Robotic Milking

Probably the most sophisticated piece of DigitalAgritech equipment in routine use across the world is a robotic milker. Cows come and get milked in their own time lured by some extra food. In 1988 I was recruited to setup a lab to develop robotic milking and the new management techniques needed. I sketched out what a robot milker should look like and somehow the sketch has survived.

A sketch I drew in 1989 of a cow next to a one armed robot that picked up teat cups from a rack and attached them to the cow

Here is a 20 year video recounting the development of the system which is now the de Laval VMS

Milking Time, how we developed a robot milking system

A picture of the first robot milking system in the UK in 1991, a brown cow is in a stall and a single arm driven by compressed air rams is attaching a teat cup to a brown and white cow

Cheseridge Farm, Compton, Berks. UK 1991 where we were first milking cows by robot