A software tool for the automatic and real-time analysis of cow velocity data in free-stall barns: The case study of oestrus detection from Ultra-Wide-Band data

The increase in the design and utilisation of real-time location systems has produced a huge amount of data to be handled in real time. As a consequence, challenges still exist in improving the analysis process of data streams by designing new tools. In this context, a software tool for automatic and real-time analysis of cow velocity data acquired by an ultra-wide band real-time location system (UWB RTLS) in a free-stall barn was designed and developed. A functionality implemented in this software determined the instant velocity of each cow over time, which was represented through an interactive graph (CowVelocityGraph). Feasibility of the software tools for the visualisation and analysis of UWB data was assessed. A use case of this software tool was carried out to verify its suitability to acquire useful information related to the occurrence of cow's oestrus, which is the case study of this research. The results showed that a pattern, related to the behaviour of the cow analysed, could be identified in CowVelocityGraph when the state of oestrus occurred, allowing for visualisation and analysis of UWB data. The software developed in this study provides the user with the ability to work in real time by acquiring the RTLS data updated at short time intervals, greatly exploiting the UWB RTLS potentialities. Further tests need to be repeated in different farming conditions, on a significant number of cows. On a broader perspective, this study addressed the lack of analysis tools for data streams acquired in livestock houses. (C) 2017 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.