Positioning of teat cups

An arrangement for fetching at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) located in a teat cup magazine (120), each said at least one teat cup having a respective fixed position in the teat cup magazine (120), the arrangement comprising:

• a remote detecting means (130) configured i) to register wireless energy (135) reflected against objects in space, and ii) based on the registered wireless energy, determine a position of said objects in terms of direction and distance relative to the remote detecting means (130);
• a gripper means (140) configured to hold said at least one teat cup (111) during removal of said at least one teat cup (111) from the teat cup magazine (120);
• a robotic arm (150) carrying the gripper means (140), there being a primary reference system (X1, Y1, Z1) for the robotic arm (150);
• a control means (110) configured to i) control the robotic arm (150) to move the gripper means (140) towards said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) so as to enable the gripper means (140) to reach said at least one teat cup (111) in the teat cup magazine (120), and ii) control the gripper means (140) to remove said at least one teat cup (111) from the teat cup magazine (120);
• and
• a reference entity (160) having a fixed spatial relationship to each of said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) and the teat cup magazine (120), the reference entity (160) establishing a secondary reference system (X2, Y2, Z2) for said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114), the reference entity (160) being configured to allow the remote detecting means (130) to receive wire-less energy (135) reflected against the reference entity (160) while moving the robotic arm (150) towards said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) for removing said at least one teat cup (111) from the teat cup magazine (120),
• wherein a positional relationship between the primary reference system (X1, Y1, Z1) for the robotic arm (150) and the secondary reference system (X2, Y2, Z2) for said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) is variable,
• wherein the reference entity (160) is physically separated from each said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114),
• wherein the reference entity (160) comprises a first rod member (161) having a general cylindrical shape, and
• wherein the reference entity (160) comprises a second rod member (162) having a general cylindrical shape.

A method of fetching at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) located in a teat cup magazine (120), each said at least one teat cup having a respective fixed position in the teat cup magazine (120), the method comprising:

• remotely detecting, via a remote detecting means (130), a respective direction and distance to objects located in space based on wireless energy (135) reflected against said objects;
• controlling a robotic arm (150) carrying a gripper means (140) towards said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) such that the gripper means (140) is enabled to reach at least teat cup (111) in the teat cup magazine (120);
• controlling the gripper means (140) to remove at least teat cup (111) from the teat cup magazine (120);
• and
• controlling the gripper means (140) to hold said at least one teat cup (111) while removing said at least one teat cup (111) from the teat cup magazine (120), wherein,
• a positional relationship between a primary reference system (X1, Y1,Z1) for the robotic arm (150) and a secondary reference system (X2, Y2, Z2) for said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) is variable,
• a reference entity (160) has a fixed spatial relationship to said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) and the teat cup magazine, the reference entity (160) establishing the secondary reference system (X2, Y2, Z2) for said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114), and in said controlling steps, the reference entity (160) being configured to allow the remote detecting means (130) to receive wireless energy (135) reflected against the reference entity (160) while moving the robotic arm (150) towards said at least one teat cup (111, 112, 113, 114) for removing said at least one teat cup (111) from the teat cup magazine (120), said robotic arm is controlled based on received wireless energy (135) reflected against the reference entity (160) while moving the robotic arm (150) towards said at least one teat cup (111) in the teat cup magazine (120) for removing said at least one teat cup (111) therefrom,
• wherein the reference entity (160) comprises a first rod member (161) and a second rod member (162) spaced apart from said first rod member (161).