WO2009057996A1

WO2009057996A1 - Method of and device for connecting a teat cup

Info

Publication number: WO2009057996A1
Application number: PCT/NL2008/000204
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jacco Noordam
Original assignee: Lely Patent N.V.
Priority date: 2007-10-30
Filing date: 2008-09-18
Publication date: 2009-05-07
Also published as: NL1034596C2

Abstract

The invention provides a method of connecting a teat cup (7) to a teat (11), as well as an automatic dairy animal treatment device (1) comprising a robot. In the method, when teat cups (7) are automatically connected for the first time, a robot arm (5) comprising teat cups (7) is brought by an operator from a start position to an inoperative position. This takes place by means of a sort of remote control (21) which transfers a movement of the operator to the robot arm by means of a motion detector. The remote control (1) may be provided at the robot itself, or may operate via a wireless connection (20, 23), in which case an image of the teat cups and the teats may be provided on a display screen (22) of the remote control (21), such as a GSM.

Description

Method of and device for connecting a teat cup

The present invention relates to a method of and a device for connecting a teat cup to a teat of a dairy animal. In particular, the invention relates to a method of connecting a teat cup to a teat of a dairy animal by means of a robot arm and a teat position determining device, wherein the method comprises: bringing the robot arm from an inoperative position to a start position, wherein, in the start position, the robot arm is capable of autonomously connecting, with the aid of the teat position determining device, a teat cup to the teat, and, from the start position, connecting a teat cup to a teat, by means of the robot arm and with the aid of the teat position determining device. It should be noted that, put more precisely, the invention relates to a preparation step for connecting a teat cup, after which any known actual connecting step may be performed. In the state of the art, many devices are known which are capable of autonomously connecting teat cups. Examples relate inter alia to milking robots and pre-treatment or post-treatment robots, such as cleaning or foremilking robots. For the sake of convenience, in the further description, there will in each case be mention of milking a cow, although other treatments and other dairy animals should, of course, be regarded as included therein.

When a cow is milked for the first time by means of a robot, the robot should "learn" the positions of the teats, the so-called inmilking or "measuring in" of the robot. Systems are known per se, for example from US6729262 or US6532892, which are arranged to search for the teats under arbitrary circumstances, in the latter case starting from a fixed initial position with a very wide margin. However, in practice, it is found to be more efficient first to position roughly the robot arm which is going to connect the teat cup(s), after which the robot autonomously determines the precise teat positions. For this rough positioning a menu system is used in which the three main directions forward/rearward, left/right and upward/downward are indicated by arrows which may be pressed by the user during a desired period of time.

It is a drawback of this known method that its operation is far from efficient in many cases. In particular in the case of cows which are milked for the first time by means of a robot, and are often nervous, a quick and efficient treatment is of great importance.

The invention aims at obviating the above-mentioned problem at least partially, and provides for this purpose a method of the type mentioned in the preamble, which is characterized in that the step of bringing the robot arm from the inoperative position to the start position takes place under manual control by an operator, wherein a movement of the operator is detected by means of a suitable detector and passed on to a control device, and wherein a movement deduced from the detected movement is transferred to the robot arm by means of the control device. In this manner a more efficient inmilking becomes possible, as hereby the most natural method, namely direct manual displacement, is approached to a greater extent, because said displacement is at least imitated. In comparison with displacement by means of pressing arrows, a joystick etc., according to the invention, a more natural and more logical operating process is possible, reducing the risk of mistakes, and which is faster and consequently more favourable for in particular nervous dairy animals.

Particular embodiments of the method are described in the dependent claims.

In particular, the detector passes on the detected movement to the control device by means of a detector signal which depends on the detected movement. Although the detected movement might, for example, also be passed on via a mechanical transmission or the like, this preferably takes place by means of a detector signal. It is namely possible for such a detector signal to be processed, filtered, stored, etc., which may enhance the flexibility of the method. In this manner it would be possible, for example, to implement a learning function, wherein the control device and/or the operator are/is able to control the movement more accurately and/or more efficiently by analysing the detector signal and the desired and/or eventual movement.

In embodiments, a displacement of a measuring point is detected by the detector. The measuring point may, for example, be a body part to be designated, such as a hand or a finger. In this case, the detector advantageously comprises a camera, preferably provided with an image recognition device.

