Vision system for teat detection

A vision system comprising:

• a robotic arm configured to attach a teat cup to a dairy livestock in a stall;
• a laser configured to generate a plurality of profile signals, each profile signal comprising information associated with a relative distance between the laser and at least a portion of the dairy livestock;
• one or more memory devices operable to store historical teat location information for a plurality of teats of the dairy livestock;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the laser and the one or more memory devices, the processor configured to:
• determine that the teat cup is to be attached to a front teat of the dairy livestock;
• determine, from the historical teat location information, an amount of separation between the front teat and a rear teat of the dairy livestock, the front teat having a front teat position;
• determine that the amount of separation between the front teat and the rear teat is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance;
• in response to determining that the amount of separation between the front teat and the rear teat is greater than or equal to the predetermined distance, calculate an updated front teat position based on the amount of separation between the front teat and the rear teat;
• command the robotic arm to move to a first location that corresponds to the updated front teat position;
• command the robotic arm to move up a predetermined amount after the robotic arm moves to the first location;
• command the laser to perform a scan of the dairy livestock after the robotic arm moves up the predetermined amount;
• access a first profile signal generated by the laser from the first scan;
• determine that the front teat is found in the first profile signal;
• and
• in response to determining that the front teat is found in the first profile signal, command the robotic arm to attach the teat cup to the front teat.