Robotic rotational grazing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11617345-B2
Application number	US-201916568469-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2019
Priority date	Oct 31, 2018
Publication date	Apr 4, 2023
Grant date	Apr 4, 2023

Abstract

A robotically controlled system including a fence enclosure that can move and/or shape-shift itself autonomously and automatically without manual intervention. The system includes coils of electric fence wire that are spring-loaded or otherwise tensioned so that the length of electric fence wire between each post robot is able to contract or expand as the system of robots adapts to optimize the shape of the fence enclosure as the entire enclosure is moved by the robots around a field or other grazing pasture on an area of land.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system of autonomously and automatically moving robot machines connected together to form a fence enclosure to contain grazing animals therewithin, comprising:
a plurality of robot machines, each including:
an electronic controller;
a motor assembly controlled by the electronic controller;
a motorized locomotion assembly powered by the motor assembly to cause the robot machine to move in coordination with others of the robot machines to maintain the fence enclosure from one grazing location to another,
each of the robot machines including a wireless transceiver such that the respective electronic controller is configured to communicate with a remote wireless transceiver so that the plurality of robot machines mutually coordinate their respective movements according to a grazing optimization algorithm to move synchronously to different grazing locations on an area of land and to collectively arrange themselves autonomously to form a new fence enclosure having the same or a different configuration from the fence enclosure, the grazing optimization algorithm being configured to automatically determine optimum positions and locations of the robot machines and areas to form fence enclosures on a plot of land,
at least one of the robot machines having an imaging sensor configured to detect information about one or more of the grazing animals within the fence enclosure,
the electronic controller of the at least one of the robot machines being configured to communicate a signal indicating that the one or more of the grazing animals has moved outside or beyond the fence enclosure as detected by the imaging sensor,
the electronic controller of the at least one of the robot machines being configured to use a pattern recognition or anomaly detection algorithm to automatically recognize that one or more of the grazing animals is about to move or has moved beyond the perimeter of the fence enclosure and to track those of the animals that continually approach a boundary of the fence enclosure or one of the robot machines to send information regarding those tracked animals,
each of the robot machines including an actuator coupled to a support, the electronic controller being configured to change a vertical angle of the support by which a fence wire is supported to adjust a position of the fence wire above a ground surface of an area of land and to prevent the fence wire from contacting the ground surface while one or more of the robot machines are moving the fence enclosure from one location to another.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the remote wireless transceiver is a wireless transceiver of one of the robot machines or a remote controller device.

3. The system of claim 2 , the remote controller device being configured to communicate a perimeter shape of the configuration of the fence enclosure.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the remote controller device is configured to determine a duration of time within which the area of land is to be grazed by the grazing animals and to determine a path and a movement timing of each of the robot machines to carry out rotational grazing of the area of land.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the configuration includes topographical elevation information of the area of land.

6. The system of claim 1 , at least one of the robot machines being configured to communicate wirelessly with a sensor secured to at least one of the grazing animals and to communicate data received or based on from an output of the sensor to the remote wireless transceiver or a remote controller device.

7. The system of claim 1 , each of the robot machines including a solar panel and a battery recharged by the solar panel and providing power for the motor assembly, the electronic controller, and an electric wire loop of the fence enclosure.

8. The system of claim 1 , each of the robot machines including a wire tensioner configured to coil up the fence wire received by the each of the robot machines to maintain a tension on the fence wire and keep the fence wire taut around the entire fence enclosure, including as the robot machines traverse the area of land.

9. The system of claim 1 , at least one robot machine in the plurality of robot machines being coupled to a fence post forming part of a boundary of the fence enclosure.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one robot machine is detachable from its respective fence post without compromising the boundary of the fence enclosure.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one robot machine is configured to swing around its respective fence post without compromising the boundary of the fence enclosure.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the fence post includes one or more adjustable sections for adjusting the fence enclosure to allow access to the grazing animals.

13. The system of claim 12 , each of the robot machines including a wireless transceiver such that the electronic controller is configured to communicate with one or more helper robots for providing the helper robots access to the grazing animals, at least one of the one or more helper robots having a generally flat top and a height configured to permit the at least one helper robot to slip under the fence enclosure.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein each fence post is configured to engage with an entrance of an enclosed area thus allowing the grazing animals to move from the fenced enclosure to the enclosed area.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the electronic controller is configured to release tension in a fence wire connected to an engaged fence post.

16. The system of claim 1 , each of the robot machines including a speaker and the electronic controller configured to cause the speaker to produce a sound for herding the grazing animals before the robot machine moves in coordination with others of the robot machines, wherein the sound is a learned sound that the grazing animals respond to within an auditory range of the grazing animals, the learned sound including a sound of a person's voice, the electronic controllers of the robot machines being configured to coordinate the sound produced by the speaker of each respective one of the robot machines to move in a direction guided by the coordinated sound.

17. The system of claim 6 , wherein a haptic device is secured to the at least one grazing animal and is configured to emit haptic signals thereto to cause the animal to move to a new location.

18. The system of claim 1 , responsive to determining that one of the animals has escaped the fence enclosure, the electronic controller of at least one of the robot machines being configured to raise an alert indicating a position or last known position of the escaped animal.

19. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a computer vision algorithm configured to identify a shaded area, the electronic controller of the at least one of the robot machines being configured to guide the grazing animals toward an identified the shaded area.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic controller of at least one of the robot machines is configured to determine that the at least one of the robot machines has toppled over, and, responsive thereto, send an alarm indicating that the at least one of the robot machines has toppled over.

Assignees

• Underground Agriculture Company Llc
• Dawn Equipment Company

Inventors

• Bassett Joseph D

Classifications

• G05D1/692

  involving a plurality of disparate vehicles · CPC title

• G05D1/247

  using signals provided by artificial sources external to the vehicle, e.g. navigation beacons · CPC title

• G05D1/249

  from positioning sensors located off-board the vehicle, e.g. from cameras · CPC title

• E04H17/133

  the wire being tensioned by one or more winders · CPC title

• A01K1/105 Primary

  Movable feed barriers · CPC title