The detector advantageously comprises a hand portion which is moved by the operator, and the movement of which is detected as the movement to be detected of the operator. In this case, the hand portion may be held in the hand by the operator, worn as a glove, tied around an arm, etc. It is only of importance that the movement by means of the hand portion corresponds to a great extent to a natural movement of the operator. In fact, that movement could be made by any desired part of the body, such as, for example, by a foot or a head. If a normally functioning hand is available, this will in general give the best results, of course, in particular if the hand portion is held in that hand.

The hand portion may be provided with a measuring point. In this case, the measuring point may, for example, comprise a dot or the like, for example having a specific colour, which measuring point is recognized, via a camera, by an image recognition device. The movement is thus detected on the basis of the displacement of the measuring point. In this case, the camera, or another position determining device, such as an infrared or ultrasonic device, may constitute part of the robot arm or control device. Displacement of the measuring point implies, in fact, displacement within a reference system. The reference system may then, for example, comprise an optical field of view, a coordinate system relative to the earth, etc. An example of such a detector which is available on the market is the Wii Remote control of Nintendo.

Very advantageously, the hand portion comprises a position and/or displacement detector. Examples thereof comprise a 3D-sensor, an acceleration sensor, a motion sensor, a direction sensor such as a compass, and a position determining device such as a (D)GPS. All these detectors are arranged to detect themselves a displacement, or at least a direction, independently of the robot. Owing to this increased freedom of movement, the ease of use of the method increases. The hand portion may, for example, be connected by means of a wire to another detector portion or to the control device. In this case, in particular a detector signal may be passed on via the wire. It should be noted that the wire may form a connection between the hand portion and a computer or other signal processing or control device which may itself be connected, in any manner whatsoever, to the robot arm or the control device thereof.

However, in particular, the step of passing on the detected movement takes place via a wireless connection, in particular via an Ethernet, Internet, Bluetooth, telephone or infrared connection. The freedom of movement is thus even further increased. As already indicated above, this may imply that the detected movement, or at least the detection signal, is wirelessly transferred from the hand portion to another detector portion or another computer or control device, or that it is transferred thereto via a wire and is wirelessly transferred from there.

In particular, the deduced movement is displayed on a display device, in particular on a display screen which is operatively connected to the hand portion. It thus becomes possible to follow the movement to be controlled without the need to observe it directly. It thus becomes even possible to control the movement of the robot arm in another area, such as an office, or even on holiday or the like. A very favourable embodiment of such a detector, or hand portion, is a mobile telephone, PDA or the like, comprising a communication device and a motion or displacement sensor. Such apparatuses already have the communication means and the display screen built-in, so that when the detector, either or not as a plug-in component or a connectable component, and suitable software are added, a very user-friendly method is provided. A great advantage of the invention is that an arbitrary movement can be detected in one go. Existing systems often make use of push buttons or joysticks, which, apart from the fact that they do not enable a direct coupling between the movement made by the operator and the robot movement to be performed, also have to be operated in at least two, and often three, separate directions, which makes the known methods more time-consuming.

Advantageously, the deduced movement comprises the detected movement to scale, in particular to scale 1 :1. This corresponds most to a natural movement and movement feedback. However, it is also possible to use another, for example non-linear, transmission. An example might be that the scale proportion between the detected movement and the movement to be performed depends on the speed of the detected movement, for example such that at a slow movement the proportion becomes smaller. This enables a fast displacement to an estimated position, followed by slow and accurate displacement to the desired "final" position. The invention also relates to an automatic dairy animal treatment device which is arranged to connect a teat cup to a teat of a dairy animal and which comprises: a robot arm, a teat position determining device and a control device which is operatively connected to the robot arm and the teat position determining device and which is arranged to control the robot arm in order to connect a teat cup to a teat of a dairy animal. By way of example, reference is made to devices known from the aforementioned US6729262 or US6532892 which, just like the known method, have the drawback of a coupling which is by no means sufficiently efficient in all cases. The invention aims at obviating the above-mentioned drawback at least partially, and provides for this purpose a device of the type mentioned in the preamble, wherein the control device comprises a detector which is arranged to detect a movement of an operator, and wherein the control device is arranged to transfer a movement deduced from the detected movement to the robot arm. This makes it possible, just like in the case of the method, to enable a more natural operation, so that it becomes easier, faster and more reliable.

