The Internet of Pigs is set to fly

General Alert (GA), producers of sensors and monitoring technology on farms, is working with Internet of Things (IoT) company 1248 to improve the welfare of pigs, poultry and other livestock and provide early warning of transmitted diseases.

GA is using 1248’s new Geras IoT database and publishing solution to collect data from multiple sensors including temperature, drinking water flow and animal feed rate, humidity, CO2 concentration, ammonia and pH. GA even uses in-vivo RFID and temperature tags planted in pigs, effectively turning a pig into a ‘thing’ on the Internet of Things.

This will be the time agricultural environments and the behaviour of animals have been measured on this scale and in such detail, to manage productivity, health and wellbeing and improve operational efficiency. And by monitoring on a national and international level, the technology will be able to provide early warning of diseases such as foot-and-mouth, which can cause devastating livestock and financial loss.

Like most Internet of Things solutions, the GA system uses a very large number of sensors, each collecting thousands or millions of readings via the mobile phone network or internet, which need to be stored and queried to provide meaningful and useful information. For example, a change in drinking behaviour could indicate illness or source of animal stress that can be resolved quickly.

“Rising population and standards of living are increasing the pressure on food-animal production, which leads to an increased requirement to manage animal productivity, health and wellbeing effectively,” said Chris Dodge, IT director at General Alert. “Sensors, electronics and communications technologies have reached a price point that is making it possible to deploy IoT systems that deliver real commercial benefit and Geras is a core building block of our solution. We are already working closely with veterinary, agricultural research and farm management companies and looking to expand the range of applications.”

Geras is a generic, scalable IoT service – a piece of infrastructure which solves a common IoT problem based on open standards. It accepts data trickling in from many devices, stores it and then allows applications to quickly answer high-level questions from it.

“Geras is designed to allow companies like General Alert to focus on what they do best – in this case, developing and deploying livestock technology,” said Pilgrim Beart, CEO at 1248. “Companies looking to rapidly harness the opportunities presented by the Internet of Things need to partner with experienced providers who understand how to build scalable architectures and are committed to open standards.”

As GA’s Chris Dodge added: “1248’s founders are well known in the IoT area, with a track record of successful companies, including sensor related work, which gave us the confidence to base aspects of our infrastructure on Geras.”

RECENT ARTICLES

Get a US$50 Amazon voucher for sharing your IoT brand knowledge

Posted on: March 28, 2024

We want to know what you know about the IoT space. Just 3 minutes could earn you a US$50 Amazon digital gift card!

Read more

Enhance EV charging performance with cellular connectivity

Posted on: March 28, 2024

Electric vehicles (EVs) are steadily growing their market share at the expense of internal combustion engine vehicles. The growth is fuelled by several factors. Perhaps most importantly, prices for EVs have started to drop as competition in the industry is intensifying. New players and models are emerging, prompting several established EV makers to lower their

Read more
FEATURED IoT STORIES

What is IoT? A Beginner’s Guide

Posted on: April 5, 2023

What is IoT? IoT, or the Internet of Things, refers to the connection of everyday objects, or “things,” to the internet, allowing them to collect, transmit, and share data. This interconnected network of devices transforms previously “dumb” objects, such as toasters or security cameras, into smart devices that can interact with each other and their

Read more

The IoT Adoption Boom – Everything You Need to Know

Posted on: September 28, 2022

In an age when we seem to go through technology boom after technology boom, it’s hard to imagine one sticking out. However, IoT adoption, or the Internet of Things adoption, is leading the charge to dominate the next decade’s discussion around business IT. Below, we’ll discuss the current boom, what’s driving it, where it’s going,

Read more

9 IoT applications that will change everything

Posted on: September 1, 2021

Whether you are a future-minded CEO, tech-driven CEO or IT leader, you’ve come across the term IoT before. It’s often used alongside superlatives regarding how it will revolutionize the way you work, play, and live. But is it just another buzzword, or is it the as-promised technological holy grail? The truth is that Internet of

Read more

Which IoT Platform 2021? IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide

Posted on: August 30, 2021

There are several different parts in a complete IoT solution, all of which must work together to get the result needed, write IoT Now Enterprise Buyers’ Guide – Which IoT Platform 2021? authors Robin Duke-Woolley, the CEO and Bill Ingle, a senior analyst, at Beecham Research. Figure 1 shows these parts and, although not all

Read more

CAT-M1 vs NB-IoT – examining the real differences

Posted on: June 21, 2021

As industry players look to provide the next generation of IoT connectivity, two different standards have emerged under release 13 of 3GPP – CAT-M1 and NB-IoT.

Read more

IoT and home automation: What does the future hold?

Posted on: June 10, 2020

Once a dream, home automation using iot is slowly but steadily becoming a part of daily lives around the world. In fact, it is believed that the global market for smart home automation will reach $40 billion by 2020.

Read more

5 challenges still facing the Internet of Things

Posted on: June 3, 2020

The Internet of Things (IoT) has quickly become a huge part of how people live, communicate and do business. All around the world, web-enabled devices are turning our world into a more switched-on place to live.

Read more