MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH FOR THE SETTING UP OF A CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEM IN DAIRY GOAT FARMS BY VOCALIZATION ANALYSIS
The project is included in the Precision Livestock Farming sector and aims at identifying the distinctive characteristics of the vocalizations of goats emitted in different contexts, in order to translate this information into the creation of an innovative IT tool for continuous and non-invasive monitoring of the animals. This will allow breeders to intervene promptly in case of need. Furthermore, the knowledge acquired through the project will allow to improve the inter-specific communication ability and, consequently, to improve the quality of the human-animal relationship.
The Innovation sub-project will be divided into AZ1 (continuous recording of the vocalizations and the behavior of the goats; analysis of the acoustic characteristics of the vocalizations in relation to the context of emission); AZ2 (assessment of the breeder's ability to interpret vocalizations and identify the context of emission, according to different levels of empathy); AZ3 (development of a specific innovative software based on the classification of beeps). Coordination and transfer of results are also foreseen.
VOCAPRA arises from the need to make available to farmers knowledge and tools that make them able to respond more promptly to any problem that may occur on farm, both through an improvement in the direct understanding of the signals emitted by animals, and through the development of an automatic monitoring system. This system will facilitate the work of goat farmers, who are often represented by young famers with great enthusiasm, but sometimes limited experience and little time to monitor the animals, as they perform many tasks (from milking to the direct sale of the processed product).
The VOCAPRA project will develop a specific software based on the classification of the acoustic signals, which can be of support to farmers, technicians and veterinarians for the automatic identification of the emotional state of the goats, thus allowing a rapid and timely intervention in case of necessity (e.g. pathologies, faults in the water or food distribution system, deliveries, etc.). The tool will be represented by a free downloadable app.
Study of the mechanisms that regulate the acoustic communication between goats and humans, in order to improve the human-animal relationship
Creation of a database containing samples ofgoat vocalizations representative of different emotional contexts / states; the database will be made freely available on the project website
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