Students from IPB University’s Vocational School Develop Smart Squeeze Cage, an IoT Based Smart Squeeze Cage

Students from IPB University’s Vocational School, studying Computer Engineering, have successfully developed the Smart Squeeze Cage. This Internet of Things (IoT) based Smart Squeeze Cage has been specifically designed to facilitate the automatic weighing of goats and sheep.

Ghina Rania, the team leader, explained that conventional weighing methods in the field are considered inefficient. Previously, small ruminants such as goats and sheep had to be placed in carrying sacks and lifted onto a hanging scale.

Another alternative method involved the operator carrying the animal onto a body scale and then calculating the difference in weight. “As well as being cumbersome and risky due to the animals struggling, manual record-keeping is also prone to errors. With this device, the weighing process becomes much faster, more practical and accurate, and the data is stored digitally straight away,” explained Ghina.

The system in this portable squeeze cage is equipped with a load cell connected directly to a microcontroller. The automatically read livestock weight data is transmitted to a web based management system.

Ilham, another team member, added that through the integration of sensors, microcontrollers and the web, the Smart Squeeze Cage is able to provide an automated and well documented weighing process. The data is then processed into informative growth charts to facilitate management evaluations, such as predicting daily feed requirements.

More than just digital record-keeping, this innovation also incorporates machine learning technology. Weight data is intelligently processed to analyse growth trends whilst predicting the livestock’s ideal future weight. The development of this modern livestock instrument is expected to assist both academics and farm operators in making more targeted and efficient management decisions.

This strategic collaborative project was successfully developed by a team of students comprising Ghina Rania, Muhammad Rifki Munawar, Hafiz Tiftazani, Rafie Hafizhsatryo, Bagus Priwendy Simangunsong, Althof Zufar Musyaffa, and Ilham Bonardo Marpaung.

During its implementation, they were supervised by lecturers Lathifunnisa Fathonah, MT, and Muhammad Nasir, ST, MKom. The programme was also carried out in official collaboration with the Livestock Technology and Management (TNK) Study Programme at the Vocational School of IPB University. (*/Rz) (IAAS/INT)