Milking shed robot soon?

Press, 2 August 1983, Page 8

Milking shed robot soon?

By

BRUCE ROSCOE

in Tokyo An advanced robot that automatically places teat cups on cows in a milking shed is being developed as a joint venture between an Auckland company and Japanese interests. The new equipment is being designed to install in rotary-herringbone milking sheds. It is intended first for New Zealand dairy farms. The manufacturers expect in time that it will become a valuable export to Japan, Europe, and elsewhere. The robot arm is connected to a sensor device that finds a cow’s teats as the animal moves past on a rotating platform. The arm

then attaches the cups automatically.

The robot arm is the brainchild of Mr Paul Kennedy, a self-taught engineer who founded an Otorohanga Engineering Company, Ardco, Ltd, to make rotary milking platforms. Mr Kennedy has recently been in Japan seeking an agreement with Kohgakusha, Ltd, of Sapporo, in northern Japan, a company making computer systems. The managing director of Kohgakusha, Mr Kenji Tsukamoto, said recently he expected results from the developments within a year. He said one milking system using the device was expected to cost about $22,500.