Validation of an indoor real-time location system for tracking sheep

Precision livestock technologies such as remote sensors are increasingly used to monitor the health, behavior, and welfare of livestock. We aimed to evaluate the performance of a commercially available ultra-wideband real-time location system (UWB RTLS) for tracking the 2D spatial locations and distances traveled by meat-breed ewes and lambs in an indoor barn. First, we assessed static performance by attaching the sensors to stationary posts and arranging them in a 1 x 1 m grid throughout the barn (29.0 x 11.8 m) for a total of 285 locations. At each post location, the sensors were placed at approximate ewe (0.9 m) and lamb (0.3 m) wither height. The precise 2D locations of each post were recorded using a laser tape measurer and used as the ground truth for comparison to the RTLS’ recorded x and y coordinates. Secondly, we conducted a dynamic validation test to evaluate the positional error and percent error of distances traveled while the sensors were worn by six free-roaming ewes and ..., Please see the description in the associated research publication., , # Validation of an Indoor Real-Time Location System for Tracking Sheep

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d7wm37q9b](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d7wm37q9b)

## Description of the data and file structure

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These materials provide the data and R scripts used in this experiment and are referenced in the corresponding paper by the same name.

In this experiment, we aimed to test the static and dynamic performance of an ultra-wideband (UWB) real-time location system (RTLS). We assessed static performance by attaching the sensors to stationary posts and arranging them in a 1 x 1 m grid throughout the barn (28.96 x 11.81 m). At each post location, the sensors were placed at approximate ewe (0.9 m) and lamb (0.3 m) wither height to determine whether height affected positional error. Location data were recorded for approximately one minute. The precise 2D locations of each post were recorded using a laser tape measurer and used as the ground truth for comparison to the system’s recorded coord...