Milking robot with auxiliary lighting

Abstract

Provided is a milking robot for dairy cattle, equipped with milking equipment, a robotic arm for attaching the milking equipment, a detection device for determining teat positions, and a control system. The detection device comprises a primary source for emitting broadband light, specifically white light, within a solid angle, and an optical camera for capturing images using the emitted light. The control system is designed to control the emission behavior of said broadband light depending on a criterion, which at least entails that the control system increases the light intensity emitted by the primary source—at least within a part of said solid angle—only at a predetermined minimum ambient light intensity. This prevents the dairy cattle from being disturbed by flashing light in dark conditions.On the other hand, the extra light results in more reliable images if the environment itself is already (somewhat) bright, and the animals are therefore no longer disturbed by it.