WO2021029806A1

WO2021029806A1 - A method and arrangement for barn cleaning

Info

Publication number: WO2021029806A1
Application number: PCT/SE2020/050750
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marek BRINK; Jozef Furdak; Bartlomiej SLUSARCZYK
Original assignee: Delaval Holding Ab
Priority date: 2019-08-13
Filing date: 2020-07-24
Publication date: 2021-02-18

Abstract

A method, control unit, arrangement and computer program for barn cleaning is provided. The method comprises obtaining of information from one or more cameras mounted such as to capture images of an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device; and further comprises identifying a parturition event taking place in the area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device, based on the obtained information. The method further comprises, in response to the identified parturition event: to stop or adjust the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device, and to trigger an alert signal to be provided to a man-machine interface.

Description

A METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR BARN CLEANING

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to animal safety in animal husbandry, and in particular the invention relates to animal safety in regard of moving barn equipment.

BACKGROUND

When running automatic devices amongst living creatures, safety is an important issue. An automatic barn cleaning device needs to be powerful enough to be able to push away heavy manure, and thus it may also harm animals getting in its way, especially small animals, such as calves. This is often solved by running the automatic barn cleaning devices at a very slow speed, such that the animals have time to observe it and to move away. There may also be a safety stop installed in automatic barn cleaning devices, such that when an automatic barn cleaning device is determined to have hit an obstacle, based e.g. on increased required driving force/power consumption, the automatic barn cleaning device stops for a period of time, and then starts moving again. However, young and/or small animals may be quite light weight as compared to adult animals, and thus e.g. not be sensed by a safety mechanism being based on power consumption/applied force of the motor running the automatic barn cleaning device.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect, a method is provided, which is to be applied by a barn cleaning control unit. The method comprises obtaining of information from one or more cameras mounted such as to capture images of an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device; and further comprises identifying a parturition event taking place in the area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device, based on the obtained information. The method further comprises, in response to the identified parturition event: to stop or adjust the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device, and to trigger an alert signal to be provided to a man-machine interface.

The method provides animal safety also when a parturition starts and takes place in an unexpected place at an unexpected time. Safety is provided both for the animal giving, or being about to give birth, and its offspring, by preventing that they are hit or otherwise disturbed by any automatic cleaning equipment. A parturition event is a very delicate matter, and cannot be trusted to any standard safety mechanism of the automatic cleaning equipment. Since some breeds of animals have trouble giving birth without assistance from humans, it is further very important that humans are alerted about the unexpected event as soon as possible. It may be a question of life and death.

According to some embodiments, the position of the parturition event is determined based on the obtained information. Thus, the control of the automatic barn cleaning device can be more precise and accurate, or a triggered alert signal could comprise more precise information about the location of the parturition event. The automatic barn cleaning device may thus be controlled to avoid the position of the parturition event and thus reduce the risk of pushing or colliding with a new-born calf. The stopping or adjusting the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device may thus be executed before the barn cleaning device is in the vicinity of the position of the parturition event, and also before being in physical contact with any new-born calf.

Stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device based on the determined position of the parturition event, as in some embodiments, enables e.g. that a commenced cleaning session can proceed until the automatic barn cleaning device comes close to this determined position.

According to some embodiments the position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device is/are determined based on the information from the one or more cameras mounted such as to capture images of an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device. Thus the same camera system may be used for monitoring the automatic barn cleaning device and for monitoring any parturition events taking place in the area, resulting in an efficient monitoring of the area of operation.

In some embodiments, the position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device is/are determined, and the stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device is then further based on this determined position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device. By having knowledge of both the position of the parturition event and the position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device, the control of the cleaning device can be even more advanced and safe, e.g. by not having to rely on the cleaning device to know its own precise position.

For example, one advantageous feature of some embodiments is when the automatic barn cleaning device is stopped when it is in a position within a predefined distance from the parturition event and is moving in a direction towards the parturition event. Thus, the cleaning device may continue to clean even when it is relatively close to the parturition event, as long as it is moving away from, or at least not towards, the event. When the triggering of an alert signal includes providing of the determined position of the parturition event, as in some embodiments, this enables a farmer to find the animals involved in the event more quickly. This may be especially important and beneficial in big farms.

