Research On Digital Surveillance System Of Large-scale Laying Hen Farms

In the large-scale chicken farms, temperature and humidity are important factors, and the henhouse should be properly closed with fewer disturbances. As advanced science and technology and industrial equipment are applied in poultry farming, with modern automatic management, it is available to make full use of the feed and equipment, and to produce chicken, eggs with high efficiency as well. However, the calculation of eggs output is still time-consuming and labor-consuming.The technology of computer vision, image processing, artificial intelligence and automated monitoring were integrated, with sensors, microcontroller and computer, to develop a set of whole process monitoring system for the large-scale chicken farms. The highly compositive system could monitor the henhouse and observe the change of temperature and humidity, and there was efficient function module based on computer vision to count egg automatically.In the first place, a general digital camera image detection platform based on VFW video capture technology was established. The platform, which was a foundation for the following research of eggs count, could help farm managers and staffs observing each region, even every chicken in the henhouse.Secondly, a method of conveyor belt eggs-count based on machine vision and image processing was developed, at the basis of algorithm design and experimental systematic exploration combination. The method of virtual detection band, which could reflect information of eggs and pre-process the images of detection band, was applied in the research of algorithm, and it could compare the adjacent area and differences of two frames and extract data flow to achieve actual eggs number. Moreover, a integrated and reliable algorithm, was designed under Windows platform with VC++ programming tools, and its operation effect was well.Thirdly, a single chip microcomputer was used to collect the data of temperature and humidity by sensors in the large-scale henhouse, and a main control computer was programmed to receive the data from SCM by serial communication and display them on LCD. Finally, a comprehensive surveillance platform for the henhouse was built, which integrated three main modules, including monitoring module, temperature and humidity monitoring modules, and intelligent eggs-count module. The test of eggs-count module showed that the average recognition rate could reach 92.97%, and the united platform was reliable.