Apparatus and methods for the volumetric and dimensional measurement of livestock
First Claim
1. An apparatus for measuring the physical characteristics of an animal positioned within a target zone, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) an animal positioning device for defining the target zone and for positioning the animal therewithin, said animal positioning device comprising first and second sides, a floor and an upper portion;
(b) a first camera disposed on said first side of said animal positioning device for obtaining a first range image of the animal;
(c) a second camera disposed proximate to said upper portion of said animal positioning device for obtaining a second range image of the animal; and
(d) data processing means operably associated with said first and second cameras for acquiring said first and second range images produced thereby to produce a plurality of acquired range images and for processing said plurality of acquired range images to form a three-dimensional data set defining at least a portion of the surface of the animal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for measuring the physical characteristics of livestock animals such as cattle and hogs. The apparatus of the invention includes a plurality of strategically positioned cameras that are used to obtain data concerning volumetric, curvilinear (surface) and linear measurements of livestock animals such as cattle and hogs and the full carcasses thereof. In accordance with the method of the invention, the data is analyzed to provide information that substantially assists the commercial producer of livestock animals in producing a high-quality end product for the consumer while adding profitability to the enterprise.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. An apparatus for measuring the physical characteristics of an animal positioned within a target zone, said apparatus comprising:
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(a) an animal positioning device for defining the target zone and for positioning the animal therewithin, said animal positioning device comprising first and second sides, a floor and an upper portion;
(b) a first camera disposed on said first side of said animal positioning device for obtaining a first range image of the animal;
(c) a second camera disposed proximate to said upper portion of said animal positioning device for obtaining a second range image of the animal; and
(d) data processing means operably associated with said first and second cameras for acquiring said first and second range images produced thereby to produce a plurality of acquired range images and for processing said plurality of acquired range images to form a three-dimensional data set defining at least a portion of the surface of the animal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for measuring the physical characteristics of an animal positioned within a target zone, said apparatus comprising:
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(a) an animal positioning device for defining the target zone and for positioning the animal therewithin, said animal positioning device comprising first and second sides, a floor and an upper portion;
(b) a camera disposed on said first side of said animal positioning device for obtaining a first range image of the animal;
(c) a camera disposed on said second side of said animal positioning device for obtaining a second range image of the animal;
(d) a camera disposed proximate said upper portion of said animal positioning device for obtaining a second range image of the animal;
(e) data processing means operably associated with said first, second and third cameras for acquiring said first and second range images produced thereby to produce a plurality of acquired range images and for processing said plurality of acquired range images to form a three-dimensional data set defining at least a portion of the surface of the animal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for measuring the physical characteristics of an animal having first and second sides and a back, said animal being positioned within a target zone having first and second sides, an upper portion and a bottom portion using an apparatus comprising means for defining the target zone, a first camera disposed on said first side of said target zone, a second camera disposed on said second side of target zone, a third camera disposed proximate said upper portion of said target zone and data processing means operably associated with said first, second and third cameras for processing data received from said cameras, said first, second and third cameras, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) positioning the animal within the target zone;
(b) using the first camera, obtaining a range of image of at least a portion of the first side of the animal;
(c) using the third camera, obtaining a range of image of at least a portion of the back of the animal; and
(d) entering into the data processing means, said range images to produce a plurality of entered range images and processing said plurality of entered range images to form a three-dimensional set representing at least a portion of the surface of the animal. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for measuring the physical characteristics of an animal having first and second sides disposed on either side of a median plane and a back portion, said animal being positioned within a target zone having first and second sides, a top and a bottom using an apparatus comprising an animal positioning device for defining the target zone, a first camera disposed on one of said first and second sides of said target zone, a second camera disposed proximate said top of target zone and data processing means operably associated with said first and second cameras for processing data received from said first and second cameras, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) positioning the animal within the target zone;
(b) using the first camera, obtaining a range image of at least a portion of the first side of the animal;
(c) using the second camera, obtaining an image showing the position of the median plane;
(d) using the data processing means, acquiring said first range image to produce a first acquired range image, acquiring said image showing the position of the median plane to produce an acquired median plane image and processing said first acquired range image and said acquired median plane position image to form a reverse duplicate analog of said first acquired range image to represent an inferred range image of at least a portion of the second side of the animal; and
(e) using the data processing means, the first acquired image and the inferred range image of at least a portion of the second side of the livestock animal to form a three-dimensional data set representing at least a portion of the surface of the animal. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method for measuring the physical characteristics of an animal having first and second sides, a rear portion, and a back portion, said animal being positioned within a target zone having first and second sides, an upper portion, a rear portion and a bottom using an apparatus comprising an animal positioning device for defining the target zone, a first camera disposed on a selected one of said first and second sides of said target zone, a second camera disposed proximate a selected one of said upper portion of target zone and said rear portion of said target zone and data processing means operably associated with said cameras for processing data received from said cameras, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) positioning the animal within the target zone;
(b) using the first camera, obtaining a range image of a selected one of the first and second sides of the animal;
(c) using the second camera, obtaining a range image of a selected one of the back portion and the rear portion of the animal; and
(d) entering into the data processing means, said range images to produce a plurality of entered range images and processing said plurality of entered range images to obtain a data set representing at least a portion of the surface of the animal. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47)
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Specification