According to some embodiments the method comprises to trigger a gate controller to close one or more gates in response to the identifying of a parturition event. This enables closing gates leading to the area where an animal is giving birth and thus preventing further animals from accessing the area where the parturition event was identified. This contributes to animal safety, since being surrounded by too many animals may disturb the mother animal, and may also be a threat to a small newborn animal. It may further make it easier for the automatic barn cleaning device to work in areas surrounding the parturition event, since such areas would be less crowded.

According to some embodiments, to stop or adjust the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device includes to assign a safety zone around the determined position of the identified parturition event and to control the automatic barn cleaning device to exclude said assigned safety zone from its area of operation. This is a very advantageous feature, which creates a “no-go” zone for the automatic barn cleaning device, in which the mother and newborn can rest undisturbed and unharmed by any automatic barn cleaning devices. In case the mother and newborn would move, the safety zone can be moved or expanded with them.

According to some embodiments, the automatic barn cleaning device is a robot. Such a robot may be controlled to navigate and move in two physical dimensions, i.e. is not bound to a fixed track. This type of automatic barn cleaning device is possible to control in a more advanced way than a device which is bound to a fixed track. Thereby, embodiments of the subject matter described herein is more advantageous for such a device.

According to a second aspect, a barn cleaning control unit is provided, which is operable to control an automatic barn cleaning device. The barn cleaning control unit is configured to perform at least one embodiment of the method according to the first aspect. The barn cleaning control unit is configured to obtain information related to an area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device, the information being provided by one or more cameras. The barn cleaning control unit is further configured to identify a parturition event, based on the obtained information, and to stop or adjust the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device in response to the identified parturition event. The barn cleaning control unit is further configured and to trigger an alert signal to be provided to a man-machine interface in response to the identified parturition event. According to some embodiments, the barn cleaning control unit is configured to determine a position of the identified parturition event in the area of operation.

According to some embodiments, the barn cleaning control unit is configured to stop or adjust the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device based on the determined position of the parturition event.

According to some embodiments, the barn cleaning control unit is configured to stop or adjust the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device based also on a determined position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device.

According to some embodiments, the stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device includes stopping the automatic barn cleaning device when it is in a position within a predefined distance from the parturition event and is moving in a direction towards the parturition event.

According to some embodiments, the barn cleaning control unit is configured to trigger a gate controller to close one or more gates in response to the identifying of a parturition event, such as to prevent further animals from accessing the area where the parturition event was identified.

According to some embodiments, the stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device includes assigning a safety zone around the determined position of the identified parturition event, and controlling the automatic barn cleaning device to exclude said assigned safety zone from its area of operation.

According to a third aspect, a barn cleaning arrangement is provided. The barn cleaning arrangement comprises one or more cameras operable to provide information related to an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device; an automatic barn cleaning device, and a barn cleaning control unit according to the second aspect above.

According to a fourth aspect, a computer program is provided, which, when executed by at least one processing circuitry of a barn cleaning control unit, causes the barn cleaning control unit to carry out the method according to the first aspect above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the technology disclosed herein will be apparent from the following more particular description of embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the technology disclosed herein.

Figures 1-4 are flow charts illustrating a method according to exemplifying embodiments.

Figures 5a-5b are schematic block diagrams illustrating implementations of a barn cleaning control unit, according to exemplifying embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Normally, an animal that is about to give birth is moved to a special area in the barn (or elsewhere), where the parturition may take place under controlled forms. However, parturitions may occur earlier than expected, and in that case the parturition will take place in the barn among all the other animals, possibly in an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device, such as a walking alley surrounded by resting cubicles and/or feeding stalls.

A number of situations have been identified, where a newly born calf could be hurt by automatic equipment operating on a farm. Additionally, the conditions in some areas of a dairy barn may be unsuitable for, and can represent a health hazard to a newborn and its mother.

