Automatic Weighing for Dry Stock

Smialowski, Grzegorz

Automatic Weighing for Dry Stock

dc.contributor.advisor	Apperley, Mark
dc.contributor.author	Smialowski, Grzegorz
dc.date.accessioned	2014-08-01T04:39:52Z
dc.date.available	2021-02-16T21:27:58Z
dc.date.issued	2013
dc.date.updated	2013-05-16T04:48:10Z
dc.description.abstract	The aim of the research was to develop an accurate weight estimation algorithm for dry stock cattle using unsupervised walk-over equipment and to investigate the accuracy of the dairy cow algorithm for dry stock animals. Several customers and research organisations requested a suitable product for weighing dry stock, similar to the automatic weighing system for dairy cows. The development of the algorithm had to take into account the erratic behaviour of dry stock cattle. An additional requirement for the research was to improve cost effectiveness of the existing system, by removing the need for the lead-on platform. Data was collected from a series of dry stock herds, as they walked over the existing dairy cow walk-over weighing (WOW) platform, in either a paddock or a stockyard. All dry stock cattle were static weighed before walking over the WOW to obtain an accurate true weight of the animal. The weight estimations produced by the dairy cow algorithm were recorded and the raw load cell data was captured. The raw load cell data was then used to devise a new algorithm specifically for dry stock cattle. The new algorithm was tested against the collected load cell data from various herds. The dairy cow algorithm results were used to compare the accuracy of the existing algorithm on dry stock cattle. The new devised algorithm used a threshold to locate a rough start and end point for each walk-over event. The data between the initial start and end points was processed to locate the period which had the full weight of the cattle located on the weighing platform. The algorithm estimated the weight of the animal from the data between these points. It was found that the dairy cow algorithm was nearing the required accuracy, but was not able to determine weights for the majority of the animals. The new algorithm devised for dry stock cattle was unable to obtain an improvement in accuracy, but was able to estimate weights for a greater proportion of the cattle. Additionally the new algorithm was successful in eliminating the need for the lead-on platform for detecting animals.
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.citation	Smialowski, G. (2013). Automatic Weighing for Dry Stock (Thesis, Master of Science (MSc)). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/8763	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10289/8763
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher	University of Waikato
dc.rights	All items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
dc.subject	weighing
dc.subject	cattle
dc.subject	walk over
dc.subject	beef
dc.subject	drystock
dc.subject	automated
dc.title	Automatic Weighing for Dry Stock
dc.type	Thesis	en_NZ
pubs.place-of-publication	Hamilton, New Zealand	en_NZ
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Waikato
thesis.degree.level	Masters
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)