Computer method and apparatus for tagless tracking of livestock

1 . A computer method for livestock tracking and biometric identification, comprising:

receiving, into a computer, a first digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames from one or more digital image capture devices, the first digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames including a plurality of livestock locations;

assigning a digital identity to each livestock individual;

tracking locations of the livestock individuals as the livestock mill about;

receiving a second digital video or digital photographic frame including at least a portion of a biometric identification area of an individual livestock body;

performing a biometric deep sort to produce at least a portion of an individual livestock biometric identity, whereby said step of performing comprises identifying, on a grid, relative locations of individual livestock biometric markers, and storing the grid locations in an individual livestock biometric identity record in a livestock population model; and

associating the individual livestock biometric identity with the corresponding livestock digital identity.

2 . The computer method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying a labeled image on an electronic display, the labeled image including the current digital identities corresponding each livestock individual.

3 . The computer method of claim 1 , wherein tracking locations of the livestock individuals as the livestock mill about is performed using a Kalman filter.

4 . The computer method of claim 1 , wherein performing the biometric deep sort further comprises operating a Harris feature to locate livestock biometric markers.

5 . The computer method of claim 1 , wherein the individual livestock biometric markers include at least two selected from the group consisting of a corner of an eye, a corner formed by a horn, a corner formed by an ear, a snout corner, a hide color corner, a hoof corner, and a tail corner.

6 . The computer method of claim 1 , wherein identifying individual biometric markers includes:

assigning classes of livestock body surface features; and

performing a semantic segmentation to classify each pixel as belonging to a livestock body surface feature.

7 . The computer method of claim 6 , wherein assigning classes of livestock body surface features includes assigning livestock eye and livestock snout classes.

8 . The computer method of claim 6 , wherein assigning classes of livestock body surface features includes assigning livestock eye corners and assigning livestock snout corners.

9 . The computer method of claim 1 , wherein the first digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames includes a wider angle view including a plurality of livestock in the frame; and

wherein the second digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames includes a narrower angle view that includes less than all of the plurality of livestock in the frame.

10 . The computer method of claim 9 , wherein the narrower angle view primarily includes at least a portion of an individual livestock.

11 . The computer method of claim 9 , wherein the narrower angle view consists essentially of the biometric identification area of the individual livestock's body.

12 . The computer method of claim 1 , further comprising:

tracking an individual livestock as the livestock mill about, the individual livestock nominally being assigned a livestock digital identity;

performing a second biometric identification of the individual livestock; and

verifying that the tracked individual livestock is the individual livestock associated with the livestock digital identity.

13 . The computer method of claim 1 , further comprising:

tracking individual livestock as the livestock mill about, the individual livestock nominally being assigned livestock digital identities;

receiving the second digital video or digital photographic frame corresponding to one of the individual livestock and including at least a portion of the biometric identification area of the individual livestock body;

performing biometric identification of the individual livestock;

determining the individual livestock does not match a biometric identity of an individual livestock and

associating the individual livestock biometric identity with the corresponding livestock digital identity.

14 . The computer method of claim 1 , further comprising:

tracking a first individual livestock as the livestock mill about, the first individual livestock nominally being assigned a livestock digital identity;

performing biometric identification of the first individual livestock;

determining that the tracked first individual livestock is an individual livestock associated with a different livestock digital identity than an incorrect livestock digital identity currently assigned to the first individual livestock; and

assigning the correct livestock digital identity to the first individual livestock.

15 . The computer method of claim 14 , further comprising:

assigning the incorrect livestock digital identity previously associated with the first individual livestock to a second individual livestock.

16 . The computer method of claim 1 , wherein the livestock are cows and/or steers.

17 . A computer method for livestock tracking and biometric identification, comprising:

receiving, into a computer, a first digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames from one or more digital image capture devices, the first digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames including a plurality of livestock locations;

assigning a digital identity to each livestock individual;

tracking locations of the livestock individuals as the livestock mill about;

receiving a second digital video or digital photographic frame including at least a portion of a biometric identification area of an individual livestock body;

performing a biometric deep sort to produce at least a portion of an individual livestock biometric identity;

associating the individual livestock biometric identity with the corresponding livestock digital identity:

tracking an individual livestock as the livestock mill about, the individual livestock nominally being assigned a livestock digital identity;

performing biometric identification of the individual livestock;

determining that the biometric identity includes biometric markers not previously included in the biometric identity of the individual livestock; and

augmenting the biometric identity with the additional biometric markers.

18 . The computer method of claim 17 , wherein the first digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames includes a wider angle view including a plurality of livestock in the frame; and

wherein the second digital video or sequence of digital photographic frames includes a narrower angle view that includes less than all of the plurality of livestock in the frame.

19 . The computer method of claim 18 , wherein the narrower angle view primarily includes at least a portion of an individual livestock.

20 . The computer method of claim 18 , wherein the narrower angle view consists essentially of the biometric identification area of the individual livestock's body.