CMC Newsletter November 2004 Version2 with new papers.qxp

Computer-controlled herding of cattle is the novel area of research being explored by CMC faculty member Daniela Rus and her group of cyber cowboys. Using an eTrex GPS, Zaurus PDA, small guitar amplifiers, and multihop wireless networking, the team has designed a cow collar which uses sounds to create virtual fences to guide cattle for roundup and to modify their grazing behavior. The team includes Dr. Peter Corke from CSIRO in Australia, Dr. Zack Butler from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Ron Peterson, staff engineer in the Dartmouth CS Department. They have also recently started working together with Dr. Dean Anderson, Research Animal Scientist from USDA's Jornada Experimental Range and Craig Hale of Future Segue who hold key patents on virtual fence technology. This research is definitely off the beaten path for the CMC team, notes Ron Peterson. "I never imagined that working on research in computer science would one day have me chasing cows across a Vermont pasture, trying to coax them to stand still so I could reconnect their computers."