Particular embodiments are described in the dependent claims. Usually, the advantages will be equal to those of the corresponding method, and will therefore only briefly be explained in further detail. In particular, the detector is arranged to separately detect the movement in two or more, preferably three, directions, and, in particular, also comprises a switch device for switching between the two or more directions. In this case, for example, it is possible to make use of a detector which judges a 2D- image, wherein a suitable program control ensures the switch over which enables the detection of the movement for the displacement in the third direction.

Preferably, the detector is arranged to detect an arbitrary movement in three directions. This means that the movement to be detected can take place in all three spatial dimensions. This is preferred, because in most cases also the displacement of the robot to the start position is needed in three directions. In particular, the detector comprises a camera, a 3D-sensor, a motion sensor, an acceleration sensor, a direction sensor such as a compass, or a position determining device such as a (D)GPS, for detecting the movement and/or displacement. These are favourable, compact embodiments for the detector.

The detector advantageously comprises a hand portion which is intended to be moved by the operator, and wherein the detector is arranged to detect the movement of the hand portion as the movement to be detected of the operator. For this purpose, the detector may, for example, comprise a basic portion, or the control device may be arranged for this purpose. In this case, the hand portion may be held in the hand by the operator, worn as a glove, tied around an arm, etc. In this context, "hand portion" should be explained as "portion which should be moved by a body part of the operator", so that in this case, for example, "foot portion", "head portion" and the like should be regarded as included therein. The hand portion may be provided with a measuring point. In this case, the measuring point may, for example, comprise a dot or the like, such as one having a specific colour, which measuring point is recognized by an image recognition device, via a camera. The movement is thus detected on the basis of the displacement of the measuring point. In this case, the camera, or another position determining device, such as an infrared or ultrasonic device, may constitute part of the robot arm or the control device. Displacement of the measuring point implies, in fact, displacement within a reference system. The reference system may then, for example, comprise an optical field of view, a coordinate system relative to the earth, etc. An example of such a detector which is available on the market is the Wii Remote control of Nintendo.

Very advantageously, the hand portion comprises a position and/or displacement detector. Examples thereof comprise a 3D-sensor, a motion sensor, a direction sensor such as a compass, and a position determining device such as a (D)GPS. All these detectors are arranged to detect themselves a displacement, or at least a direction, independently of the robot. Thus, in fact, the detector may comprise only the hand portion. In other cases, the hand portion comprises a sort of measuring point or measuring object and the detector further comprises an image recording device or the like, in order to detect the measuring point as well as a displacement thereof. The hand portion may, for example, be connected by means of a wire to another detector portion or to the control device. Via the wire it is then possible to pass on, in particular, a detector signal. In this case, the wire may form a connection between the hand portion and a computer or other signal processing or control device. Other ways of operatively connecting the components are not excluded.

In one embodiment, the device comprises a camera which is arranged to produce images of the robot arm and at least one part of a dairy animal to be treated, the device being arranged to send the images to the hand portion, the hand portion comprising a displaying means for the images. In this manner it is possible correctly to position the robot, also remotely, in the start position, relative to the dairy animal, without the need for the operator to be physically present, for example from an office or a living room or a study. For, it is possible for the camera to record the image and to pass it on to the hand portion. By moving the hand portion, which either comprises itself the motion/displacement or position sensor, or the displacement of which is detected by means of a separate detector which is provided at the relevant place, and by transferring the associated signal to the control device, the robot can be operated efficiently. Mobile telephones, PDAs and the like are particularly suitable for this purpose. In this case, the signal may be passed on via a telephone line, a wire connection, infrared connection, via Internet, Bluetooth, etc.

The invention will be explained hereinafter in further detail with the aid of a few non-limiting exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1a, 1b show an inoperative position and a start position, respectively, of a robot arm with teat cups, in a diagrammatic top view;

Figure 2 shows a detail of Figure 1b, in a diagrammatic side view;

Figure 3 is one embodiment of the invention, in a diagrammatic side view, and

Figure 4 is another embodiment of the invention, in a diagrammatic side view.

