Sheep Watch Collar project is an enterprise winner

Sean McMahon

 

Four first year students at St Oliver Post Primary in Oldcastle, two from Cavan and two from Meath, scooped the junior category award at the 12th annual Student Enterprise Awards for their innovative product.
Emma McCabe (14) from Mountnugent, Edel Campbell (13) from Moylagh, Zoe Maguire (13) from Mountnugent and Ricardas Cepanauskas (14) from Oldcastle caught the eye of the judges with their innovative 'Sheep Watch Electronic Collar’. Their teacher, Ciara McConnell, told The Anglo-Celt: “We knew it was a good project, but you never expect to win. They just put in so much effort over the past couple of months – they worked really hard at it – they deserved to win.”

The new device is designed to alert farmers when their sheep are about to be attacked by dogs or are close to lambing. The collars cost between €20 to €25 each, while the accompanying transmitter box costs €50.
The collar has a pulse monitor and when the sheep’s pulse elevates above normal for a sustained duration, the device sends a VHF signal to a GSM receiver. The farmer then receives a text to inform him that his sheep are under stress.

Emma developed the idea together with her friends Edel, Zoe and Ricardas and they entered it in the junior category of the Meath County Enterprise Competition and emerged victorious.
Emma: “We were having a brain storming session in Ms McConnell’s Business Class and we were trying to find solutions to solve the problem of sheep worrying and that is how the basis of the idea came about.

“The sheep wear a collar, which has a pulse monitor. When the sheep are under attack or being chased by a dog, their heart rate quickens. The monitor will alert the farmer by text to let him know that his sheep are being attacked. It will also activate an ultra-sonic sounder, which only the dog can hear.” Emma adds that the collar will save farmers from expensive veterinary bills for treating the sheep, together with saving the lives of the sheep.

What a wonderful creative idea, except Emma and her team mates did not have the finance to bring the product to market. They then set about raising money via the crowd - funding 'Fund It’ and to date they have raised €6,300 from the public. They are endeavouring to raise €10,000 with a view to develop a prototype.

Tallaght Institute of Technology and Terence Bonnar from RTM Ltd is working with the students and they hope to have the product on the shelves for next year’s lambing season.
Their research on sheep behaviour has suggested that about one sheep in eight would require a collar, as the sheep tend to break into groups, when disturbed. “We are confident that it is a good idea and we have farmers looking to buy collars already,” said Emma McCabe.

Those interested in pledging funding to the project can log onto: http://fundit.ie/project/sheep-watch/