Virtual Fence IC Design

The goal of the project is to design a virtual fence system that keeps cattle in an enclosed area. The system consists of posts along the perimeter and low weight and power devices on the cattle that delivers high voltage stimulus if cattle are near the perimeter.

=Problem Definition= Now the current limitations are  Expensive, complex, and Bulky  GPS-based (not always reliable and energy hungry)Require getting the perimeter loaded onto eachdevice (intensive effort and/or requires internetconnection)  Strong/heavy energy source must be on animal may cause stress on animals not knowing where the perimeter is  May require monthly subscription

Background
We used to use a barbed wire fence as a border to restrict the movement of cow. But the barbed wire cost is very high and not easy to move, it may injure animals, And requires regular maintenance. Also the rancher cannot check the position and status of the cow at any time. He must go to the farm on his own to see if the cow is out of range.

Deliverables
Permanent Beacons Know their own position  Geolocate Cows and Fence Line Mobile Beacons  Markers for Fence Line Nose Clip  Buzz  Zap  Long life User Interface  A user interface for the rancher

Specifications
Nanotron Devices  operates at 2.4 GHz (Zigbee)  3.3 V, 120 mA  Low Power Options

  

=Design Considerations= We are developing a simplified,low-cost approach to virtual fencing that leverages animal physiology and behavior, proximity beacons, and lightweight electronic nose clips to manage cattle distribution.

 

 

Trilateration
It's a method to determine the location of a movable vehicle or stationary point in space using multiple ranges between the point and multiple spatially-separated known locations.By measuring the distance between the unknown point and the three known points, and taking the three known points as the center of the circle and the distance from the unknown point as the radius, we draw the circle,the three circles intersect and produce only one intersection point, so we can know the coordinates of our unknown points.

The beacons can be put at any position,and we can get the location of these base beacons by GPS, add them into our code, and then the GPS data is no longer required in our project.

This method allows for error from: Exact location of receiver <li>Distance from receiver

 

Nanotron Program
 

PCB
<li> Version1   <li> Version2   <li> Version3  

=Project Learning=

 

=Field Test= We need to do some field tests to check if our locating system is worked.

First Field Test
<li> We want to see if we could just locate a single target, we realize that 2.4GHz signal were effected by water since the ground were wet. We did not get any signal until we held each nanotron device high. Once we did that, we did have a successful locating system. <li> We started at know locations using 100 meter tapes such as (32, 23) and calculated the location as (32.2, 22.9). VERY close! <li> After a few confirmation tests like that, we went to an unknown location and came up with this. The blue dot is our location and the red stars are our beacons. The circles visualize the distance from the individual beacon to the point of interest.

<li>  

Second Field Test
<li> we use 3 beacons​ and 1 "cow"​ <li> Coax Cable and high gain antennae to improve range​ <li>   <li>   <li>  

Third Field Test
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=Final Design=

=Team Members=

=Additional Documentation=

Project Schedule



Meeting Minutes



Presentations



Client Interview