According to embodiments of the invention, one or more cameras mounted e.g. on a wall or in the ceiling, capture images of the area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device, and these images may then be processed by image processing software run on a processing unit, which may perform object recognition in regard of animals present in the area. Each camera could be mounted and/or configured such as to capture images of a larger or smaller part of a total area of operation. The area of operation may typically be the full length of an alley in a barn, or the full area of operation of the automatic cleaning device. The area of operation might also cover the area of operation of several automatic cleaning devices. The area of operation may include several alleys in the barn, or all areas of the barn where the animals are allowed to move, and thus that may be subjected to manure that needs to be removed. The parts covered by each camera may add up to the total area of operation, or, parts of an area of operation that are not covered by any camera could be handled in a standard manner. The image processing will in this case be especially trained or otherwise adapted to detect and identify parturition events of any detected animals. How this may be achieved will be described in more detail further below.

Thereby, a parturition event taking place in the (for a newborn) hazardous area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device may be detected and identified in real-time, or close to real-time and an appropriate action could be initiated in response to such identification. For example, the automatic barn cleaning device could be controlled to stop in order to avoid colliding with/hitting/pushing the newborn or its mother, or change direction in order to avoid a collision with the same. Thereby, real animal safety may be ensured. The software and/or processing device could be configured to have special rules e.g. depending on where in the area of operation the parturition takes place.

Given that it is a safety hazard when a newborn animal is present in an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device, an alert signal should be sent to a user interface or similar, to catch the attention of a human, who should come to the rescue of the newborn. The alert signal could indicate that a parturition has taken place and also where it has taken place, to enable the responsible person to get there quickly.

For example, upon identifying a parturition event, a safety zone could be assigned around the position/location of the event. This safety zone could then be communicated to the navigation functionality of the automatic barn cleaning device, such that this zone is excluded from an area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device. In other words, the operation of the cleaning device could be restricted to an area outside the safety zone, where, if possible, the operation of the cleaning device could continue. Thereby, the mother and newborn will be protected, but the barn will still be partially cleaned (outside safety zone)

Further, gates leading to the area where the identified parturition event takes place could be closed. Thereby, the number of animals present in said area could be kept as low as possible, e.g. until a human has attended to the event.

The parturition event could be detected and identified based on one or more of a number of different features, detectable in an image or a series of images. Example of such features for a calving cow are e.g.:

Before and during the parturition/calving:

- body contractions of the mother animal/cow;

- specific tail position or movement of the cow;

- lying down (not indicative of calving by itself, but relevant given other features are present);

- repeated head movements towards the abdomen;

- (gradual) appearing of calf from cow;

- (gradual) appearing of object with higher temperature than cow (could be detected in thermographic images);

After parturition/calving:

- presence of calf; - cow sniffing, pushing, butting and licking (calf);

- cow standing up (not indicative of calving by itself, but relevant given other features are present);

- other animals (than mother) sniffing, pushing, butting and licking (towards the newborn calf and/or mother).

An advantage of detecting features of a parturition event before the actual delivery/presence of a calf is that the automatic barn cleaning device may be controlled to reduce the risk of operating in the area where the parturition event is taking place, i.e. providing safety to the animals involved before the actual delivery of the calf. The presence of a calf would then, obviously, be the best indication of a parturition, but the calf may be concealed behind the cow or some other animal or object, and thus not be visible to the camera. Therefore, it is important that also other features or signs may be taken into consideration when trying to identify a parturition event.

Exemplifying embodiments of method, figures 1-4

Below, exemplifying embodiments of a method will be described with reference to figures 1-4. The embodiments are intended to be performed by a barn cleaning control unit which is associated with an automatic barn cleaning device. The term “associated with” is here intended to cover at least that the control unit is operatively connected to the automatic barn cleaning device. The control unitwill be described in more detail further below in association with figures 5 and 6. An example of an automatic barn cleaning device is e.g. an autonomous vehicle operable to clear a barn from manure, e.g. by displacing or collecting the manure. Such devices are often referred to as “robot-cleaners” or robots. Alternatively, the automatic barn cleaning device could be a scraper pulled along an alley by a chain, rope or wire, or e.g. a hydraulic arrangement. The automatic barn cleaning device is suitable for automatic cleaning of a barn in which animals are kept, such as e.g. cow, buffalo, sheep or goat. In a preferred embodiment, the automatic barn cleaning device is a cleaning robot, which can be controlled to navigate and move, relatively freely, in two physical dimensions, i.e. is not bound to a fixed track.

