We need to put a Bird Flu Detection device on a Robotic Platform to travel up and down the rows of the Chicken Coups. Then identify those infected birds and burn the chickens, which are infected. If this virus adapts itself and combines with a human virus or flu then it could be literally unstoppable. SARS turned out to be quite a bad deal for the travel and tourism and general economics of those countries with cases. The CDC as well as Health and Disease Prevention Departments of many foreign governments have expressed the concern that an epidemic is possible. The Avian Flu can infect humans now, we are worried that it might combine with and form a new disease. We watched the spread of AIDS run away from us and modify itself into additional strands and continue to spread. Viruses, Pathogens, Diseases, Pox and Flues can evolve much faster than we are use to in the animal species we so carefully study.
The World Health Organization is very worried about this and the out going Health and Human Services Secretary, Mr. Tommy Thompson, made mention of it recently. So we know we need to watch the incoming food products coming into this country and protect our own bird populations here. Due to the incredible lobby of Tyson Foods we maybe surprised to learn of an initial cover up if in fact the virus starts to infect our food supplies. Tyson Foods fights for vengeance for it’s markets and it employs hundreds of thousands of people. We also must not forget the outbreak in New Castle, PA.
To prevent this, I propose a Robotic Chicken Coup Bio-Sensor Robot. The robot will be on tracks and patrol the chicken coups. A migratory bird could infect a Chicken Farm in the Carolinas on it’s way to sun in Florida for the Winter, thus introducing the infection to our food supply. Therefore just because no virus exists today amongst the chickens in the farm does not mean all chickens are safe tomorrow. There also currently exists the risk of human sabotage on our food supply from International Terrorism.
Robotic Sentinels would patrol the chicken coups at night traveling up and down the isles with sensors and RFID Readers. Each Coup would have RFID Tags on the gates, so it would record the readings during it’s travels up and down the rows. Recording temperatures for maximum growth and efficiency and to detect avian flu.
The poultry industry is huge in our country and is as big or bigger than the Beef Industry. We cannot afford to lose it or even risk the possibility of an outbreak such as occurred in; Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong; here in the United States. The Robots can insure this does not occur. Meanwhile we continue research on a vaccine for the birds and for humans. Computer modeling shows that an outbreak of Avian Flu in the United States could be more than only economically devastating. The robot would be on a track platform so it could be used in rural chicken farms with dirt floors;
[http://www-robot.mes.titech.ac.jp/robot/wh…vius/xevius.jpg]
The robot would have on it devices for sensing, which would identify the bird in question and an incinerator box attached, much similar to that of a Bomb Squad only scaled down to save costs as it does not have to be as strong. The motors can be smaller, lighter weight materials to save on price allowing the economies of scale to provide the additional costs savings to quickly ramp up the universal usage to protect the food supply.
[http://telepresence.dmem.strath.ac.uk/vehicle.jpg]
A robotic arm would be deployed with food to keep the bird from trying to get away.
[http://www.kelvin.com/Merchant2/merchant.m…uct_Code=841043]
It would then pick the bird up and place it in the onboard box incinerator and record the pen is missing one bird and real time notify the on board data center as to which pen, which was read as the robot passed the RFID tag on the pen. The robot would control the inventory and keep the disease out of the coup. The data would be able to be taken out by way of USB Thumb Drive by the morning attendant to update and sync the inventories.
RFID Tag tracking along with proper inventory control software can easily solve such problems with the poultry industry like it can the Beef Industry with BSE. Robotics can keep us safe from Avian Flu, by keeping humans away from any infected animal. Instant elimination of infected animal protects our food supply.
