Wireless Networks

IoT cattle monitoring solution developed for Brazil – and beyond

IoT cattle monitoring solution developed for Brazil – and beyond

A reminder of the growing potential of IoT in agriculture comes from IoT solutions companies Acceleronix and Quectel, along with Brazilian agro hardtech company iBOI, which together announced last week a new-generation GPS cattle ear tag for real-time monitoring.

Integrated with iBOI's herd and animal health management platform, the device connects individual animal monitoring to herd management so that the animals can be used as collateral in credit operations.

As the partners explain, this collaboration brings together three parts of the value chain that are usually handled separately. Quectel designed and manufactured the GPS ear tag, Acceleronix provides eSIM connectivity for the initial deployment and device management through ACX Core for the life of the product, and iBOI provides the platform, offering real-time animal inventory and full lot management, with entries and exits, movement history, transfers between paddocks and pastures and time spent in each, together with herd statements, weight progression, average daily gain (ADG), body condition score and herd performance and health indicators, consolidating information for individual and lot-level monitoring.

Quectel says it has developed the GPS ear tag, with a temperature sensor, step counter and RFID, as a turnkey design and manufacturing project, drawing on its cellular and GNSS expertise to fit connectivity and positioning into a compact form factor built for livestock operations.

Acceleronix is providing eSIM-based connectivity for production, integration and initial field deployment, together with IoT middleware and device lifecycle management through its ACX Core platform, which is designed to work independently of the underlying connectivity provider.

A GPS cattle tag must work within hard limits on size and power and stay in the field for extended periods without maintenance. The device uses lightweight M2M (LwM2M) for device communication, monitoring and remote management over the cellular network. The protocol keeps transmissions to a minimum while still giving operators clear visibility of device health, connectivity and battery status.

Additionally, iBOI is integrating its management SaaS platform with ACX Core through the platform's standard interfaces. The integration turns location data into virtual fences that let users define management areas, see how animals are distributed and identify exits from defined perimeters, with alerts for escapes, breakouts and unauthorized movements. Monitoring also includes alerts for lack of movement, abnormal behaviour, location anomalies and temperature changes, and lets iBOI concentrate on the services it delivers to livestock farmers rather than on infrastructure.

The solution was developed for the realities of Brazilian livestock farming and is designed to scale internationally.



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