When Chinese Scientists Create Special ‘Smartwatches’ for Cows To Track Their Health, Movement

Earlier this year, India suffered a huge lumpy skin disease outbreak that took the lives of nearly 1 lakh cows across the country. Witnessing these animals' suffering was heart-wrenching in its own right, but the incident also resulted in huge losses for dairy farmers owing to the considerable reduction in milk production. And while there's no way to cure lumpy pox, the sooner cattle know something is wrong, the sooner they can treat the animals. In such cases, tracking the cow's movement — or the lack thereof — could help farmers detect signs of disease and distress early. Transforming this very idea into reality, Chinese researchers have developed a smartwatch for cows that can help monitor their health, and location. The new device, created by the team from Southwest University in China, can be worn around the cow's necks and ankles, and employed to collect vital information on cows. "Monitoring environmental and health information of cattle can help prevent diseases and improve the efficiency of pasture breeding and management," said Zutao Zhang, co-author of the study. It can give valuable information about oxygen concentration, air temperature and humidity, amount of exercise, reproductive cycles, disease, and milk production, explained Zhang. As for how this 'smartwatch' works, it possesses a unique motion enhancement mechanism that uses magnets and a pendulum to amplify even the smallest of movements that the cows make. And once detected, the kinetic energy from the cow's movements is stored in a lithium battery and used to power the device — meaning the device doesn't even need to be charged like a traditional smartwatch. To test if the smartwatch worked, the team first tested it on humans and found that even a light jog was enough to power temperature measurements on the device. It remains to be seen how efficient and successful this smartwatch actually turns out to be. But scientists think this device is good enough to also be used in the human world, especially in sports monitoring, healthcare and smart home systems. In such cases, tracking the cow's movement — or the lack thereof — could help farmers detect signs of disease and distress early. Transforming this very idea into reality, Chinese researchers have developed a smartwatch for cows that can help monitor their health, and location. The new device, created by the team from Southwest University in China, can be worn around the cow's necks and ankles, and employed to collect vital information on cows. "Monitoring environmental and health information of cattle can help prevent diseases and improve the efficiency of pasture breeding and management," said Zutao Zhang, co-author of the study. It can give valuable information about oxygen concentration, air temperature and humidity, amount of exercise, reproductive cycles, disease, and milk production, explained Zhang. As for how this 'smartwatch' works, it possesses a unique motion enhancement mechanism that uses magnets and a pendulum to amplify even the smallest of movements that the cows make. And once detected, the kinetic energy from the cow's movements is stored in a lithium battery and used to power the device — meaning the device doesn't even need to be charged like a traditional smartwatch.