Figures 1a, 1b show an inoperative position and a start position, respectively, of a robot arm with teat cups, in a diagrammatic top view. Here, by 1 is generally denoted a milking robot implement mounted on a box 2. A wagon 4 comprising the robot arm 5 moves along a guide rail 3. The robot arm 5 supports a teat cup carrier 6 with teat cups 7 and a teat detection device 8. A cow 10 with teats 11 stands in the box. Incidentally, the invention is not limited to milking robot implements, but also comprises any other robot implement which is capable of displacing teat cups, for example for cleaning or any other treatment. Therefore, one single teat cup is in principle sufficient for some embodiments. In the inoperative position of Figure 1a, the robot arm 5 with the teat cup carrier 6 is usually completely withdrawn from the box 2, in order to provide as much room as possible for the cow 10 to enter the box 2.

On the other hand, Figure 1 b indicates a start position from which the teat cups 7 can be connected automatically with the aid of the teat detection device 8. For this purpose, the milking robot implement 1 should preferably be placed at such a position that at least the teats 11 fall within the observation area of the teat detection device 8, in order to enable a quick and efficient connection. For this purpose, the teat cup carrier 6 should be displaced in usually three dimensions.

Depending on the build and size of the cow (or any other dairy animal), the teats will assume a certain position in the box, which depends inter alia on the build of the cow. Since the cow herself will always assume roughly the same position, for example more or less dictated by an eating position relative to a feed trough, it will suffice to determine that start position by hand only at the very first time. This is also called inmeasuring, or inmilking in the case of a milking robot. If the cow enters the box a next time, it is possible for the robot arm to assume again the start position recorded in a memory of a neither shown control device, whereafter connection can take place completely automatically. Figure 2 shows the above-described start position in a diagrammatic side view. The teat cups 7 on the teat cup carrier 6 are ready to be connected with the aid of the teat detection device 8. The latter comprises, for example, a camera or a laser detection device. The limits of a field of view of the device 8 are indicatively shown by the dashed lines. This field of view comprises in particular the teats 11 , and here, for example, also a leg 12, so that the teat cups 7 can be connected in a reliable manner.

Figures 3 and 4 show embodiments of a device according to the invention, in a diagrammatic side view. When describing these embodiments, the method according to the invention will also be explained in further detail. Figure 3 shows an embodiment comprising a position detector 13.

There is also provided a hand portion 14 provided with an optional reference point 15, and with a wire connection 16.

The hand portion 14 is intended to be displaced by an operator, and may, for this purpose, be worn, for example, in or on the hand. The position detector 13 is arranged to determine the position of the hand portion 14, and in particular of the reference point 15, relative to a reference frame, such as the box 2. The position detector 13 comprises, for example, an ultrasonic detector, or a 3D sensor, such as a stereo camera or a depth image camera. If the position detector 13 determines a change of the position of the hand portion 14, it may supply a signal on the basis of which it is possible for the not shown control device to displace the robot arm construction 5. For this purpose, the control device may copy the movement of the hand portion 1 :1 , or impose another movement, deduced from the movement of the hand portion, on the robot arm construction. The wire connection 16 is optional and is, for example, capable of passing on control commands to the control device or the position detector 13. In this case, a start command may be taken into account to indicate the initial position of the hand portion, as well as an associated stop command. It should be noted that, although the hand portion 14 in Figure 3 is located in a corner, it may, in principle, be held in the hand and the like by an operator.

By means of this device, and in this manner, it is possible to bring the robot arm construction, and in particular the teat cup carrier, into the desired start position. This start position may subsequently be recorded for later use.

Figure 4 shows an alternative. In this case, there is provided a mobile telephone 21 comprising a display screen 22 and an aerial 23 which is in connection with the aerial 20 of the milking robot implement 1.

In the mobile telephone 21 there is provided a, not separately indicated, position detector. This may, for example, comprise a (D)GPS or the like, or for example a combination of a compass and an acceleration sensor, all this in such a manner that the position detector is capable of detecting a position change of the mobile telephone and passing it on in the form of a signal to the milking robot implement 1 , at least to the control system thereof. On the basis of this signal it is possible for the control device to operate in turn the robot arm construction 5 in such a manner that from the inoperative position the start position is reached, by copying or processing the movement of the hand portion, thus in this case the mobile telephone 21 , in the directions x, y and z. Feedback of the movement performed to the operator may, for example, take place by recording an image of the teat cup carrier 6 and a required part of the dairy animal or the environment and sending it to the mobile telephone 21. For this purpose, for example, an image of the teat detection device 8 might be used. Alternatively, in addition to the teat detection device 8, a separate optical camera might also be provided. The recorded image may then be displayed on the display screen 22 of the mobile telephone 21. This embodiment, in particular the hand portion (mobile telephone), has the great advantage of not being limited to the area in which the milking robot implement 1 is located. The latter may also be operated from a remote place, which may even include a holiday place, as long as there is a connection between the milking robot implement 1 and (in this case) the mobile telephone 21. The embodiments shown in Figures 3 and 4 have many variants.

