Joint Solution Brief

BACKGROUND & CHALLENGES

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports over a billion cattle globally, necessitating substantial resources for infrastructure, labor, and medical supplies. Monitoring cattle health efficiently to enhance wellbeing, reduce sudden death risks, and to minimize human labor and farmer losses has been a historical challenge. This issue is particularly acute in Japan, famed for high-quality beef but severely grappling with labor shortages and high costs.

Desamis, a leading Japanese agriculture-tech solutions provider, addresses these problems today with its U-motion sensor and platform. U-motion is a wearable sensor that can monitor cow behavior, particularly if a cow has difficulty standing. This helps alert about estrus events and detect diseases that could lead to accidents or death. The system not only monitors the wellbeing of the cattle, but it also mitigates the economic loss for farms.

To extend battery life and lower the device cost, Desamis’ U-motion sensors employ Bluetooth for communication. However, collecting real-time data reliably and efficiently from numerous sensors across large, wireless-signal-blocking farms (often with both indoor and outdoor areas) proved to be extremely challenging.

As a result of Macnica’s recommendation and support, Desamis tested Cassia’s X2000 Bluetooth gateway, finding it perfectly suited for their needs. The partnership between Desamis, Macnica, and Cassia led to a positive reception from multiple Japanese farms and a successful commercial deployment of the X2000 for the U-motion sensor data collection. Here’s a more detailed introduction to the solution and its outcomes.

 

SOLUTION

 

The Desamis cattle health monitoring solution, powered by Cassia gateways, includes:

  1. U-motion Sensor: A wearable Bluetooth device attached to a cow’s neck or ear, collecting pressure and acceleration data.
  2. U-motion Application Software Platform: This platform records and analyzes data from the U-motion sensors, sending alerts to farmers when abnormality is detected. It’s accessible remotely via smartphones and PCs.
  3. Cassia X2000 Enterprise Grade Bluetooth Gateway: This long-range gateway gathers real-time data from multiple U-motion sensors and sends it to the U-motion platform for analysis and alert functions. The X2000 extends Bluetooth connectivity up to 400m for Bluetooth 4 and 1km for Bluetooth 5 in open space line of sight. In bi-directional mode, it can connect with up to 40 devices; in broadcast mode, it can receive data from hundreds of devices. The X2000 supports Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Cellular backhaul. It also supports edge computing, and third-party app installation. The X2000 is also empowered by Cassia’s proprietary Bluetooth roaming and location tracking technologies. Moreover, the X2000’s rugged, weatherproof design (IP66-rated) suits both indoor and outdoor deployment, making it ideal for harsh environments on large farms.

The monitoring covers three areas: dairy production, cattle fattening, and breeding.

The integration of U-motion sensors, the U-motion software platform, and Cassia X2000 gateways facilitates seamless, easy, and effective continuous cattle health monitoring in farm environments.

 

 

RESULTS AND BENEFITS

 

In summary, the cattle monitoring solution, designed by Desamis and enabled by Cassia Networks, facilitated continuous cattle health monitoring in even the most challenging farm environments, yielding impressive results.

The deployment of the X2000 offered Desamis several technical and operational benefits:

  1. Reliable and Secure Connectivity: Multiple long-range X2000 gateways ensured seamless Bluetooth coverage across the farm, providing reliable and secure connections for numerous U-motion sensors attached to the cows.
  2. Ease of Deployment and Management: The X2000 allowed for straightforward deployment and management. Its edge processing capabilities also simplified the implementation of custom applications on the X2000, further enhancing management and deployment ease.
  3. Durability in Harsh and Noisy Environments: Built for both indoor and outdoor use, the X2000 could withstand harsh farm weather conditions. Its Pure Scan feature improved scanning capabilities, making it ideal for high-noise environments and situations with numerous sensors.
  4. Cost Reduction: The X2000’s long communication range and one-to-many connectivity support resulted in having to deploy fewer gateways to cover a large farm area. This significantly reduced equipment, deployment, and maintenance costs.

 

In addition, the end users, farmers, benefit from the solution in multiple ways. Most importantly, the continuous cattle health monitoring and automated alert functions allow for real-time visibility into the health status of their cattle, enabling prompt and informed action when necessary. This real-time-monitoring-and-alert system serves as the foundation for all the following benefits:

  1. Enhanced Cattle Wellbeing: By reducing illness and mortality rates among cows, the overall wellbeing of the cattle is significantly improved.
  2. Minimized Costs: The solution helps to decrease medical treatment expenses and mitigate milk yield losses.
  3. Preparedness for Calving: The system enables farmers to be ready for calving at any moment, reducing potential complications.
  4. Improved Productivity and Yield: The solution significantly enhances farm productivity and yield, contributing to increased profitability.
  5. Reduced Labor and Labor Costs: By automating numerous processes, the solution greatly reduces the need for manual labor, thereby cutting labor costs.
  6. Simplified Information Management: The solution streamlines data collection and analysis, simplifying information management and making decision-making more efficient.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

The partnership between Desamis, Macnica, and Cassia Networks has brought a transformative change to cattle health monitoring in Japan. Utilizing the sophisticated capabilities of the U-motion® system in conjunction with the Cassia X2000 gateway, cattle farmers can now safeguard the health and productivity of their herds, while mitigating risks associated with diseases and reproductive issues. Furthermore, this collaboration has significantly cut labor costs and economic losses on cattle farms. This case study underscores the immense potential of IoT solutions in revolutionizing traditional farming practices and promoting animal welfare.

 

For more information about Desamis, https://www.desamis.co.jp.

For more information on Macnica, visit: https://www.macnica.com

For more information about Cassia Networks, visit www.cassianetworks.com.

 

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