Future farms may equip cows with smart gadgets that track their activities, monitor their health vitals, and look for indicators of disease to enhance the quality of the final product.
Although gadgets exist to monitor the health of each cow and confine them to certain locations, these technologies rely on chemical batteries.
China’s scientists have devised a wearable device for cows that harnesses the kinetic energy produced by all of their movements, even the smallest ones, to power itself.
Cows will wear tiny, sensor-equipped devices around their ankles and necks in the team’s smart ranch concept. These devices will be charged by the cows’ normal ranch activities, such as eating grass and walking around.
Co-author Yajia Pan, an energy researcher at Southwest Jiaotong University, stated, “There is a significant quantity of kinetic energy that can be captured from the daily movements of cattle, including walking, running, and even neck movement.”
This energy is stored in a lithium battery, which is then utilized to power the device.
Co-author Zutao Zhang, an energy researcher at China’s Southwest Jiaotong University, explains, “Our kinetic energy harvester specifically captures the kinetic energy of weak motion.”
The design of the team’s wearable is unique because it incorporates a motion enhancement system that employs magnets and a pendulum to amplify the cows’ minor movements.
Zhang stated, ‘On a ranch, monitoring environmental and health information of cattle can aid in disease prevention and enhance the efficiency of pasture breeding and management.
He continued, “This information may include oxygen concentration, air temperature and humidity, the quantity of exercise, reproductive cycles, disease, and milk production.”
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal iScience, are optimistic that this type of technology can be included in a bigger effort to enhance global food systems.
He stated, “With the growth of 5G technology and the Internet of Things, the entire industrial chain of the food system is more intelligent and transparent.”
Zhang and his colleagues tested the devices on humans and discovered that a short jog was sufficient to power the device’s temperature measurement.
Future applications are anticipated in sports monitoring, healthcare, smart homes, and the building of human wireless sensor networks, according to the researchers.
‘Kinetic energy is ubiquitous in the environment,’ said Zhang. ‘The swaying of leaves in the wind, the movement of people and animals, the undulation of waves, and the spinning of the globe all contain a great deal of kinetic energy.’ We must not allow this energy to go to waste.
