Innovative AI system helps dairy farmers spot lameness in time

Coláiste Mhuire Fifth Year students Sam O’Farrell from Drumcree and Connor Cassidy from Delvin have developed an automated solution to one of the dairy industry’s most persistent and costly problems: bovine lameness.

Their project, titled ‘Gaitkeeper’, utilises low-cost sensor technology and artificial intelligence to identify struggling animals long before the human eye might notice a problem.

The inspiration for the project came from the staggering impact lameness has on both animal welfare and a farm’s bottom line. To quantify the damage, the duo tracked two cows that calved at the same time – one healthy and one lame. “The lame cow produced 10 litres of milk, while the other produced 33 litres,” Connor Cassidy explained. “A difference of 23 litres is a serious loss for the farmer.”

Beyond the financial hit, the boys emphasised the ethical necessity of their work, noting that lame cows suffer from chronic pain, eat less, and spend uncomfortable amounts of time lying down.

Sam outlined how Gaitkeeper brings 21st-century technology to the farmyard to replace manual, time-consuming inspections. The system is powered by a Raspberry Pi board equipped with an infrared sensor and a camera. Using custom Python-based software, the system analyses the specific gait or walking pattern of each cow as it passes by.

“A lot of what’s done now is very manual and time-consuming,” Sam said.

“This speeds up the process, saves a lot of working hours, and it’s innovative. It’s good for the future of farming.”

To ensure individual tracking, each cow is fitted with a QR code on its ear tag.

When the camera identifies a cow showing signs of lameness, the data is instantly synced to a mobile app.

“You can see each cow individually, and you can also get an overview of the entire herd,” Connor added.

A major goal for the Gaitkeeper team was affordability. While automated detection systems do exist, the boys noted they are often too expensive for the average family farm.

However, real-time trialling has presented the inventors with some rugged Irish challenges.

They are currently refining the system to handle low-light winter conditions that can reduce video quality, as well as developing workarounds for when ear tags become obscured by mud or damage.

By fine-tuning such hardware limitations, Sam and Connor hope to make Gaitkeeper a standard, cost-effective tool for every dairy farmer in the country.