Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience has not changed but has actually expanded. We continue to focus on the small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers who have responsibility for monitoring their electric fences for the confinement of livestock. The daily challenges for these farmers and ranchers have increased due, in part, to issues surrounding climate change and severe drought. We have identified additional target audiences which include hobby farmers and and gardeners. These target audiences grew in the past 3 years primarily due to the pandemic. Another potential market is for businesses and personal property which utilizes electric fencing for security. Changes/Problems:The one change that we identified since our Progress Report is the need to evaluate our current manufacturer relationships to determine if there were other/better options moving forward. We ultimately decided that Ag Express Electronics was a better match for our product and our needs and have begun a new business partnership with them. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Through our partnership with Dr. Qiao and Syracuse University the project has afforded graduate students an opportunity to expand their professional development. We are aware that the element of our project will have a significant impact on future studies. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?At this point we have not shared our results and discoveries outside of our research team and our manufacturing partners. We are preparing for a strong entry into the market by focusing on improving our social media campaigns and building a robust list of potential customers so that we can assure a strong launch. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The goal for our Phase II research was to develop an innovative version of the electric fence insulator, advancing agricultural-related manufacturing in the United States. We built on our experience, research and conclusions, which verified the feasibility of the technology, with a goal to commercialize and bring the Electric Fence Alarm System (EAFS)to market. We utilize the IOT (Internet of Things) platform to integrate technology into the electric fence insulator. Embedded in the unit is a voltage monitor and mobile notification function that notifies the agriculture manager when their electric fence is not working. The research has expanded its focus on the user notification system and the viability of this technology in a rural setting. We accomplished the modification and redesign of the Flashing System (FS) to deliver a readable fence voltage. We were successful in developing a physical connection between the FS and the Mobile-Based User Notification System. Our Phase II project accomplishments and results have proven the feasibility to develop such prototypes by addressing and identifying critical issues, thereby forming the foundation and showing potential for a successful commercialization plan. Together with Syracuse University we were able to design and test a divider circuit which can vary the voltage of the output pulse from an energizer in small increments between 12 kilovolts and 50 volts.

