Milking Robot Arm Spring Weight Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current milking robot devices face challenges in robustness, animal safety, varying animal dimensions, contamination resistance, and high energy consumption, as they are not optimally designed to handle kicks, diverse animal sizes, and the harsh milking stall environment.
Innovation Solution
A milking robot device with a robot arm featuring a weight compensation system using a spring device to reduce the torque exerted by gravity, allowing for a larger operating range and higher joint suspension, which reduces the weight and energy requirements of the actuators, making the system more compact and safer for animals and operators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot arm is configured to be very robust to handle kicks from dairy animals, then the reliability and safety improve, but the weight increases and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a spring device as a weight compensation mechanism that exerts counteracting torques about the first and second joints to compensate for the torque exerted by gravity on the robot arm. This reduces the energy required by actuators to move the heavy robust robot arm, directly resolving the contradiction between robustness and energy consumption
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the joints are positioned higher above the ground to reduce contamination, then the cleanliness and safety improve, but the operating range decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a two-joint arm mechanism where the first joint provides horizontal positioning and the second joint provides vertical adjustment. This dimensional decomposition allows the joints to be positioned high above ground level while still achieving the necessary operating range through coordinated movement in multiple dimensions
3Device complexity
If the robot arm is made more compact to reduce space requirements, then the device complexity decreases, but the operating range is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm is divided into multiple segments (first arm part and second arm part) connected by joints. This segmentation allows each component to be relatively compact while the articulated structure provides extended operating range through coordinated movement of the segments
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The weight compensation system significantly reduces the torque and energy needed to move the robot arm, enhancing safety and reducing contamination risks while allowing for a more compact and efficient milking robot design that can handle diverse animal sizes and harsh environments.
Implementation Method 1
a weight compensation device having a spring device, which is connected between the milking box and the robot arm, and which is configured to exert a first torque about the first joint and a second torque about the second joint
Implementation Method 2
the first torque compensates for the torque exerted by gravity on the arm about the first joint
Data Source
AI summary
Milking robot device for automatically milking a dairy animal, comprising a milking box having milking cups and a robot arm having an end effector for applying the milking cups to the teats of the dairy animal, on which milking box the robot arm is suspended above the dairy animal to be milked. The robot arm comprises a first arm part connected to the milking box by a first joint, and a second arm part connected to the first arm part by a second joint and provided with an end effector. The first and second arm part, respectively, is pivotable in a vertical plane with respect to the milking box and the first arm part, respectively, by a first and second actuator, respectively. The end effector is movable within an operating range by the robot arm. The milking robot comprises a weight compensation device having a spring device between the milking box and the robot arm. This is configured to exert a first torque about the first joint and a second torque about the second joint, in such a way that, viewed over the operating range, the first torque compensates for the torque exerted by gravity on the arm about the first joint by at least half, in particular by at least 90%, and the second torque compensates for the torque exerted by gravity on the arm about the second joint by at least half, in particular by at least 90%. Consequently, a compact robot arm is provided, the joints which are suspended relatively high up can be protected from dirt in an efficient manner, and they can be operated using much lighter actuators, so that a great deal of energy can also be saved.