Application research on pig house patrol robots and wireless charging technology

As modern pig farms accelerate their transformation from extensive management to large-scale and intelligent management, the value of automation equipment in breeding scenarios continues to increase. Pig house patrol robots are becoming key equipment in smart pig farms with their capabilities in inspection, health monitoring, manure detection and environmental collection. However, to maintain its high-frequency operation and all-weather response capabilities, reliable, efficient, and unmaintainable energy replenishment methods are crucial. Wireless charging technology has therefore become an ideal choice and has gradually become a standard feature of smart livestock equipment.

1. The main functions of the pig house patrol robot

Pig house patrol robots generally have the following functional modules:

1. Automatic column patrol
   Carry out cyclic inspections of pig houses according to preset routes, replacing manual repetitive work.
2. health identification
   Use visual recognition, thermal imaging and other technologies to monitor the surface temperature, skin condition, feed intake, etc. of pigs, and identify health characteristics such as depression and abnormal behavior.
3. Linkage between feces detection and cleaning
   Identify the accumulation of manure in pig houses and link cleaning equipment to improve hygiene efficiency.
4. Environmental data collection
   Real-time monitoring of ammonia concentration, humidity, temperature and other environmental indicators facilitates the use of intelligent ventilation and environmental control systems.
5. Pig behavior analysis
   Including drinking water frequency, amount of exercise, group changes, density monitoring, etc. to support precision breeding.

These functions often require the robot to run for more than 10 to 20 hours a day, so the advanced power replenishment method determines the operating efficiency.

2. Technical advantages of wireless charging in pig house environment

Compared with traditional contact charging, wireless charging has significant advantages in the pig house environment:

1. Avoid metal exposure and improve safety
   Pig houses have high humidity and corrosive gases, and metal contacts are prone to rust, and there is even a risk of electric leakage. Wireless charging has no exposed metal contact surface, significantly improving safety.
2. Supports unmanned and fully automatic recharging
   The robot can automatically dock to the charging pad when the patrol ends or the battery is low, without manual intervention.
3. Dustproof and waterproof capabilities
   Wireless charging modules usually reach IP65~IP67 and are suitable for high humidity and fecal environments.
4. High alignment tolerance
   The alignment tolerance of 0 to 50 mm can adapt to slippery, wet, tilted pig house floors, etc.
5. Meet different robot power needs
   It can cover everything from a 120W small fence robot to a 3kW large intelligent inspection vehicle.

3. Structure and working principle of wireless charging system

The wireless charging system of the pig house patrol robot usually consists of the following:

• Fixed transmitter (TX)
  Installed next to the passage of the pig house or at the charging station, it is responsible for sending energy to the robot.
• Car body receiving end (RX)
  Integrated at the bottom of the robot, energy coupling is achieved through magnetic fields.
• counterpoint system
  Use LiDAR, visual targets or UWB for precise docking.
• digital control module
  Used for charging power adjustment, over-temperature protection, over-current protection, etc.

Its working principle is usually based on magnetic resonance or magnetic induction technology to achieve high efficiency (85% ~ 92%) energy transmission.

4. Application scenario examples

1. Automatic patrol system for large pig farms
   Multiple patrol robots work in turns and achieve 24-hour uninterrupted inspection through wireless charging.
2. Disease surveillance and emergency response mechanism
   When the robot detects a suspected sick pig, it will automatically upload data and continue inspection. Data synchronization will not be affected during the charging process.
3. Environmental optimization linkage system
   The environmental data collected by the robot in the patrol pen can directly drive fans, sprinklers and other systems to improve the climate control level of the pig house.
4. Cleaning system automatic coordination
   After detecting feces, the robot reports to the cleaning system, and then automatically goes to the charging point to replenish energy before continuing the task.

5. Future development direction

1. High power wireless charging platform, to meet the needs of multi-functional large-scale inspection robots.
2. Multi-robot parallel scheduling and charging algorithm, improve the efficiency of charging station usage.
3. Deep integration with pig farm digital platform, build a unified intelligent management system.
4. Full-scenario wireless power supply layout, reducing the robot’s movement path and improving overall operating efficiency.