Publications

Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:Our target audience or target market has not changed but has actually expanded. We continue to focus on the small and mid-sized farmers and ranchers who are responsible for the care and confinement of livestock. The daily challengesof monitoring their electric fences have not changed and are, in fact, increasing. With the issues of climate change andmassive droughts throughout our vast ranch lands the need to find grassfor livestock has become an additional concern. Theyare now forced to graze every acre theycan and the challenge to ensure that the fences are in working order has also increased for these farmers and ranchers. Changes/Problems:The only change that we have encountered is the need to change our engineering consultant. During our initial meeting with The RealTime Group they indicated that they were familiar with the USDA SBIR process and that they would be able to work within the budget guidelines of our grant. After closer consideration The RealTime Group delivered a quote that was far outside our buget and thereforeunacceptable. We interviewed other engineering consultants and determined that R9 Technology was the right fit for our project and was able to provide the services that we needed within our grant budget. We feel this would be an opportunity to address the concerns from the panel reviewers during our application phase. There was concern as to the number of EFAS units needed on an electric fence to monitor the fence.Much like our initial product that flashes with the pulse of the fence it a depends on the user and where they want to monitor. In many instances one monitor would be enough to monitor the fence. In the case of a large areawith an electric fence that is miles long, ranchers may want to monitor the wire with multiple EFAS units. Also, when monitoring fences used for security a multiple number of units would be desirable. There wasalso a question regarding in the proposal whether we would realize a "volume of production" that would ultimately drop the priceof the final product. Our EFAS has a pricing advantage in the market place. The preliminary evaluation of COG with no volume discounts isunder eighty-five dollars comparedto the competition which ranges from $125 to $600. We would like to address the question of whether small to mid-sized farmers and ranchers would be able to manage a subscription process. Studies show that 87% of farmers and ranchers currently manage some aspects of their business from their smart phone. We are confident that our target market is sophisticated enough to handle a simple subscription proposed by our EFAS. With regard to future fundingNext Level Ventures in Des Moines, Iowa, provided a Letter of Support for our application and in that letter they indicated that they would be interested in exploring how they might partner with Insulights.com, Inc.in the event we need additional funding. We have always been focused on a conservative approach to our development dollars. Finally, we would like to address how we stand out next to our competition. We understand that other companies have developed products with texting capabilities. What makes our EFAS different is that our solution is it is located on the fence as opposed to the energizer unit itself. Products which attach to the energizer or charger only indicatethat the charger is plugged in butdoes not necessarily mean the fence is"hot" or working. By being installed on the fence in the pasture it is a true monitor, which is innovative. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Our team has been encouraged bythe additional research and insights we have garnishedthrough our work so far. Not only have we discovered that the EFAS will work as projected but we have added enhanced features. The EAFS monitor will now be able to communicate the current voltage of the fence. In addition, the user will be able to select a base line voltage and communicate the status of the fence to a cellular device at least two times perday. Partnering with Syracuse University and Dr. Quinn Qiao the project has comtributed tothe professional development ofthe graduatestudents involved. We understand that the elements of our project will have an impact onfuture studies. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our results and discoveries have been held close within our research team. At the direction of our patent attorney, we are planning to refile ourpatent protecting our new discoveries and the enhancements of the EFAS. We have not lost focus of our target markets and have continued to gather the theses contacts when we are ready to launch this innovative technology. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our next reporting period will focus on the actual assembling of the prototypes and testing for a market launch. We will continue to prepare for the launch with additional customer discovery. We will move more towards the commercialization phase of the project and the research needed to produce the actual product on a larger scale.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In our first period of research, we establishedthat we will be able to use the EFAS to accomplish our primarygoal. Our research has been successful in utilizing a User Notification System tosend a text message to the user in the event thatan electric fence is compromised. In our testing the warning test was successful utilizing the components we plan to use for our prototypes. The viability the of this system in the rural setting is a significant goal since our target market of small and midsized farmers and ranchers naturally live in the rural setting. Our team has identified the proper modem to access the cellular signals and providers to establish the needed connection for the texting notifications. Annual Report for Syracuse University Subcontract Quinn Qiao, Syracuse University quqiao@syr.edu During the first year, we have been looking into our initial plans we provided to Insulights and have been working with Bill Brown to get more guidance on our subcontract work plan. In our initial plan, we will upgrade the flashing system to add plugin pins that allow the integrated flashing system with notification system to be more accessible, robust, and dependable as shown in Figure 1. Moreover, the data pin delivers a rescaled actual voltage where every 1000 V is converted to 0.1 V, which can directly fit to the notification system microcontroller to monitor the voltage seeking for the trigger value of equal or lower than 3000 V that corresponds to rescaled voltage equal or lower than 0.3 V. We planned to extend the communication methods of the notification system that has a comprehensive solution that supports various communication methods to cover all the situations in cities and rural areas. We planned to improve the communication between the fence and end-users by conducting the following three sub-tasks. The notification system uses a cellular network to notify the end-user about the current fence status as a main robust option. The EFAS is able to use nano and micro - Subscriber Identity Module (SIM card). The system can send a notification message to multiple phone numbers that the end-users desire to set up. Another communication method between the EFAS and the end-user is the internet if the internet is available in the field. Internet-based communication will help deliver some necessary services that end-users can perform remotely, such as controlling the fence on/off. We are also concerned about the developing areas where the internet coverage and cellular networks almost absent or weak. Therefore, to increase the market margin and deliver the EFAS everywhere regardless of the technology infrastructure, LoRa technology is planned to be integrated into the system to scale-up the communication stability. We also planned to evolve a mobile app to allow end-users to use all the EFAS features, such as registering the device and monitoring the fence. The mobile App can be compatible to both Android and iOS platforms. We had a few meetings with Bill Brown and John Tauch to discuss the Syracuse University subcontract work plans. We have developed the following plans for the coming year. One of the energizers that produces a 3.3 KV pulse for fence protection was not able to provide the pulse to the detection circuit after the input divider. The reason might be the negative edge trigger of the energizer. We will investigate to confirm and identify the reason. We will check both energizers. The main difficulty is the effective method to increase the sensing area or aperture area and figure out how large is sufficient. As per the discussion with John Tauch, we will increase the sensing area or aperture area, which may help ramp up the signal. We plan to make the circuit on the breadboard by avoiding interference to evaluate the impact of the 3.3 KV output after the divider. We will check the practical work conditions of the fence detection circuit for a better understanding. Project Detail Device Operation Device Product Label Product Model Number: FD100 (Fence Detector 100) (place holder) Required for label: 1.Model Number 2.IMEI Number (UniquenumberidentifyingagivenME310Modem) 3.MSISDN Number (Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Network) Phone number 4.SerialNumber 5.FCC statement Provisioning: The FD100 is shipped to the user with an installed cellular SIM. The SIM provides a U.S. domestic phone number which will be available on the product label. In addition to a phone number, each FD100 is shipped with the modem's unique IMEI number displayed on the product label. The last six digits of the FD100's IMEI number will serve as a customer's initial passcode. This passcode will be required by the device when the user sets the notification phone number. The passcode is only required when setting the user notification phone number. All other commands use the originating phone number for authenticating the user. This approach limits the need for an intelligent backend server. The backend system only needs to manage activating and deactivating customer's cellular services. Operating States The FD100 is designed to monitor the health of a remote electric fence. This is achieved by sensing the 1PPS energizer pulse and measuring the fence voltage. If the pulse is present and the measured voltage is above threshold, a counter reset is initiated, and the FD100 continues to operate in a "working" state. If the pulse is not detected or if the measured voltage is below threshold, then the device enters a "warning" state. The "warning" state is a sample period where the FD100 continues to evaluate the condition of the fence. If the fence condition improves meaning that the 1PPS pulse resumes and the fence voltage is above threshold, then the "warning" state counter is reset and FD100 returns to the "working" state. If the FD100 does not detect resumption of the 1PPS pulse and the fence voltage is not above threshold at the expiration of the "warning" state counter, then the FD100 will enter an "Error" state. After entering the "Error" state the FD100 will send the user a SMS text message indicating that the fence is below threshold (indicates level). The error state counter will begin, and a second error SMS text message will be sent to the user approx. 1 hour after the 1st. If the "error" state persists the FD100 will not send any additional SMS texts. The "error" state is cleared when the FD100 senses a 1 PPS pulse, and the measured voltage is above threshold. Note: I do not think we need to clear the error state if the user responds to the error. We might consider adding a notification SMS if the fence resumes working operation on its own. Basically, send a text when the device leaves the error state. Basic Operation The FD100 utilizes a low power ARM M33 to manage device operation. The M33 consumes 125 nA during its deep sleep mode. The device predominantly operates in this mode only waking up every 15 minutes to sample the 1PPS energizer pulse, read the current fence voltage, and perform anypending tasks including sending or receiving text messages. We are still investigating the ME310's sleep modes to determine how we can most efficiently operate the device while mitigating power consumption.

Publications