To counteract heat stress in dairy cows, a more reliable and efficient method for monitoring the activity of dairy cows and ambient environmental conditions should be developed. This research presents a cost-effective embedded imaging system that is capable of monitoring the drinking behaviour of dairy cows, while ambient temperature and humidity are simultaneously and continuously recorded with the integrated sensor modules. The embedded imaging system was implemented and tested on an experimental dairy farm, with imaging modules installed above the drinking troughs to collect video streams. To estimate the drinking time and frequency of dairy cows, detections of the dairy cow's head over the drinking troughs was performed on video stream using a deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) model. The F1 score and true positive rate of the cow head detection were 0.987 and 0.983, respectively. The drinking behaviour data and environmental conditions were recorded and analysed to further assess the effects of heat stress on the drinking behaviour of dairy cows. The experimental results show that the daily total length and frequency of drinking bouts of the dairy cows were highly related to the temperature and humidity index (THI). Data from long-term monitoring using the automated imaging system clearly demonstrated that drinking behaviour reflects the effects of heat stress on dairy cows. The proposed monitoring system offers a novel approach for automatic and quantitative assessment of the drinking behaviours of dairy cows.

中文翻译：

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使用嵌入式成像系统通过监测饮水行为评估奶牛热应激

为了抵消奶牛的热应激，应该开发一种更可靠、更有效的方法来监测奶牛的活动和周围环境条件。这项研究提出了一种具有成本效益的嵌入式成像系统，该系统能够监测奶牛的饮水行为，同时使用集成传感器模块同时连续记录环境温度和湿度。嵌入式成像系统在一个实验奶牛场实施和测试，成像模块安装在饮水槽上方以收集视频流。为了估计奶牛的饮水时间和频率，使用深度学习卷积神经网络 (CNN) 模型对视频流中的奶牛头部进行检测。牛头检测的F1评分和真阳性率分别为0.987和0.983。记录和分析饮水行为数据和环境条件，以进一步评估热应激对奶牛饮水行为的影响。试验结果表明，奶牛每天饮水总时长和饮水次数与温湿度指数（THI）密切相关。使用自动成像系统的长期监测数据清楚地表明，饮水行为反映了热应激对奶牛的影响。所提出的监测系统为奶牛饮水行为的自动和定量评估提供了一种新方法。记录和分析饮水行为数据和环境条件，以进一步评估热应激对奶牛饮水行为的影响。试验结果表明，奶牛每天饮水总时长和饮水次数与温湿度指数（THI）密切相关。使用自动成像系统的长期监测数据清楚地表明，饮水行为反映了热应激对奶牛的影响。所提出的监测系统为奶牛饮水行为的自动和定量评估提供了一种新方法。记录和分析饮水行为数据和环境条件，以进一步评估热应激对奶牛饮水行为的影响。试验结果表明，奶牛每天饮水总时长和饮水次数与温湿度指数（THI）密切相关。使用自动成像系统的长期监测数据清楚地表明，饮水行为反映了热应激对奶牛的影响。所提出的监测系统为奶牛饮水行为的自动和定量评估提供了一种新方法。试验结果表明，奶牛每日饮水总时长和饮水次数与温湿度指数（THI）密切相关。使用自动成像系统的长期监测数据清楚地表明，饮水行为反映了热应激对奶牛的影响。所提出的监测系统为奶牛饮水行为的自动和定量评估提供了一种新方法。试验结果表明，奶牛每天饮水总时长和饮水次数与温湿度指数（THI）密切相关。使用自动成像系统的长期监测数据清楚地表明，饮水行为反映了热应激对奶牛的影响。所提出的监测系统为奶牛饮水行为的自动和定量评估提供了一种新方法。