System and method for monitoring position of dairy cow in milking machine

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for monitoring the position of a dairy cow in a milking machine. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring image data of any dairy cow channel; determining a target dairy cow entering the dairy cow channel according to the image data of any dairy cow channel; acquiring a mark on the body of the target dairy cow; after the target dairy cows enter the critical positions of the milking positions of the milking machine in sequence, identity tags of the targets are obtained according to the sequence; after it is determined that the current milking position of the milking machine completely enters the target according to the sequence, the identity tag of the target dairy cow is consistent with the position tag entering the milking position, and information of the target dairy cow at the milking position is determined; after the critical position of the milking position is determined to enter the target dairy cows in parallel or in advance, the identity tag of each target dairy cow is obtained at the same time; after it is determined that the current milking position completely enters the target dairy cow in advance, the identity label of the target dairy cow is inconsistent with the position label entering the current milking position, and the target dairy cow at the current milking position is updated to be the target dairy cow entering in advance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of dairy product production and relates to a monitoring system and method for the position of a dairy cow in a milking machine. Background Art

[0002] In dairy farming, it is very important to know the health status, reproductive status, feeding management and other information of each cow. Traditional dairy farming management mainly relies on manual observation and record-keeping, which is not only inefficient but also prone to errors. In recent years, with the continuous development of Internet of Things technology, more and more intelligent devices are monitoring the health level of dairy cows. However, because dairy cows are living animals and often move around and move positions, the potential of these devices in optimizing farming management cannot be fully utilized.

[0003] In modern large-scale ranches, the number of dairy cows is huge, and it becomes difficult to provide individual care for each cow. In order to better record the output of each cow during milking, card recognition technologies such as ear tags, neck rings, and leg rings are often used. However, since cows are living animals, they often move around, compete for passages, stop walking and block passages, etc., which leads to situations where cows fail to enter the scheduled milking position after card recognition, such as exchanging positions before and after entering the milking machine, skipping positions, etc., resulting in mismatching of the data of the cow's milk output and the cow's location. In addition, if two cows enter the milking machine channel at the same time and scan the corresponding ear numbers one after another, it will also cause data confusion. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately locate the position of each cow entering the milking machine and solve the problem of multiple cows entering at the same time to ensure data accuracy and security.

[0004] Based on the above problems, the present invention proposes a monitoring system and method for the position of a dairy cow in a milking machine. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system for the position of a cow in a milking machine. By arranging multiple sensors at multiple positions in a dairy farm to sense the position information of the cow in the milking machine, the point at which each cow enters the milking machine can be accurately located, and the problem of multiple cows entering the milking position at the same time is solved, ensuring data accuracy and security.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0007] Get image data of any cow channel;

[0008] Determine at least one target cow entering the cow channel according to the image data of any cow channel;

[0009] Obtain the identity tags of all target cows;

[0010] Associating the identity tag of each target cow with the milking position tag of the milking machine corresponding to the cow channel to obtain the corresponding data of the target cow and the milking position;

[0011] After determining that the milking cow has completely entered the current milking position of the milking machine, obtaining the identity mark of the milking cow;

[0012] Furthermore, the identity tag of each target cow is associated with the milking position tag of the milking machine corresponding to the cow channel to obtain the corresponding data of the target cow and the milking position. After that, the method further includes: after determining at least one cow to be milked that has entered the critical point of the milking position of the milking machine, the identity tags of the cows to be milked are determined according to the sequence of the at least one cow to be milked;

[0013] The milking position that each cow to be worked is about to enter is determined by the rotation of the milking machine and the sequence of at least one cow to be worked, and the corresponding data of the cow to be worked and the milking position are obtained;

[0014] Determine whether the data corresponding to the cow to be operated and the milking position are consistent with the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position, and whether the target cow or the cow to be operated is consistent. If they are consistent, determine to maintain the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position; if they are inconsistent, modify the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position to be the cow to be operated.

[0015] Furthermore, the obtaining of identity tags of all target cows specifically includes: determining the cows in the image by an image recognition method, and then identifying digital codes on the cows' bodies.

[0016] Furthermore, the obtaining of the identity mark of the milking cow specifically includes: determining the identity mark of the milking cow by reading a radio frequency tag set at the ear of the milking cow.

