In recent years, with the change in pet-keeping concepts, "scientific pet keeping" and "refined breeding" have become trends. The pet supplies market in China has witnessed an iterative development. Smart pet keeping and technological pet keeping have further driven the pet smart supplies industry to show a significant growth momentum. The application of RFID technology in pet smart devices has been a major development in recent years.
Through the precise identification of RFID technology, it can provide data support for pet owners to achieve intelligent and personalized feeding, bringing them a more convenient and efficient pet-keeping experience.
The reasons why RFID is suitable for smart pet devices:
Compared with other types of smart pet devices, smart pet devices with RFID technology have the following features:
(1) Precise identity recognition: RFID technology is not affected by environmental factors such as light and hair obstruction. It can accurately identify even in the dark, with an identification accuracy rate of over 99%. In multi-pet families, by equipping pets with RFID pet collars or implantable chips, the identity of each pet can be precisely identified, and precise and personalized feeding can be achieved through the RFID recognition device in the pet feeder.
(2) No need for pet cooperation: RFID technology features non-contact identification. Even when pets are active, it can accurately identify them without training them to perform operations such as "face scanning" or "paw pressing". In contrast, pet smart devices with fingerprint recognition or facial recognition require pets to remain relatively prohibited or cooperate with specific actions; otherwise, it is difficult to identify them.
(3) Data interaction and ecological closed loop: By using the RFID chip as the unique identity identifier of the pet and associating it with identity data, it is connected to the pet hospital system. By scanning and identifying the RFID chip of the pet, information such as the owner's contact details, the pet's medical records, and vaccination records can be obtained.
(4) Low power consumption and long service life: RFID tags are passive tags and do not require built-in batteries, thus avoiding frequent charging or battery replacement. The service life of RFID tags is generally over 10 years, and they can last for several years.
(5) Stable operation in complex environments: The pet activity scenarios are diverse (such as getting caught in the rain, rolling around, and being covered by hair). RFID tags are moisture-resistant, heat-resistant, and have strong anti-interference capabilities. The recognition distance can reach 20-30cm, which is far superior to the limitations of camera recognition in insufficient light or under obstruction.
Typical application scenarios
Smart feeder: It identifies the pet's identity through RFID and automatically matches the diet plan (such as limited feeding for puppies and prescription food for sick pets). When leaving, it automatically closes the food bowl to prevent food from being snatched.
Smart water dispenser: The water dispenser is equipped with an RFID reading and writing module. After identifying the pet collar or implanting a chip, it automatically records the drinking time, single drinking volume and average daily drinking frequency of each pet.
Smart cat litter box: An RFID module is installed at the entrance/inside the cat litter box. When a pet enters, it automatically records the time spent using the toilet and the duration of stay, as well as the defecation data of each pet. When the RFID continuously detects the pet tag in real time, it indicates that a pet is defecating. When the RFID module fails to recognize the pet tag (the pet has been away for ≥5 seconds), the smart cat litter box starts to automatically clean the litter box.
RFID technology, with its advantages such as precise identity recognition, low power consumption and long lifespan, strong anti-interference ability, and low cost, is perfectly compatible with smart pet devices.
