Estimating pig weight using image analysis techniques

Measurement of pig's weight is very important in pig production. But the traditional method, driving the pigs to a balance, requires much labor and most importantly annoys the pigs, which in turn affects their growth. To avoid this problem, this paper presents a new method that utilizes the technologies of image processing and computer vision. Firstly, the projected areas of the pig's image captured directly from top view are computed. Secondly, the heights are obtained from side view. Then the pig's weight is estimated by the projected areas and heights. By comparing with the real weight, the mean relative error is 3.2%. The experiment indicates that this hands-off method has great significance in scientific management of the pig's production which does not require large labor and material resources, and also avoid the loss in production resulted from stress.