in some embodiments,steps 100 to 106 may be performed continuously for each walking cycle of the animal, orsteps 100 to 106 may be performed continuously for half a walking cycle (monopod) of the animal.

In most cases, according to the solution disclosed in the present application, it may be advantageous, and indeed preferable, to estimate the weight of an animal while moving without reference to a previously obtained experimental model.

Another embodiment of the disclosure, a method for assessing the weight of an animal while exercising. First, the force sensor is measured while the animal is stationary to obtain a stationary force (fs). The weight of the animal is then estimated using the resting force (fs) to obtain a resting weight (ws) of the animal. Since the animal is stationary when the stationary force (fs) is obtained, the stationary weight (ws) of the animal is easily obtained by direct correlation. The force sensor is then measured while the animal is moving to obtain the movement force (fm). The movement force (fm) is processed to determine a peak (lp), a valley (lv) and a force range (d), which may be achieved using signal processing techniques. It is then determined whether the force sensor measurements were made during the first step row cycle (i.e., the first step) of the animal.

In case of a first step row cycle of the animal, the force range (d) determined in the preceding step in the first step row cycle is stored as a reference force range (dr), wherein the reference acceleration (ar) is determined according to equation (2):

the reference acceleration ar is then stored for later use.

If not the first step line cycle of the animal, determining the force range ratio (R) according to equation (3):

the acceleration is then determined according to equation (4):

a＝R×ar (4)

finally, the weight (wm) of the animal while moving is determined according to equation (5):

according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for assessing the weight of an animal while moving is similar to the method discussed in fig. 3.

Referring to the previous embodiment, the force sensor is measured while the animal is at rest to obtain the resting force (fs).

The weight of the animal is estimated using the resting force (fs) to obtain the resting weight (ws) of the animal. The force sensor is then measured while the animal is moving to obtain the movement force (fm). The movement force (fm) is processed to determine the peak value (lp), which may be achieved using signal processing techniques as described above. It is then determined whether the force sensor measurements were made during the first step row cycle (i.e., the first step) of the animal.

In case of the first step line cycle of the animal, the peak value (lp) obtained in the previous step during the first step line cycle is stored as a reference peak value (lpr), and the reference acceleration (ar) can be determined according to equation (2) above. If not the first step line cycle of the animal, the force peak ratio (R') is determined according to equation (6):

the acceleration is then determined according to equation (4) above.

Finally, the weight (wm) of the animal while moving is determined according to equation (5) above.

Suitable instructions may be stored in the memory 16 discussed above with respect to fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 5, theapparatus 10 can accurately and efficiently estimate the weight of an animal while moving without an acceleration sensor.

These methods and theapparatus 10 in which they can be implemented enable the body weight of an animal to be measured while moving with significantly less complexity than conventional methods, while still maintaining high accuracy.

Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure.

All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring body weight of a moving object, the method comprising:

determining a reference acceleration of a centroid of the animal as a function of the dead weight; determining a reference acceleration of the center of mass according to the following formula: [ a parameter ═ lp/wtih-g ],

wherein, a is the reference acceleration of the centroid, lp is the reference peak value, w is the static body weight, and g is the gravity constant;

2. The method of claim 1, monitoring the one or more force sensors while the animal is moving to obtain the moving force measurements as the animal moves;

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the acceleration is obtained from the force peak ratio as the animal moves, and the reference acceleration is combined to determine the weight of the animal as it moves.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the acceleration is obtained from the force range ratio as the animal moves, and the reference acceleration is combined to determine the weight of the animal as it moves.

5. An animal weight monitoring device while in motion, the device comprising: one or more force measuring sensors configured to be attached to an animal's foot such that the force sensors measure a force applied between each foot of the animal and a contact surface;

also included are processing circuitry and a memory storing instructions,

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein determining the acceleration of the center of mass of the animal through the force range comprises using an experimental model showing a relationship between the force range and the acceleration of the center of mass, wherein the experimental model is obtained using actual measurements of the acceleration of the center of mass relative to the force range.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the memory and processing circuitry perform the method of one of claims 1-4.