Industrial - Bachelor

Ember: Livestock Tag and Gate Pod System

With the threat of major bushfires increasing every year, Australian Livestock Farmers continue to be the most impacted. The Ember System offers real time air monitoring tags and remote gate control via mobile devices, allowing farmers to respond to Bushfire emergencies without putting themselves at risk.

Nicholas Stephens

The Problem

Bushfires have been a part of the Australian summer for centuries but with the effects of global warming, they are frequently having a more severe and widespread impact. The 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires burnt over 24 million hectares and almost a third of this was farmland. With farms often containing or being beside bushland, farmers continue to be the most at risk especially livestock farmers.

The Black Summer Bushfires resulted in the loss of 56000 livestock alone. Studies conducted in the aftermath also highlighted the damages of indirect exposure to livestock with smoke inhalation leading to damaged meat quality and additional indirect livestock loss. All of this is a huge burden on farmers, losing land, livestock and a financial toll which is devastating.

RESEARCH

To better understand what the biggest challenges that farmers are facing in their eyes, qualitative and quantitative research was conducted. This was done through both interviews and surveying, including an interview with a farmer directly impacted by a bushfire just this year. The research process was utilised to understand what responding to a bushfire looks like for farmers and to identify where design intervention could have the biggest impact for farmers.

The research identified core challenges for livestock farmers with their being no way for them to know where their herd is when a fire occurs. This requires farmers to go out into the property themselves to find their livestock or to open the gates for them. This poses great risk as the unpredictable nature of bushfires could put them in danger but they are willing to do this as protecting their livestock and livelihood is a top priority. Additionally, this research reinforced that there is minimal design support for farmers as a majority rely on visually identifying fires and protecting their livestock and properties themselves.

Time is the biggest thing… if you have more time you can prepare better

qld farmer 2025

She went looking for the cattle herself, you have to find them and open the gates while the fire is coming

qld farmer 2025

If there is a faster moving fire you would just hope that the cattle made it through

qld farmer 2025
Name
View My Research Report Here
File Type
application
File Size
1 MB
Download File

Design Ideation & Development

In the weeks following the completion of the research report an extensive ideation process was enacted. The initial proposed concept was developed during this period using a combination of sketching, prototyping, CAD iteration and further research. This process is what led to The Ember System, the final design which was refined using these methods.

The Solution

Ember

Ember is the solution for protecting your livestock without putting yourself in danger. Ember consists of three key components, the Gate Pod, LoRa Livestock Tag and Bluetooth Livestock Tag. These components combine to allow the user to monitor the air quality around their livestock and the location of the herd in real time and remotely operate their property gates all via their mobile device.

When the tag system alerts the user about high smoke levels, they can quickly open the gates that separate their livestock from a safe location, saving valuable time during bushfire emergencies. During the remainder of the year the system provides valuable data, allowing farmers to track movement, air quality and set up paddock access for their livestock all through their mobile device.

How IT Works

The Components of the ember system

The Gate Pod

Using the Gate Pod, users can remotely operate paddock gates that the pod is attached to. The pod is designed to be attached to the existing swing gates on the property (the most common gate type) removing the need to build specialised gates and reducing costs. The pod is mounted to the fence post using hex head bolts which can be done using common tools such as impact drivers. The hinge plate is then attached to the gate itself, connecting the arms. The articulated arms can then open and close the gate, making it remotely operatable thanks to LoRa connection (long range radio connection).

The device is powered by a lithium-ion recharging cell which stores energy from a solar panel placed on the top of the fence post. This power is used to drive the DC motor inside which operates the gears, opening and closing the gate as needed. This allows farmers to remotely operate their gates by simply attaching the gate pod to the gates already on their property.

LORA Livestock Tag

The LORA Tag is the primary livestock tag, used to connect to the user and send air quality and location data. Consisting of a three-part shell, the LoRa tag contains an air sensor and is powered by a solar panel and rechargeable coin cell. To connect to the system, the tag has a ceramic antenna built into the PCB to make it LoRa capable and to allow the Bluetooth tags to connect to it.

To make implementation as seamless as possible, the tag is designed to be pierced into the livestock ear using the same spike and applicators that are currently used by other ear tags and the shell can be embossed with identifiers for the cattle. This LoRa tag can facilitate 25 Bluetooth tags which send their data to the LoRa tag for it to be relayed to the user using the LoRa connection reducing tag costs and making upkeep easier.

Bluetooth Livestock Tag

The last piece in the Ember System, the Bluetooth Tag is what makes up the base of the system with it being the component used the most. As this tag is designed to keep costs down whilst maintaining effective data collection, the power system is different to the LoRa Tag, utilising a CR1616 coin battery instead of solar. This only needs changing every 12 months allowing farmers to add this into their regular livestock checkups.

As is the same with both the gate pod and the other livestock tag, there are silicone rubber gaskets to ensure that moisture does not damage any of the internals during the lengthy stints in tough outdoor conditions. Together these three components all gather valuable data and through real-time long-range connection, they can assist farmers during bushfire emergencies.

Design for Manufacture & Repair

Design for Manufacture & Repair
Ensuring that Ember was not only a feasible design to manufacture but also a simple and approachable system to use and maintain themselves. For this purpose, the manufacturing details were extremely important.

Ember utilises as many off the shelf internal components as possible for the Gate Pod and both Tags. This ensures that components can be easily maintained and are widely available when replacements are needed. As they are all intended to be outside and exposed to the elements permanently, all are sealed with silicone gaskets and material choices were made with this in mind. The result is a system which can be setup once and relied on during bushfire emergencies.

User Interface

The main touchpoint for users is the app interface which makes controlling the Ember System possible. As was discovered through the research phase of this project, farmers don’t like having additional devices and frequently said that they would prefer systems to utilise their phone as it was often all they had on them. The Ember connects to the user’s phone seamlessly with 4 key screens that the user will be interacting with, an alert, data monitoring, gate opening and map.

The main alert is used for bushfires. This alert is sent to the user’s phone when there are high levels of smoke detected around the livestock which could be hazardous or indicative of a fire. The data monitoring screen allows the user to check on different data from the sensors such as pollutants, humidity and movement in real time and look at changes over time.

The map screen is where the user can look at the location of their herd and see where alerts and data are being collected from. This screen can also be used to visualise which gates would best clear the way for the livestock in the event of a fire. Finally, the gate control screen is where the user can independently control each of the Gate Pods. with just the press of a button the user can open any gate and they can also set the ‘escape path’ a set of gates they can open at once from the alert screen in emergency situations.

Ember in context

Physical Concept Model

Nicholas Stephens

Nicholas is a passionate designer who combines creativity with technical skills to bring innovative concepts to life. With a skillset focused on prototyping, Solidworks CAD, Rendering softwares, he aims to tackle real world problems with innovative and function design solutions.