Dairy Animal Subgroup Management for Automated Milking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for managing dairy animals around milking robots are disrupted by dairy animals that are drying up, leading to delays and inefficiencies in the milking process.
Innovation Solution
A system that divides dairy animals into subgroups with synchronized insemination periods and separates pregnant animals to manage their lactation cycle phases, including calving, inmilking, and drying, using multiple milking robots and a computer to coordinate milking instructions and subgroup management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If dairy animals are milked fully automatically by a single milking robot, then automation level is improved, but productivity decreases due to disruptions from drying-up animals
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the dairy animal group into multiple subgroups with synchronized lactation cycles, allowing separate management of drying-up animals. This segmentation enables the milking robot to focus on active milk producers without disruption from animals being dried up, thereby maintaining high automation while improving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The computer system acts as an intermediary that coordinates between multiple milking robots and manages subgroup assignments. It processes data from sensors and controls robot operations, enabling automated management of complex subgroup dynamics without human intervention while maintaining high milking efficiency.
2Productivity
If dairy animals are separated into subgroups with synchronized lactation cycles, then productivity is improved by reducing delays, but device complexity increases due to multiple robots and coordination systems
Solution Approach 1:
Each milking robot is designed to be universally applicable to multiple subgroups, capable of milking animals from different subgroups interchangeably. This multi-functionality reduces the need for specialized equipment for each subgroup, managing system complexity while maintaining productivity benefits from subgroup synchronization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors and data processing that continuously monitor animal status, lactation cycle phase, and milking performance. This feedback loop allows the computer to dynamically adjust subgroup assignments and robot operations, optimizing productivity while automating the complexity management rather than requiring manual coordination.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If pregnant dairy animals are separated in a separate area around the beginning of the being dry phase, then harmful factors are reduced by preventing disruptions to the milking process, but loss of time occurs during separation and relocation operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates pregnant animals into dedicated subgroups and designates separate areas for drying-up animals before they disrupt the main milking process. By performing this separation in advance based on predicted calving dates and lactation cycle tracking, the system prevents disruptions before they occur rather than reacting to them, minimizing both harm and time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated system continuously monitors animal status and manages transitions between subgroups and areas without interrupting the overall milking operations. By orchestrating separations and relocations in the background while maintaining continuous milking of active producers, the system minimizes time loss while preventing disruptions.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for managing a group of dairy animals to be milked fully automatically, where the dairy animals go through a lactation cycle comprising phases of calving, inmilking, producing milk, and being dry. The system includes a computer executing program instructions for recording information and processing data indicating a division of the group of dairy animals into subgroups of a plurality of dairy animals, an insemination period determined per subgroup within which the dairy animals of the subgroup concerned are to be inseminated, which insemination period is so short that substantially all dairy animals in the subgroup concerned go simultaneously through the lactation cycle, and a separation of pregnant dairy animals of at least one of the subgroups in a separate area, around the beginning of the being dry phase of the subgroup concerned. The system also includes at least one milking robot for automatically milking the dairy animals, operatively connected to the computer for receiving first instructions from the computer for milking the dairy animals in the non-separated subgroups, and second instructions from the computer for milking the dairy animals in the separated subgroup in the separate area.