[0017] A monitoring system for the position of a cow in a milking machine, characterized by comprising: a control unit, a visual sensing unit, an image recognition sensing unit, a cow identity reading unit, a cow channel, and a milking machine;

[0018] The cow passage is used to drive the cows to walk towards the milking machine at the end of the cow passage;

[0019] The milking machine is provided with a plurality of milking positions, and the plurality of milking positions rotate clockwise or counterclockwise;

[0020] The visual sensing unit is arranged above the end of the cow passage, and is used to collect image data of the cow passage and transmit it to the image recognition sensing unit;

[0021] The image recognition sensor unit is arranged above the end of the cow channel and is used to recognize the identity mark of the cow in the image data and the current milking position number corresponding to the cow entering the channel;

[0022] The cow identity reading unit is arranged at the critical position of the milking position of the milking machine and is used to read the cow identity tag;

[0023] The control unit is connected to the visual sensing unit, the image recognition sensing unit and the cow identity reading unit respectively, and is used to establish the corresponding data between the target cow and the milking position, and to modify the corresponding data between the target cow and the milking position.

[0024] Furthermore, the cow identity reading unit adopts an RFID reader.

[0025] Furthermore, the cow identity tag is an RFID tag, and the RFID tag is worn on the cow's ear.

[0026] The present invention adopts the above technical solution, which has the following advantages:

[0027] Compared with the existing technology, this solution can accurately record the milking position of each cow entering the milking machine through in-situ recognition technology, ensuring the accuracy of the data on the milk produced by the cow and the cow's location; this helps ranch managers accurately understand the individual milk production, health and pregnancy status of each cow, and conduct accurate data analysis and decision-making. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the monitoring system for the position of a dairy cow in a milking machine according to the present invention.

[0029] Figure 2 The data transmission block diagram of the monitoring system for the position of a dairy cow in a milking machine of the present invention.

[0030] The reference numerals are as follows: 1-cow channel, 2-milking machine, 3-milking position, 4-cow identity tag, 5-cow identity reading unit, 6-visual sensing unit, 7-image recognition sensing unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings so that the purpose, features and advantages of the present invention can be more clearly understood. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, but are only intended to illustrate the essential spirit of the technical solution of the present invention.

[0032] The present invention relates to a monitoring system for the position of a dairy cow in a milking machine, which comprises a plurality of sensors arranged at a plurality of positions in a dairy farm to sense the position information of the dairy cow; a control system automatically identifies the position information of the dairy cow; the technology can accurately and efficiently identify the position information of the dairy cow without interfering with the activities of the dairy cow or installing a dairy cow identification device at each milking position, thereby providing help for optimizing the management of dairy cow breeding.

[0033] In the milk and dairy production industry, many dairy farms now use large-scale milking machines, such as rotary milking machines, herringbone milking machines, etc. Each milking machine has many milking positions, which can support dozens to hundreds of cows to be milked at the same time, greatly improving the efficiency of the dairy production industry. However, there is also a hidden danger that is, if the milk quality is poor, we need to quickly find out the source of the milk. Therefore, when the cow enters the entrance of the milking machine, we need to determine the cow corresponding to the milking position and take certain measures for the cow to reduce losses. Therefore, we need to accurately identify the position where the cow enters the milking machine.

[0034] Example 1

[0035] Based on the above problems, Figure 1 The present invention provides a method for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine, the method comprising:

[0036] Step 1: Obtain image data of any cow channel;

[0037] Step 2: determining at least one target cow entering the cow channel according to the image data of any cow channel;

[0038] Step 3: Obtain the identity tags of all target cows;

[0039] Specifically, the cow in the image is determined by an image recognition method, and then the digital code on the cow's body is identified.

[0040] Step 4: Associating the identity tag of each target cow with the milking position tag of the milking machine corresponding to the cow channel to obtain the corresponding data of the target cow and the milking position;

[0041] Step 5: After determining that the milking cow has completely entered the current milking position of the milking machine, obtain the identity mark of the milking cow;

[0042] Specifically, the identity mark of the milking cow is determined by reading the radio frequency tag set at the ear of the milking cow.

[0043] Specifically, if the identity mark of the milking cow is consistent with the identity mark of the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position, the milking cow is determined to be the target cow, and the milking operations of the target cow are counted.

[0044] Specifically, if the identity mark of the milking cow is inconsistent with the identity mark of the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position, the identity mark of the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position is modified to the identity mark of the milking cow, and the milking operations of the milking cow are counted.