Figure 1 shows an exemplifying embodiment of a method for animal safety, which comprises a first action 101 , of obtaining information from one or more cameras mounted such as to capture images of an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device. The method further comprises an action 102, of identifying a parturition event taking place in the area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device, based on the obtained information. The method further comprises an action 103 of, in response to the identified parturition event, stopping or adjusting the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device; and further an action 104 of, also this in response to the identified parturition event, triggering an alert signal to be provided to a man-machine interface.

The one or more cameras, from which the information is obtained 101, may be assumed to be operable to capture images of an area of a barn, in which area one or more automatic barn cleaning devices are employed. This area could include e.g. walking alleys between resting areas or next to a feeding table; waiting areas, resting cubicles, and other areas where manure may occur and where automatic barn cleaning devices are applied for cleaning. Each camera could be mounted and/or configured such as to capture images of a larger or smaller part of a total area of operation. The parts covered by each camera may add up to the total area of operation, or, parts of an area of operation that are not covered by any camera could be handled in some standard manner in regard of cleaning, but any parturition event taking place in areas not covered by the one or more cameras could not be identified by use of embodiments described herein.

The one or more cameras could preferably be relatively inexpensive 2D cameras, such as RGB-cameras. The information provided by such cameras has been found by the inventors to be sufficient for modern image recognition software, with adequate adaptation and/or training, to identify a parturition event. Optionally one or more cameras could be IR-cameras, or 2D-cameras having additional capability of capturing infrared, or thermographic, images. This would facilitate, or even enable in relative darkness, detection of a newly born animal, since the temperature of the newborn initially is higher than that of the other animals and the surrounding. As a further option the one or more cameras could be 3D cameras.

Depending on the capacity of a communication channel between the one or more cameras and the barn cleaning control unit, at least part of the signal processing necessary for analysis of the images could be performed by or close to the cameras, before being transferred to the control unit. Deep learning or less advanced machine learning could be applied in order to teach the image processing software to recognize and thus identify a parturition event. That is, the information obtained 101 from the one or more cameras could be e.g. raw image information, or be composed e.g. of parametric information derived from images captured by the camera(s). The information could obviously be compressed or otherwise coded to e.g. reduce the amount of information to be transferred over a communication interface.

The identification of a parturition event could be based on one or more of the previously mentioned features associated with parturition. In a preferred embodiment, image processing software is especially trained to recognize any one of, and/or combinations of these features, and return e.g. an indication when one or more features are identified. Stopping or adjusting the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device could be, just as it sounds, plainly stopping the device when a parturition event is identified such that it shall not run into a newborn or an animal giving birth. Thus a control command or instruction could be signaled to, or otherwise be imposed on, the automatic barn cleaning device from a control unit. Such a control unit may be incorporated in the automatic barn cleaning device or be located remotely from the automatic barn cleaning device. The control command or instruction should override previously given or preconfigured instructions.

Triggering an alert signal could include e.g. sending a message and/or an image directly to a registered user device (e.g. phone of a farmer). Alternatively, it may include sending a simple indication, such as a binary number, to an intermediate node, such as a control center, from where an alert signal is transmitted to a registered user device. Irrespective of method, the result should be that an alert signal is communicated to a user on a man-machine interface, i.e. a user interface. The alert signals could be in any suitable format, e.g. audio and/or visual; text and/or image; comprising exact location or not, but indicating that a parturition event is taking place.

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a method, where information is obtained 201 from one or more cameras, and a parturition event is identified 202 based on the obtained 201 information. Here, the identifying of a parturition event further includes, in addition to (only) detecting the occurrence of such an event, to determine the location, i.e. position of the identified parturition event. In figure 2, this is illustrated as an action 203, of determining the position of the parturition event. Further, the method in figure 2 comprises an action 204, of stopping or adjusting the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device based on the determined location.

By determining the actual position of the parturition event, the automatic barn cleaning device can be instructed to avoid this position. The automatic barn cleaning device may know its own position, and can therefore e.g. navigate around such a location if it is provided in an instruction or command.

