# Cow Milk Heat Indicator during Milking using Spectroscopy ### Problem Statement : Lack of scientific practices in detecting the heat in dairy cattle leads to increased breeding expenses and calving intervals and hence financial losses to most of the dairy farmers. Though many systems/solutions that employ scientific methods for detecting the heat in cattles are available, they are not affordable for many farmers.Thus, effective reproductive management in a dairy herd requires alternate cost effective solution. ### Proposed Solution : We propose a solution to measure progesterone concentration during milking with the help of a Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy device. The NIR sensor is expected to be connected to the milk container to detect the progestrone levels. The data is sampled in real time using the sensor and then stored in a database. The database can then be analysed to give information on the estrus cycle of the cow ## Challenges 1. Cost reduction : The existing NIR spectrometer sensor alone cost around 20000 ₹ in the market. We propose to develop a cheaper custom laser detector that doesn't use the full spectrum as in standard NIR spectrometers. Our solution aims to use the relative intensities at known frequencies by using known wavelength LEDs, and a sensitive luminosity sensor. 2. Milk sampler : A milk sampler which can work with little or no modification to the existing milk container or milking device need to be developed for seamless integration and also because of sustainability concerns. 3. Mobile App : A mobile app needs to be developed to discover the sensor, connect to it, add visual means to recognise the cow and ingest the database to show estrus cycle of the cow. ## Product We propose a cost effective spectrometer device integrated with a mobile app for a dairy farmer that continuously monitors the eastrus cycle of the dairy cattle and intuitively informs the heat in the cow and pregnancy confirmation and hence reduces breeding expenses and calving intervals of a farmer. The product can be integrated to include postpartum analysis and chemical analysis of the milk in the future. ## References [1] : http://www.ueb.cas.cz/cs/system/files/users/public/2007_Simersky_VETERINARNI_MEDICINA_19.pdf [2] : [Cow Milk Progesterone Concentration Assessment during Milking Using Near-infrared Spectroscopy](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/eaef/14/1/14_30/_article) ## Team Members Jithin B P Ph.D : Entrepreneur with deep experience with spectroscopy Milan Vathoopan Ph.D : Researcher with extensive knowledge of MSME sector in Kerala Akshai M : Embedded Systems Engineer with experience on developing low-power embedded networked devices.