[0045] In actual use, the image of the head, back, side and rear of each cow is collected by a camera or a visual sensor, and the collected image is processed by an image processing algorithm, and the number on the cow and the body part of the cow after processing are used as image identification. At least one target cow enters the channel, and the image identification on the target cow is identified and associated with the digital label on the milking position. After waiting for the milking position of the milking machine to completely enter the milking cow, the image identification of the milking cow is obtained, and the image identification of the target cow is compared with the image identification of the milking cow. If they are consistent, it is determined that the milking cow is the target cow, and the milking operation of the target cow is counted. If they are inconsistent, the identity mark of the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the corresponding data of the target cow and the milking position is modified to the identity mark of the milking cow, and the milking operation of the milking cow is counted.

[0046] In the actual milking operation, it is possible that the identity-marked cow No. 1 stops at the channel and does not move, causing the milking machine turntable to turn the milking position No. n to the current position n+1 when it should normally enter the milking position No. n. At this time, cow No. 1 is either milking to enter the empty milking position No. n+1 or waiting to enter the milking position No. n+2. The information of cow No. 1 does not correspond to the milking position information. At this time, it is determined whether cow No. 1 enters the milking position No. n+1 or the milking position No. n+2. After the milking position is determined, the operating cow of the milking position is updated to cow No. 1.

[0047] There may also be a phenomenon of competing for channels. Cow No. 1 wants to enter milking position No. n, and cow No. 2 wants to enter milking position No. n+1. At this time, cow No. 2 jumps over cow No. 1 and enters milking position No. n or milking position No. n+3 first, making the cow information inconsistent with the milking position information. At this time, it is determined whether cow No. 2 enters milking position No. n or milking position No. n+3. After the milking position is determined, the operating cow in the milking position is updated to cow No. 2.

[0048] Specifically, the identity tag of each target cow is associated with the milking position tag of the milking machine corresponding to the cow channel to obtain the corresponding data of the target cow and the milking position. After that, the method further includes: after determining at least one cow to be milked that enters the critical point of the milking position of the milking machine, the identity tags of the cows to be milked are determined according to the sequence of the at least one cow to be milked;

[0049] The milking position that each cow to be worked is about to enter is determined by the rotation of the milking machine and the sequence of at least one cow to be worked, and the corresponding data of the cow to be worked and the milking position are obtained;

[0050] Determine whether the data corresponding to the waiting cow and the milking position and the target cow and the milking position corresponding data are consistent. If they are consistent, determine to maintain the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position; if they are inconsistent, modify the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position to the waiting cow.

[0051] The above method is mainly to obtain the milking position where the cow finally enters the milking machine, so as to improve production efficiency and milk quality. By identifying the standing position of the cow, the main body of the produced milk can be accurately confirmed to avoid operating errors or injuries to the cow.

[0052] Example 2

[0053] like Figure 2 A monitoring system for the position of a cow in a milking machine comprises a control unit, a visual sensor unit 6, an image recognition sensor unit 7, a cow identity reading unit 5, a cow channel 1, and a milking machine 2;

[0054] Cow channel 1 is used to drive cows to walk to the milking machine at the end of the cow channel;

[0055] A plurality of milking positions 3 are arranged on the milking machine 2, and the plurality of milking positions 3 rotate clockwise or counterclockwise;

[0056] The visual sensor unit 6 is arranged above the end of the cow passage, and is used to collect image data of the cow passage and transmit it to the image recognition sensor unit 7; the visual sensor is used to capture images or videos, and the cow's standing position is analyzed through the image processing and computer vision algorithm in the control unit, and the images of the head, back, side and rear of each cow are extracted and collected, and the collected images are processed by the image processing algorithm, and the number and body part of the cow after processing are used as image identification, and pattern recognition and classification are performed. The visual sensor can provide accurate cow position judgment, which is suitable for the appearance and morphology of different cows.

[0057] The image recognition sensor unit 7 is arranged above the end of the cow channel, and is used to recognize the identity mark of the cow in the image data and the current milking position number corresponding to the cow entering the channel; the image recognition sensor will identify the cow and return the cow's position information.

[0058] The cow identity reading unit 5 is arranged at the critical position of the milking position of the milking machine, and is used to read the cow identity tag 4;

[0059] The control unit is connected to the visual sensing unit 6, the image recognition sensing unit 7, and the cow identity reading unit 5 respectively, and is used to establish the corresponding data between the target cow and the milking position, and to modify the corresponding data between the target cow and the milking position.

[0060] Furthermore, the cow identity reading unit 5 uses an RFID reader, and the cow identity tag 4 uses an RFID tag, which is worn on the cow's ear. The RFID tag worn on the cow's ear is combined with the RFID reader to determine the position and identity; the characteristic is that it can realize fast and accurate cow identification, which is suitable for large-scale cow management.

