Home // SENSORCOMM 2012 , The Sixth International Conference on Sensor Technologies and Applications // View article

Reducing Energy Consumption in a Sheep Tracking Network Using a Cluster-based Approach

Authors:
Ragnar Stølsmark
Erlend Tøssebro

Keywords: Wireless Sensor Networks; Animal Tracking; Energy Consumption.

Abstract:
Sheep tracking ease the work of the farmer when retrieving the sheep. The current commercial sheep tracking solution is popular but not energy-efficient. It only uses GSM and GPS and has no interaction between the sheep. Sheep often walk in clusters. If a farmer knows the location of all clusters and also which sheep are in each cluster, he does not need to know the exact location of each sheep. By using a new cluster-based localization and data retrieval approach this paper show, through energy measurements and simulations, that it could be possible to reduce the average energy consumption by more than 50 % in flocks were the sheep walks in large clusters. The reduced energy consumption could be used to either increase the update frequency or to reduce the battery capacity. The cluster–based approach can also eliminate the need for GSM and GPS modules on part of the sheep nodes, thereby making the system more affordable for farmers. The reduced energy consumption and cost makes the solution described in this paper better than the currently available commercial one.

Pages: 129 to 135

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2012

Publication date: August 19, 2012

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4405

ISBN: 978-1-61208-207-3

Location: Rome, Italy

Dates: from August 19, 2012 to August 24, 2012