In order to determine a position of a parturition event based on information from a camera, the position and/or orientation of field of view of the camera in relation to the area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device should be known. For example, the field of view of each camera could be related, manually or automatically, to a map over the barn, which map may be provided to the barn cleaning control unit either manually, or e.g. be derived based on the movements of the automatic barn cleaning device. One way to achieve this is to methodically navigate the automatic barn cleaning device over the area of operation and observe when it is in the field of view of the one or more cameras.

The triggering of an alert signal (not shown in figure 2) may in this case comprise providing of the determined position of the parturition event, such that this information may be included in an alert signal displayed to a person e.g. on a display on a registered user device.

Figure 3 shows an exemplifying method embodiment, comprising the actions 301 - 303, which may correspond to the actions with similar names in previous embodiments. The method in figure 3 further comprises an action 304, of determining a position and/or a direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device. This position and direction of movement could be determined in different ways, which will be described below. The method in figure 3 further comprises an action 305, of stopping or adjusting the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device based both on the determined position of the parturition event and on the position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device.

The position and direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device could be determined e.g. based on the information obtained from the one or more cameras, possibly using the same software as the one identifying the position of the parturition event. Alternatively, or in addition, the barn cleaning control unit could obtain the position of the automatic barn cleaning device by some other means. For example, the automatic barn cleaning device could be navigating by use of beacons, transponders or induction lines, which could indicate where the automatic barn cleaning device is currently located. The automatic barn cleaning device could itself report where it is. Alternatively, information from a real time location system, RTLS, could be used, given that the automatic barn cleaning device is provided with a tag or other measure in order to be tracked by an RTLS-system.

The controlling, i.e. stopping or adjusting movement, of the automatic barn cleaning device may now be performed in a more refined way, when desired. For example, the automatic barn cleaning device could be stopped only when it is in the vicinity of the position of the parturition event, and again, possibly only when it is heading in a direction towards the position of the parturition event. Thereby, the automatic barn cleaning device could be stopped or adjusted in its movement only when needed, and could thus continue cleaning if this will not disturb the parturition procedure.

Figure 4 shows an exemplifying method embodiment, comprising the actions 401 - 403, which may correspond to the actions with similar names in previous embodiments. The method in figure 4 further comprises an action 404, of assigning a safety zone around the determined location of the parturition event. The method in figure 4 further comprises an action 405, of controlling, i.e. stopping or adjusting, the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device by excluding the assigned safety zone from its area of operation. Please note that this may be done also in embodiments where the position of the automatic barn cleaning device is unknown to the barn cleaning control unit, such as e.g. when the automatic barn cleaning device itself is aware of its own position.

By assigning a safety zone around the position of the parturition event, it may be ensured that the event will be undisturbed by any automatic barn cleaning device. The automatic barn cleaning device may continue to perform any cleaning which is outside the safety zone, which is advantageous in cases when the parturition takes some time. In case the safety zone divides the area of operation such that the automatic barn cleaning device cannot navigate to a part of it, another automatic barn cleaning device can be instructed to take over the cleaning of this area.

An exemplifying embodiment of a control unit is illustrated in a general manner in figure 5a.

The control unit 500 should be considered as a functional unit, which may be implemented by one or several physical units. In other words, the control unit is in some embodiments a control arrangement. For example, the control unit could be a part of a central system or arrangement for controlling a plurality of barn equipment.

The control unit is operable obtain information from one or more cameras; identifying a parturition event based on the information; to stop or adjust the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device in response to the identified parturition event, and further to trigger an alert signal to be provided, e.g. transmitted to a man-machine interface. That is, it is operable to control the automatic barn cleaning device to perform actions in response to information obtained from one or more cameras and also possibly from the automatic barn cleaning device and/or an RTLS system or similar.

The communication between the control unit and other entities may be performed over a state of the art wireless and/or wired interface 502. The control unit 500 is configured to perform the actions of at least one of the method embodiments described above. The control unit 500 is associated with the same technical features, objects and advantages as the previously described method embodiments. The control unitwill be described in brief in order to avoid unnecessary repetition.

