Crowd gate control system and method

摘要

A crowd gate control system includes a holding pen for dairy livestock, a crowd gate, and a controller. The holding pen is adjacent to an entrance to a milking parlor. The crowd gate is operable to form a side of the holding pen and move in relation to the entrance to the milking parlor along an axis substantially parallel to two other sides of the holding pen. The controller is operable to store a triggering threshold associated with a counter related to the milking parlor, determine whether the counter has reached the triggering threshold, and initiate a first mode of operation of the crowd gate in response to determining that the counter has reached the triggering threshold.

主权项

1. A crowd gate control system, comprising:
a holding pen for dairy livestock, wherein the holding pen is adjacent to an entrance to a rotary milking parlor, the rotary milking parlor rotating such that a plurality of milking stalls rotate past the adjacent entrance; a crowd gate, wherein the crowd gate is operable to form a side of the holding pen and move in relation to the entrance to the milking parlor along an axis substantially parallel to two other sides of the holding pen; a counter operable to measure an elapsed amount of time associated with the rotation of the rotary milking parlor; and a controller operable to: store a triggering threshold corresponding to an amount of time it takes for a particular number of the plurality of milking stalls to rotate past the adjacent entrance; determine whether the counter has reached the triggering threshold; and initiate a first mode of operation of the crowd gate in response to determining that the counter has reached the triggering threshold and prior to the crowd gate reaching the entrance to the milking parlor, wherein the first mode of operation comprises a pre-forward reverse step in which the crowd gate initiates movement away from the entrance prior to initiating any movement towards the entrance, and the pre-forward reverse step is configured to alert the dairy livestock in the holding pen that the first mode of operation is initiated without making contact with any dairy livestock in the holding pen.