[0061] like Figure 2 As shown. The visual sensing unit 6 collects video or image signals and transmits them to the image recognition sensing unit 7; the image recognition sensing unit 7 processes the video or image collected by the visual sensing unit 6, and transmits the processed data to the control system (data processing software and hardware system) via the public telecommunication network; the cow identity reading unit 5 transmits the collected cow identity information to the control system via the public telecommunication network.

[0062] like Figure 1-2 As shown. The present invention can accurately record the position of each cow entering the milking machine through the combined application of visual sensors and image recognition sensors, ensuring the accuracy of the data on the milk produced by the cows and the location of the cows. This helps ranch managers better understand the milk production of cows and conduct accurate data analysis and decision-making.

[0063] The present invention realizes the process of cows autonomously entering the milking machine and positioning themselves by combining the rotatable milking machine system and the RFID reader; this reduces the manual workload, improves the efficiency of the milking process, and also reduces the errors and risks caused by human operation.

[0064] The present invention connects the visual sensing unit, the image recognition sensing unit and the cow identity reading unit through the control unit, so as to establish the historical data and behavior patterns of the cows, and identify the potential health problems or disease risks of the cows through analysis and comparison; this helps to predict and prevent potential diseases, and take intervention measures in time to ensure the health and production capacity of the cows.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine, characterized in that: The method comprises: Get image data of any cow channel; Determine at least one target cow entering the cow channel according to the image data of any cow channel; Obtain the identity tags of all target cows; Associating the identity tag of each target cow with the milking position tag of the milking machine corresponding to the cow channel to obtain the corresponding data of the target cow and the milking position; After determining that the milking cow has completely entered the current milking position of the milking machine, obtaining the identity mark of the milking cow; If the identity mark of the milking cow is consistent with the identity mark of the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position, the milking cow is determined to be the target cow, and the milking operation of the target cow is counted.

2. The method for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further includes: if the identity mark of the milking operation cow is inconsistent with the identity mark of the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position, modifying the identity mark of the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position to the identity mark of the milking operation cow, and counting the milking operations of the milking operation cow.

3. The method for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: after associating the identity tag of each target cow with the milking position tag of the milking machine corresponding to the cow channel to obtain the corresponding data of the target cow and the milking position, determining the identity tags of the cows to be milked according to the sequence of the at least one cow to be milked after determining that at least one cow to be milked has entered the critical position of the milking position of the milking machine; The milking position that each cow to be worked is about to enter is determined by the rotation of the milking machine and the sequence of at least one cow to be worked, and the corresponding data of the cow to be worked and the milking position are obtained; Determine whether the data corresponding to the cow to be operated and the milking position and the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the milking position are consistent. If they are consistent, determine to maintain the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position; if they are inconsistent, modify the target cow corresponding to the milking position in the data corresponding to the target cow and the milking position to the cow to be operated.

4. The method for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The obtaining of the identity marks of all target cows specifically includes: determining the cows in the image by an image recognition method, and then identifying the digital codes on the cows' bodies.

5. The method for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine according to claim 4, characterized in that: The obtaining of the identity mark of the milking cow specifically includes: determining the identity mark of the milking cow by reading a radio frequency tag set at the ear of the milking cow.

6. A system for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine, characterized in that: It comprises a control unit, a visual sensing unit (6), an image recognition sensing unit (7), a cow identity reading unit (5), a cow channel (1), and a milking machine (2); The cow passage is used to drive the cows to walk towards the milking machine at the end of the cow passage; The milking machine is provided with a plurality of milking positions, and the plurality of milking positions rotate clockwise or counterclockwise; The visual sensing unit (6) is arranged above the end of the cow passage and is used to collect image data of the cow passage and transmit it to the image recognition sensing unit (7); The image recognition sensor unit (7) is arranged above the end of the cow channel and is used to recognize the identity mark of the cow in the image data and the current milking position number corresponding to the cow entering the channel; The cow identity reading unit (5) is arranged at the critical position of the milking position of the milking machine and is used to read the cow identity tag (4); The control unit is respectively connected to the visual sensing unit (6), the image recognition sensing unit (7) and the cow identity reading unit (5) and is used to establish corresponding data between the target cow and the milking position, and to modify the corresponding data between the target cow and the milking position.

7. A system for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine according to claim 6, characterized in that: The cow identity reading unit (5) adopts an RFID reader.

8. A system for monitoring the position of a cow in a milking machine according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that: The cow identity tag (4) is an RFID tag, and the RFID tag is worn on the cow's ear.

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