Background： Behavior is an important indicator reflecting the welfare of animals. Manual analysis of video is the most commonly used method to study animal behavior. However, this approach is tedious and depends on a...Background： Behavior is an important indicator reflecting the welfare of animals. Manual analysis of video is the most commonly used method to study animal behavior. However, this approach is tedious and depends on a subjective judgment of the analysts. There is an urgent need for automatic identification of individual animals and automatic tracking is a fundamental part of the solution to this problem.Results： In this study, an algorithm based on a Hybrid Support Vector Machine（HSVM） was developed for the automated tracking of individual laying hens in a layer group. More than 500 h of video was conducted with laying hens raised under a floor system by using an experimental platform. The experimental results demonstrated that the HSVM tracker outperformed the Frag（fragment-based tracking method）, the TLD（Tracking-Learning-Detection）,the PLS（object tracking via partial least squares analysis）, the Mean Shift Algorithm, and the Particle Filter Algorithm based on their overlap rate and the average overlap rate.Conclusions： The experimental results indicate that the HSVM tracker achieved better robustness and state-of-theart performance in its ability to track individual laying hens than the other algorithms tested. It has potential for use in monitoring animal behavior under practical rearing conditions.展开更多
A machine with manual operation for mulch-laying machine with a punching arrangement was developed,and its performance was assessed at three different mulch paper thicknesses(15 m,20 m and 25 m),three different disc a...A machine with manual operation for mulch-laying machine with a punching arrangement was developed,and its performance was assessed at three different mulch paper thicknesses(15 m,20 m and 25 m),three different disc angles(35 degrees,40 degrees,and 45 degrees),three different punch spacings(250 mm,500 mm,and 1000 mm),and three different forward speeds(1.3 km/h,1.5 km/h,1.7 km/h)to investigate their effects on field capacity,effective field efficiency,and punching efficiency.Utilizing randomised block design and response surface methods,the experimental plan for optimization was created.All of the independent variables’combined effects on the dependent variables were found to be statistically significant.The influence of operating speed and mulch paper thickness was found to be the most significant on the dependent variable.The effective field capacity and field efficiency increased from 0.11 ha/h to 0.19 ha/h and 72.04 percent to 89.51 percent,respectively,by increasing mulch paper thickness from 15μm to 25μm and operating speed from 1.3 km/h to 1.7 km/h,whereas punching efficiency fell from 85.18 percent to 84.40 percent.Mulch paper of 15μm and a disc angle value of 40 degrees were optimised from the independent factors that were chosen for optimal soil covering over the laid plastic mulch sheet.Punching efficiency was maximised with performance optimised at 500 mm punch spacing.Additionally,the machine operated more efficiently at 1.5 km/h.展开更多
基金financial support provided by the Key Projects in the National Science & Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Fiveyear Plan Period(No.2014BAD08B05)The funders had no role in study design,data collection and analysis,decision to publish,or preparation of the manuscript
文摘Background： Behavior is an important indicator reflecting the welfare of animals. Manual analysis of video is the most commonly used method to study animal behavior. However, this approach is tedious and depends on a subjective judgment of the analysts. There is an urgent need for automatic identification of individual animals and automatic tracking is a fundamental part of the solution to this problem.Results： In this study, an algorithm based on a Hybrid Support Vector Machine（HSVM） was developed for the automated tracking of individual laying hens in a layer group. More than 500 h of video was conducted with laying hens raised under a floor system by using an experimental platform. The experimental results demonstrated that the HSVM tracker outperformed the Frag（fragment-based tracking method）, the TLD（Tracking-Learning-Detection）,the PLS（object tracking via partial least squares analysis）, the Mean Shift Algorithm, and the Particle Filter Algorithm based on their overlap rate and the average overlap rate.Conclusions： The experimental results indicate that the HSVM tracker achieved better robustness and state-of-theart performance in its ability to track individual laying hens than the other algorithms tested. It has potential for use in monitoring animal behavior under practical rearing conditions.
文摘A machine with manual operation for mulch-laying machine with a punching arrangement was developed,and its performance was assessed at three different mulch paper thicknesses(15 m,20 m and 25 m),three different disc angles(35 degrees,40 degrees,and 45 degrees),three different punch spacings(250 mm,500 mm,and 1000 mm),and three different forward speeds(1.3 km/h,1.5 km/h,1.7 km/h)to investigate their effects on field capacity,effective field efficiency,and punching efficiency.Utilizing randomised block design and response surface methods,the experimental plan for optimization was created.All of the independent variables’combined effects on the dependent variables were found to be statistically significant.The influence of operating speed and mulch paper thickness was found to be the most significant on the dependent variable.The effective field capacity and field efficiency increased from 0.11 ha/h to 0.19 ha/h and 72.04 percent to 89.51 percent,respectively,by increasing mulch paper thickness from 15μm to 25μm and operating speed from 1.3 km/h to 1.7 km/h,whereas punching efficiency fell from 85.18 percent to 84.40 percent.Mulch paper of 15μm and a disc angle value of 40 degrees were optimised from the independent factors that were chosen for optimal soil covering over the laid plastic mulch sheet.Punching efficiency was maximised with performance optimised at 500 mm punch spacing.Additionally,the machine operated more efficiently at 1.5 km/h.
