Milk Quality Control in Milking Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods do not allow farmers to predict or control the quality of milk effectively, making it challenging to ensure milk meets specific requirements for different uses, such as human consumption or cheese production.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves milking animals, establishing a quality parameter, estimating the total milk quality in a tank, and collecting milk based on this estimation to achieve a desired quality level, using parameters like cell count values and historical data, and implementing this in a milking system with computer program products.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If milk from all animals is collected in a single tank without quality assessment, then collection efficiency is high and operation is simple, but the quality level of total milk cannot be controlled or predicted
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary quality assessment of milk from each animal before it enters the main tank. By measuring quality parameters (such as somatic cell count) at the point of collection and pre-calculating the impact on total tank quality, the system enables informed decisions about milk collection without requiring complex post-collection sorting or blending operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the quality of milk from individual animals and provides real-time feedback on how each animal's milk affects the overall quality of the tank. This feedback mechanism allows dynamic adjustment of collection decisions, ensuring the total milk quality remains within desired ranges while maintaining simple collection operations.
2Measurement precision
If milk quality is assessed for each animal individually, then quality prediction accuracy improves, but measurement and processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial quality assessment by measuring only the most critical quality parameters (such as somatic cell count) rather than performing complete quality analysis on every sample. This selective measurement approach provides sufficient accuracy for collection decisions while minimizing the time penalty associated with comprehensive quality assessment of each animal's milk.
3Reliability
If milk from low-quality animals is discarded, then overall milk quality improves, but milk loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the quality threshold for milk acceptance based on the current composition and quality level of milk already in the tank. By calculating how each new batch of milk from an individual animal will change the overall quality parameters of the tank contents, the system can make optimized decisions that preserve milk from animals that would otherwise be discarded, while still meeting minimum quality requirements for the final product.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for collecting milk in a milk tank. The method comprises the steps of: milking a milking animal of a herd of milking animals by means of a milking station; establishing a quality parameter for the milk obtained from the milking animal during the milking; estimating a quality level of the total amount of milk in a milk tank connected to the milking station, wherein the estimation is based at least on the quality parameter; and collecting, in the milk tank, the milk obtained from the step of milking if the result from the estimation indicates that the quality of the total amount of milk in the milk tank would then result in a desired quality level. The invention also relates to computer program products and a milking system.