Building a digital teat model with information about the width variation of a teat and the height of the teat

Abstract

In a robotic milking system, the positions of a dairy cow's teats are determined for the automatic attachment of milking cups to the teats. This is done by projecting a light beam onto the teats using a projection system and detecting light originating from the projection system, which is reflected by the teats, after which the detection is interpreted. In the robotic milking system, the detected light is given an additional application: building a digital teat model for each teat, containing information about the teat's width and height. By using the data provided by the detection system, the digital teat model can be obtained without affecting the basic setup of the robotic milking system or the flow of a milking session.