Thus the positions of various components are, of course, not limited to the positions shown. The position detector 13 may be provided at any desired place which is operatively connected to the control device. The same holds for the hand portion 14, the aerial 20, etc. There may also be provided all kinds of connections. For example, the position detector 13 might also be provided in an office, in which case, for example, displacements of a computer mouse or the like are detected, which may then be passed on via a home network to the control device or the milking robot implement. Besides, the hand portion may also comprise, instead of a mobile telephone 21 , another apparatus, such as a telephone or Internet connection, which is preferably capable of providing a wireless connection to the control device and of displaying an image of the teat cup carrier 6 and the direct environment/the teats. Examples thereof are PDAs and laptop computers. Besides, the position detector of the hand portion need not be completely included in that hand portion. For example, the principle of the position detector of Figure 3, i.e. a detector and a reference point to be moved, may also be applied to such a remote hand portion. The mobile telephone or the like may thus also comprise, for example, a Wii-control having a basis station comprising a detector and a movable hand unit. The latter may then, for example, indeed be built-in in the mobile telephone (PDA, laptop, ...). It will be obvious that still many other variants may come to the mind of the person skilled in the art without falling outside the scope of the invention, which scope is indicated in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. Method of connecting a teat cup (7) to a teat of a dairy animal by means of a robot arm (5) and a teat position determining device, wherein the method comprises:

- bringing the robot arm (5) from an inoperative position to a start position, wherein, in the start position, the robot arm (5) is capable of autonomously connecting, with the aid of the teat position determining device, a teat cup to the teat (11), and - from the start position, connecting a teat cup (7) to a teat (11), by means of the robot arm (5) and with the aid of the teat position determining device, characterized in that the step of bringing the robot arm (5) from the inoperative position to the start position takes place under manual control by an operator, wherein a movement of the operator is detected by means of a suitable detector and passed on to a control device, and wherein a movement deduced from the detected movement is transferred to the robot arm (5) by means of the control device.

2. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the detector passes on the detected movement to the control device by means of a detector signal which depends on the detected movement.

3. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the detector comprises a hand portion (14) which is moved by the operator, and the movement of which is detected as the movement to be detected of the operator.

4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of passing on the detected movement takes place via a wireless connection, in particular via an Ethernet, Internet, Bluetooth, telephone or infrared connection.

5. Method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the deduced movement is displayed on a display device, in particular on a display screen (22) which is operatively connected to the hand portion (14).

6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the deduced movement comprises the detected movement to scale, in particular to scale 1 :1.

7. Automatic dairy animal treatment device (1) which is arranged to connect a teat cup (7) to a teat (11) of a dairy animal and which comprises: a robot arm (5), a teat position determining device and a control device which is operatively connected to the robot arm (5) and the teat position determining device and which is arranged to control the robot arm (5) in order to connect a teat cup (7) to a teat (11) of a dairy animal, wherein the control device comprises a detector which is arranged to detect a movement of an operator, and wherein the control device is arranged to transfer a movement deduced from the detected movement to the robot arm (5).

8. Device according to claim 7, wherein the detector is arranged to separately detect the movement in two or more, preferably three, directions, and, in particular, also comprises a switch device for switching between the two or more directions.

9. Device according to claim 7, wherein the detector is arranged to detect an arbitrary movement in three directions, and comprises in particular a camera, a 3D-sensor, a motion sensor, an acceleration sensor, a direction sensor such as a compass, or a position determining device such as a (D)GPS, for detecting the movement and/or the displacement.

10. Device according to any one of claims 7-9, wherein the detector comprises a hand portion (14) which is intended to be moved by the operator, and wherein the detector is arranged to detect the movement of the hand portion (14) as the movement to be detected of the operator.

11. Device according to claim 10, comprising a communication device for wireless communication between the hand portion (14) and the control device.

12. Device according to any one of claims 10-11, comprising a camera which is arranged to produce images of the robot arm (5) and at least one part of a dairy animal to be treated, and wherein the device is arranged to send the images to the hand portion (14), the hand portion (14) comprising a displaying means for the images.