Herding cattle goes high-tech
source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/05/remote.herding.ap/index.html?eref=rss_tech
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- Bigdog_mike
- added this
"Come on girls, let's go," the cowboy croons as he gathers his bovines from across the desert range. One day, this cowboy may not have to ride the range to corral his herd.
The "cowboy" is U.S. Department of Agriculture researcher Dean M. Anderson, who is working to corral cattle remotely through a high-tech device that funnels sounds directly to the animals.
It's Old West cattle herding with a 21st century twist -- part of a project involving the USDA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the government's Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico.
The wireless headset, called the "Ear-A-Round," has stereo earphones that transmit sounds directly into the cow's ears to guide its movement. Powered by a small solar energy panel, the unit contains a GPS device to monitor a cow's location and movement.
Researchers hope the device will give ranchers and farmers the ability to herd cattle from afar, said Daniela Rus, an MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science who teamed with Anderson.
"It has the potential to give farmers a much finer control of pastures, finer management of where animals are and a better use of the land," said Rus, a robotics expert. "With this technology we can also find out what the animals do all day."
In essence, a rancher could stay in his air-conditioned office and check on the location of his animals by logging on to a computer. Another potential benefit would be eye-friendly vistas that have no fences.
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echoz
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"research" huh? "potential" huh? for lazy ranchers??? I bet ALL ranchers EVERYWHERE are just screaming for this phukn shit. gdam manipulating mferz...only a matter of time before they find "improved applications" for cybernetic parasites and think how "nice" it would be to have the latest generation model in your own g'dam head to tell you gleefully wtf and when to do it, and how much. sorry sobz... wha a buncha CRAP. (I can see it now: "WE tell you when and who you can phuk and when not to and WE'RE telling you it's only for the politically-connected bassturdz who can "AFFORD" it mfer...get off the biotch NOW!" *sigh* forgive my exageration...maybe I should've just drawn a picture of when Neo had his removed in the Matrix but...) Y'know, if those phuks *really* think we need that shit maybe they should cut to the quick and start with volunteers from Congress and the White House, and those freaks from MIT and the USDA, in particular. that might make me feel a lot more assured that what they were doing had some beneficial purpose after all.
Get the phuk outta N.M. with that BS, "Mr Rus" and "Mr. Anderson" (no Matrix pun here originally intended). Just do it.
- 3 years ago
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echoz