The control unit may be implemented and/or described as follows, figure 5b: The control unit 500 comprises hardware and software. The hardware, or processing circuitry 501 , is for example various electronic components on a for example a Printed Circuit Board, PCB. The most important of those components is typically a processor 503, for example a microprocessor, along with a memory, 504, for example EPROM or a Flash memory chip.

The control unit 500 comprises a communication interface 502, for example I/O interface or other communication bus. The interface 502, includes a wireless, and possibly a wired, interface for sending data, such as commands, to other nodes or entities, and for obtaining/receiving information from other nodes or entities.

The memory 504, which is in communication with the processor 503, that stores or holds instruction code readable and executable by the processor 503. The instruction code stored or held in the memory may be in the form of a computer program 505, which when executed by the processor 503 causes the control unit 500 to perform the actions in the manner described above.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described method; control unit or computer program. Various changes, substitutions and/or alterations may be made, without departing from disclosure embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical OR, that is, as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless expressly stated otherwise. In addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be interpreted as “at least one”, thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and/ or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/ or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/ or groups thereof. A single unit such as for example a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A method to be applied by a barn cleaning control unit, the method comprising:

-obtaining information from one or more cameras mounted such as to capture images of an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device; -identifying a parturition event taking place in the area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device, based on the obtained information; and in response to the identified parturition event:

-stopping or adjusting the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device; and

-triggering an alert signal to be provided to a man-machine interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying of a parturition event includes:

-determining a position of the identified parturition event in the area of operation.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device is based on the determined position of the parturition event.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

-determining the position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device, and wherein the stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device is further based on the determined position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device includes:

-stopping the automatic barn cleaning device when: it is in a position within a predefined distance from the parturition event, and is moving in a direction towards the parturition event.

6. The method according to any of claims 2 - 5, wherein the triggering of an alert signal includes providing of the determined position of the parturition event.

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising:

-triggering a gate controller to close one or more gates in response to the identifying of a parturition event, such as to prevent further animals from accessing the area where the parturition event was identified.

8. The method according to any of the claims 2-7, wherein the stopping or adjusting the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device includes:

-assigning a safety zone around the determined position of the identified parturition event; and

-controlling the automatic barn cleaning device to exclude said assigned safety zone from its area of operation.

9. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the automatic barn cleaning device is a robot, which can be controlled to navigate in two physical dimension.

10. A barn cleaning control unit (500) operable to control an automatic barn cleaning device, the control unit being configured to:

-obtain information related to an area of operation of the automatic barn cleaning device, the information being provided by one or more cameras; -identify a parturition event, based on the obtained information;

-stop or adjust the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device in response to the identified parturition event; and to

-trigger an alert signal to be provided to a man-machine interface in response to the identified parturition event.

11. The barn cleaning control unit according to claim 10, being further configured to:

-determine a position of the identified parturition event in the area of operation.

12. The barn cleaning control unit according to claim 11 , being configured to:

-stop or adjust the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device based on the determined position of the parturition event.

13. The barn cleaning control unit according to claim 12, being configured to stop or adjust the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device based also on a determined position and/or direction of movement of the automatic barn cleaning device.

14. The barn cleaning control unit according to claim 13, wherein the stopping or adjusting of the movement of the automatic barn cleaning device includes:

15. The barn cleaning control unit according to any of claims 11 - 14, being configured to provide the determined position of the parturition event when triggering the alert signal.

16. The barn cleaning control unit according to any of claims 10-15, being further configured to:

-trigger a gate controller to close one or more gates in response to the identifying of a parturition event, such as to prevent further animals from accessing the area where the parturition event was identified.

17. The barn cleaning control unit according to any of claims 11 - 16, wherein the stopping or adjusting the movement of an automatic barn cleaning device includes:

18. A barn cleaning arrangement comprising:

-one or more cameras operable to provide information related to an area of operation of an automatic barn cleaning device;

-an automatic barn cleaning device; and

-a barn cleaning control unit according to any of claims 10-17.

19. The barn cleaning arrangement according to claim 18, wherein the automatic barn cleaning device is a robot.

20. A computer program (505) comprising instructions, which, when executed by at least one processing circuitry (501) of a barn cleaning control unit (500), causes the barn cleaning control unit to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.