data comprises data collected from one or more of: within a predefined area, within a predefined distance from a geopoint, within a predefined proximity to a predefined number of wearable devices in the group, within a time period.
  18. 18. The system of any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the animal guidance components are further configured to receive an animal command comprising: a constraint within a virtual paddock, or a shift to a location.
  19. 19. The system of any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein changing one or more stimulus output components comprises a change to the intensity of a stimulus type or a change in stimulus type.
  20. 20. The system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the first subgroup is: a group of wearable devices within the second subgroup; or one or more wearable devices configured to: determine the applied stimulus data has exceeded a threshold; then change or disable one or more stimulus output components on that one or more devices.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREVENTING UNFAIR STIMULUS APPLICATION The present invention relates to a system and method for preventing wearable devices configured to virtually fence and shift animals from applying unfair stimuli to animals, and more particularly, a system and method to determine stimuli applied to a few animals in a group and update the stimulus application of all wearable devices in the group. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system, a method and a computer program product for detecting and disabling wearable devices for a group of animals. Wearable devices for animals are known in the art. Such devices may be used for various purposes, such as virtual fencing, shifting, training, tracking, monitoring, or controlling the behaviour of animals. For example, some devices may apply stimuli, such as electric shocks, vibrations, sounds, or lights, to the animals in response to certain commands or conditions. The stimuli may be intended to reinforce, encourage, or discourage certain behaviours of the animals. However, there are some problems associated with the use of such devices. For example, some devices may malfunction or be misused, resulting in unfair stimuli being applied to the animals. This may cause confusion, distress, or harm to the animals. Therefore, there is a need for an improved system, a method and a computer program product for improving stimulus application to a group of animals that can overcome or mitigate the above-mentioned problems. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that overcomes or at least partially ameliorates some of the abovementioned disadvantages or which at least provides the public with a useful choice. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a first aspect the invention broadly relates to a system for sending guidance commands and disabling wearable devices for a group of animals, comprising: a wireless transmitter for sending a command to a group of devices, each device comprising a stimulus device capable of stimulating animals to guide them according to the received command; a wireless receiver for receiving wireless information relating to the stimulus applied to each animal from each device from the group of devices; a controller configured to determine when a predetermined percentage of the group of devices has exceeded a predetermined threshold of stimulus applied to the animal; and pause the command on all devices in the group thereby preventing any further stimuli to any animal. In another aspect the invention broadly relates to a system for detecting and disabling wearable devices for a group of animals, comprising: a wearable device for each animal in the group, the device comprising a stimulus device adapted to apply a stimulus to the animal, where each device is configured to report information relating to stimulus applied to the animal; a detection device configured to detect when an amount of animals within the group have met a number of applied stimuli with a time period and/or within a location, and trigger an event; a disablement device configured to receive the event and disable any further stimulus from being applied. In one embodiment, the disablement device sends a message to the devices to disable any further stimulus from being applied. In another aspect the invention broadly relates to a method for detecting and preemptively disabling devices worn by a group of animals, the devices configured to receive a command configured to apply stimulus to the animals to guide the animals to a location, comprising: detecting when a predetermined percentage of devices within the group, which have received the same command, have applied more stimulus than a threshold; triggering an event in response to the detection; sending a message to disable the devices in the affected group of animals in response to the event, thereby preventing any further stimuli. In another aspect the invention broadly relates to a computer program product for detecting and preemptively disabling devices for a group of animals having the same active command, comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising: program code for detecting when a predetermined percentage of animals within a group with the same active command are have reached a stimulus application threshold; program code for triggering an event in response to the detection; program code for sending a message to disable stimulus application by devices with said active command in response to the event. In another aspect the invention broadly relates to a method of animal welfare protection for an animal guidance wearable device, the device adapted to receive a guidance command and guide animals, the method comprising the steps of: detecting an event where an over representation of the devices which received the command have applied over a threshold of st