Milking box with robotic attacher and backplane for tracking movements of a dairy animal

摘要

A milking box comprises a stall portion and a backplane positioned in the stall portion. The backplane moves toward the rear of the stall portion in response to pressure applied to a contact surface of the backplane. The backplane moves toward the front of stall portion in response to pressure removed from the contact surface.

主权项

1. A milking box, comprising:
a stall portion; a backplane positioned in the stall portion of the milking box,
wherein the backplane is configured to:move toward the rear of the stall portion in response to pressure applied to a contact surface of the backplane; andmove toward the front of the stall portion in response to pressure removed from the contact surface; a sensor that is configured to read an identifier associated with a dairy livestock located in the stall portion; a robotic attacher comprising:
a controller, anda supplemental arm,wherein the controller is programmed to:determine the position of the backplane relative to the rear of the stall portion;determine an x-offset based at least in part upon the position of the backplane relative to the rear of the stall portion, wherein the x-offset increases as the dairy livestock moves toward the front of the stall and the x-offset decreases as the dairy livestock moves toward the rear of the stall;determine relative positions of the teats of the dairy livestock based at least in part upon the identifier associated with the dairy livestock; andcommunicate a signal to move the robotic attacher in an x-direction, the amount of movement determined at least in part according to the x-offset and the relative positions of the teats; andwherein the robotic attacher is configured to extend from the rear of the stall portion and between the hind legs of the dairy livestock to attach milking equipment to the dairy livestock.