CATTLETECH CAPSTONE
I worked with my team to build CattleTECH, a low cost visibility and virtual tethering solution for small scale organic farmers in Thailand.
My role
I was the PM for this project. I also designed, built and tested the arduino interface, created collar prototypes and conducted on-site user interviews.
Skills
Timeline
Location
Arduino software and hardware
Project Manager
Materials Selection
CAD Modelling
6 months
Client
Sisaket, Thailand
Raitong Organics
Team
Freesoul El Shabazz-Thompson
Henry Moskal
Ieva Stakvilivicute
Maddie Hong
The Problem
Cattle roaming into the road are the highest cause of vehicular and motorcycle accidents in Thailand.
A two-pronged approach
Visibility
On site, we realized that farmers herd cattle in the roads at dawn and dusk in addition to stray cattle.
We sourced lost cost, reflective materials to increase the visibility of cattle walking on the road.
Geofencing
"Fencing" to Thai farmers means piercing and tethering cattle to a tree or stake by the nose. This often comes loose and traditional fences can't withstand monsoons.
We designed a virtual fencing system to integrate into the wearable visibility device.
Hardware
I worked on the hardware team to custom print housing and program a 433MHz Feather M0 LoRa to have the capability of locational positioning and stimulating feedback of sound, vibration and noise.
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Collar
The collar uses a bent aluminum core and injection molded foam to support a water-resistant exterior and electronics housing. It sits on Zebu cattle's hump and is visible from 360º.
Solar- Powered Post
The post is central to the positioning-system and communicates with the collars. The ballast box yields easy transportation, spring keeps the cattle from damaging the post, and solar panel maintains electronic charge.
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The solution!
The solar-powered post sends a signal to each cattle's collar. If the signal weakens below a certain threshold, a sound is emitted. If it continues to weaken, a vibration and then shock is emitted. We didn't equip/test the shock for safety reasons. The post can be set on "contain" or "repel" depending on the farmers' objective.
Client visit
My team with our client's family.
Conducting interviews with local Thai farmers.
Prototype testing at a local farm in Illinois.
Getting the prototype on is half the challenge.
We discovered many new painpoints after the site-visit. For example, this is why the post has a 'repel' function, in order to restrain cattle from eating another farmer's crops.
Arduino 433MHz is long range, but not as sensitive on the rai (1/3 acre) scale.
Understanding environmental factors (heat, resources), and socio-cultural factors (fencing, roads, neighbors) were key to an effective solution.
Infinite knowledge on cow anatomy, matriarch, routines, etc.