RFID-Enabled Smart Farming Application for Livestock Management

Summary

A software product company focused on agriculture wanted a smart solution to make identifying and handling livestock easier, with wireless collection of livestock data straight from the field. INNERLUXES developed an application that integrates an RFID handheld scanner with a palmtop device over Bluetooth, giving the company the advantages of RFID recognition, wireless data transmission, and integration.

About the Client

The Client is a European software product company that focuses on the agricultural sector and animal management solutions based on radio frequency identification (RFID) and internet technologies.

The Challenge

The Client decided to create a smart solution offering tools for livestock management to make it easier to identify and handle animals. The main function had to be wireless collection of livestock data straight from the field, using an RFID scanner and a palmtop device to transmit information via Bluetooth. The Client turned to INNERLUXES to develop an application enabling effective integration between the RFID scanner and the palmtop device.

The Solution

INNERLUXES developed a smart solution that gives the Client the advantages of RFID recognition, wireless data transmission, and integration. To facilitate data gathering, the process is organized as follows:

• An RFID tag (microchip) is attached to an animal's ear.
• Farmers scan the tags with an RFID handheld scanner.
• The data is wirelessly transmitted to the palmtop device.

The transmitted data covers parameters about the tracked animals: changes in weight and location, pedigree, animal-specific information, treatment codes, estimated birthing time, and user management data. The application UI also includes a health database, an official registry, and robotic milking. The solution supports simultaneous data collection and recording.

The Results

• The Client received a smart solution that facilitates animal monitoring and identification and management of various farm activities.
• The RFID tags and scanners help reduce the time spent on data gathering and processing.
• The system is mainly used on livestock and dairy farms but can be tailored to all kinds of livestock production, and was nominated for a rural innovation award.

Technologies and Tools

C++, C#/.NET, Bluetooth API, WinAPI, COM.