Implement for automatically milking a dairy animal

An implement for automatically milking a dairy animal, comprising:

• a milking parlour;
• a sensor for observing a teat of the dairy animal;
• and
• a milking robot for automatically attaching a teat cup to the teat, the milking robot comprising a robot control unit with a central processing unit, operatively connected to the sensor, and the milking robot further comprising cleaning brushes or cleaning rolls;
• wherein the sensor comprises:
• a radiation source for emitting electromagnetic radiation;
• a receiver for receiving electromagnetic radiation reflected from the dairy animal;
• a lens for imaging the reflected electromagnetic radiation onto the receiver;
• a sensor control unit;
• and
• wherein the receiver comprises a matrix with a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns of receivers;
• wherein the sensor control unit is operatively connected to the radiation source to modulate the electromagnetic radiation;
• wherein the sensor control unit determines for each of the receivers a phase difference between the emitted and the reflected electromagnetic radiation to calculate distances from the sensor to a plurality of points on the dairy animal,
• wherein the robot control unit controls cleaning brushes or cleaning rolls for cleaning the teat of the dairy animal on the basis of the calculated distances from the sensor to a plurality of points on the teat of the dairy animal and/or on the basis of calculated distances from the sensor to a plurality of points on the cleaning brushes or cleaning rolls,
• wherein the robot control unit is arranged to determine the distances both to the teat and to the cleaning brush or cleaning roll, to deduce the pressure on the teat, and to modify on the basis thereof the adjustment of the relevant cleaning brush or cleaning roll.