Method of controlling a milking implement, a software program for and an implement performing the method
AssigneeMaasland N.V.
InventorKarel Van Den Berg
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Abstract
A method of controlling a milking implement for automatically milking a dairy animal with an udder, such as a cow, which milking implement includes a camera and a teat cup. More particularly, the method includes attaching the teat cup to a teat of the udder, followed by producing by the camera an image of at least a part of the udder and of at least a part of the teat cup, making an analysis of the image of the udder with the teat cup, and performing at least one control action by the milking implement, based on the analysis.
Claims22
A method of controlling a milking implement for automatically milking a dairy animal with an udder, the milking implement comprising a camera and a teat cup, and the method comprising:
- attaching the teat cup to a teat of the udder, followed by;
- producing by means of the camera an image of at least a part of the udder and of at least a part of the teat cup;
- making an analysis of the image of the udder with the teat cup;
- and
- performing at least one control action by means of the milking implement, based on the analysis;
- wherein the step of making the analysis comprises analyzing a manner in which the teat is received in the teat cup, wherein a distance from an upper edge of the teat cup to the udder is determined, which distance is compared with a predetermined value.
A method of controlling a milking implement for automatically milking a dairy animal with an udder, the milking implement comprising a camera and a teat cup, and the method comprising:
- attaching the teat cup to a teat of the udder, followed by;
- producing by means of the camera repeated images of at least a part of the udder and of at least a part of the teat cup by means of the camera;
- making an analysis of differences between the repeatedly produced images of the udder with the teat cup, wherein a distance from an upper edge of the teat cup to the udder is determined, which distance is compared with a predetermined value;
- and
- performing at least one control action by means of the milking implement, based on the analysis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.