挤奶机器人中国研究现状

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Automatic milking systems (AMSs) for medium and large dairy farms in China require manual assistance to attach the teat cup, which greatly affects the milking efficiency and labor costs. In this regard, it is necessary to realize the automatic completion of cow teat attachment work. To address this issue, the authors developed a teat cup attachment robot for an AMS based on the theory of the solution of inventive problems (TRIZ). Specifically, we developed an enhanced algorithm for teat detection and designed a six-degree-of-freedom manipulator with integrated drive control. The design parameters were simulated and analyzed to validate their efficacy, while the rationality of the manipulator’s movement during teat cup attachment was verified. The maximum displacement and angle error of the cup was 1.625 mm and 1.216 mm, respectively, as verified by the teat cup attachment error test. A dynamic response test showed that the manipulator could follow the teat of the cow in real time. The attachment time for teat cups was 21 s per cow, with a success rate of 98%. The performance of the teat cup attachment robot was capable of meeting the automatic attachment teat cup needs for medium and large dairy farms during milking.

Aiming at the slow movement and small displacement of dairy cows in the pasture breeding process, but the target scale changes significantly, a SURF-KCF dairy cow teat tracking algorithm is proposed. The original KCF algorithm needs to locate the target before tracking, and the tracking frame cannot be adaptive with the scale of the target. The SURF feature detection is introduced to provide target features for the KCF algorithm to achieve automatic target matching; and the scale estimation strategy is used to achieve scale adaption of cow teat targets. The experimental results show that the proposed improved algorithm achieves cow teat target matching and localization as well as scale adaption of the target area, and long-term stable tracking. Finally, in the laboratory environment, the improved algorithm is applied to the three-degree-of-freedom robotic arm automatic milking robot to realize the cow teat positioning and tracking experiment. When the cow's teat is detected, the robotic arm can automatically move to the position of the cow's teat. Good results have been obtained after testing, which shows the feasibility and effectiveness of the cow teat positioning system.

In the course of the work, the authors developed a three-coordinate manipulator and a feedback system based on the udder profile scanner for the spatial orientation of the working body of the manipulator of the milking robotic installation. A significant advantage of the developed scanning system is the optimal design and acceptable accuracy of object detection. It was also demonstrated that the absolute error when moving the elements of the drive system of a three-coordinate manipulator does not exceed critical values and can be recommended for use in the design of a milking robotic installation.

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Graphical Abstract Summary: It is assumed that cows spend little time waiting for milking in free-flow automated milking systems (AMS), but this has not been assessed. We evaluated cows' (n = 40) milking time behavior and identified factors that influenced the time waiting to be milked in a free-flow AMS herd using video analysis over 2 days. Visit frequency and waiting time to access the robot to be milked were influenced by cows' stage of lactation and parity along with the robot's layout and design. In addition, longer waiting time was associated with shorter lying times. This study highlights the importance of minimizing waiting time to enhance cow comfort by reducing the risk for lameness.

The aims of this research were (1) to develop a model to simulate a herd of cows and quarter milk flowrates for a milking and derive quarter and udder milking durations and box duration (i.e., the time a cow spends inside the robot) for a group of cows milked with an automatic milking system (AMS); (2) to validate the simulation by comparing the model outcomes with empirical data from a commercial AMS dairy farm; and (3) to apply teatcup removal settings to the simulation to predict their effect on quarter and cow milking duration and box duration in an AMS. For model development, a data set from an AMS farm with 32 robots milking over 1,500 cows was used to fit the parameters to the variables days in milk, parity, and milking interval, which were subsequently used to create a herd of cows. A second data set from 2019 from an AMS farm with 1 robot milking 60 cows that contained quarter milk flowrates (at 2 s intervals) was used to extract the parameters necessary to simulate quarter milk flowrates for a milking. We simulated a herd of cows, and each was assigned a parity, days in milk, milking interval, and milk production rate. We also simulated milk flowrates every 1 s for each quarter of each cow. We estimated quarter milking duration as the total time that flowrate was greater than 0.1 kg/min after a minimum of 1 min of milk flow. We incorporated a randomly sampled attachment time for each quarter and calculated cow milking duration as the time from the first quarter attached to the last quarter detached. We included a randomly sampled preparation time which, added to cow milking duration, represented box duration. For simulation application, we tested the effect of quarter teatcup removal settings on quarter and cow milking duration. The settings were based on absolute flowrate (0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 kg/min) or a percentage of the quarter's 30-s rolling average milk flowrate (20, 30, and 50%). We simulated over 84,000 quarter milkings and found that quarter milking duration (average 212 s) had a mean absolute percent error (MAPE) of 7.5% when compared with actual data. Simulated cow milking duration (average 415 s) had a MAPE of 8%, and box duration (average 510 s) had a MAPE of 12%. From simulation application, we determined that quarter milking duration and box duration were reduced by 19% (209 vs. 170 s) and 6.5% (512 vs. 479 s), respectively, when increasing the teatcup removal flowrate from 0.2 to 0.6 kg/min. Quarter milking duration and box duration were 7% (259 vs. 241 s) and 3% (590 vs. 573 s) longer respectively by using a teatcup removal setting of 20% of the quarter's rolling average milk flowrate, compared with 30%. Both results agree with previous research. This simulation model is useful for predicting quarter and cow milking and box duration in a group of cows and to analyze the effect of milking management practices on milking efficiency.

The paper describes the introduction of robotic systems in the cow milking process. Some popular Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) are presented. Milking robots as essential part of an AMS are observed. Innovations in robotic milking are discussed.

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