Contactless Electric Fence Fault Detection System

Electric fence fault finding can be tedious and time consuming, something that farmers often do not have. This can have a direct impact on the farmer's lifestyle as the fence may become physically damaged, stock may escape, and time will be spent fixing these problems. This paper describes a technique to detect different types of faults in a farm electric fence system. The method of contactless fault finding is commonly used but the sensing device must be in very close proximity of the wire (<; 5 mm). However, the new method has been tested to be able to sense faults at large distances (> 1m) and the required detection system to be light weight. Ideally, in the future, this device would be able to be attached to a drone so it is able to autonomously detect faults.