Patent ID: 7705736

Claim:
An apparatus for data logging of environmental and physiological variables for domestic and feral animals comprising: a) a ruggadized collar; b) a releasable buckle element for securing and releasing said collar at a predetermined time thereby enabling the user to locate and retrieve the collar without having to track the subject animal; c) a data acquisition and transmission module disposed on said collar comprising: i) a housing having a base, a cover, fasteners with mating fastener recesses and a watertight housing ring seal disposed between said cover and said base; ii) a GPS receiver; iii) a 2 axis accelerometer angle sensor to provide data regarding the pitch and roll angle of the collar that is utilized to determine the physiological activity of the subject animal; iv) a temperature sensor that is thermally insulated from the collar to optimize the accuracy of data regarding the temperature of the ambient air; v) a VHF transceiver having a related tuning table file containing calibration and radio data to enable the user to set the outpost frequency for that specific collar; vi) a programmable memory card with related circuit board for storing data to configure and initiate selectable periodic operation of the various components and storing data acquired therefrom; and vii) a memory card storage port with access door and watertight seal; d) a field replaceable power supply module disposed on said collar having at least one battery disposed therein wherein said batteries are replaced by switching out said power supply module from said collar; e) an external magnet slot for receiving an enable/disable magnet which disables said unit when placed in said slot and enables it when removed therefrom; and f) means for receiving and interpreting a beacon and data transmitted by said VHF transceiver.