TEAT TREATMENT METHOD AND APPARATUS
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Accused Products
Abstract
Automatic teat treatment method and apparatus for treatment operations on teats of an animal using a robot apparatus. The method includes initiating automatic detection of spatial teat positions and registering the spatial positions of the detected teats; and deriving a dedicated treating action effective to move the treating device through a dedicated path defined by the registered spatial teat positions and carrying out treatment by moving the treating device through the dedicated path. When not all of the spatial positions are detected, then the method registers the spatial position of each detected teat and derives an adapted treating action effective to move the treating device through an adapted path defined by the registered spatial teat positions and by approximated spatial locations. When no teat spatial positions have been detected, the method derives a default treating action effective to move the treating device through a default treating path.
11 Citations
33 Claims
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1-15. -15. (canceled)
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16. An automatic teat treatment method for carrying out a treatment operation on the teats of an individual animal, said method being performed using a robot apparatus with a control system and an arm, the arm of the robot being configured to carry a teat treating device, said method comprising the steps of:
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using the control system, automatically establishing a start time t0 for said treatment operation; establishing a presence of an animal at a treatment location; using the robot, initiating automatic detection of spatial teat positions of all said teats of said individual animal at said treatment location; (i) when all said spatial positions of all said teats have been detected before a predefined time td after said start time t0 has passed, then registering the spatial positions of all of the detected teats before said predefined time td has passed, and deriving, by using of said control system, a dedicated treating action for said treating device, effective to move said treating device through a dedicated path defined by said registered spatial teat positions of said individual animal, and initiating and carrying out said dedicated treating action of all said teats by movement of said treating device through said dedicated path and thereafter ending said treatment operation; (ii) when said predefined time td has passed after at least one said spatial positions and before all said spatial positions of all the teats have been detected, then immediately halting any further detection of said spatial teat positions and registering the spatial position of each detected teat, and deriving, by using said control system, an adapted treating action for said teat treating device and said individual animal, effective to move said treating device through an adapted path defined by said registered spatial teat positions, said adapted path being additionally defined, for undetected teat positions, by approximated spatial locations, and initiating and carrying out said adapted treating action of all said teats by movement of said treating device through said adapted path and thereafter ending said treatment operation; and (iii) when said predefined time td has passed before any said spatial position of the teats has been detected, then immediately halting any further detection of said spatial teat positions and deriving a default treating action for said treating device and said individual animal, effective to move said treating device through a default treating path, and initiating and carrying out said default treating action of all said teats by movement of said treating device through said default treating path and thereafter ending said treatment operation, wherein said robot apparatus is a pre-treatment robot apparatus or a post-treatment robot apparatus, said treatment operation is a pre-treatment operation or a post-treatment operation, and said treatment location is a pre-treatment location or a post-treatment location. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An automatic teat treatment apparatus for carrying out a treatment operation on teats of an individual animal having plural teats, said apparatus comprising:
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a robot with a robot arm and an associated control system, said robot arm configured for carrying a teat-treating device; an imaging apparatus; and an image processing apparatus, wherein, said control system, in operation, automatically establishes a start time t0 for said treatment operation, and establishes a presence of the animal at a treatment location, and controls the steps of; said imaging apparatus and said image processing apparatus initiating automatic detection of spatial teat positions of all said teats of said animal at said treatment location; determining, during said detection of said spatial teat positions, whether a predefined time td after said start time t0 has passed, and wherein (i) when all said spatial positions of all said teats have been detected before a predefined time td after said start time t0 has passed, then registering the spatial positions of all of the detected teats before said predefined time td has passed, and deriving, by using of said control system, a dedicated treating action for said treating device, effective to move said treating device through a dedicated path defined by said registered spatial teat positions of said individual animal, and initiating and carrying out said dedicated treating action of all said teats by movement of said treating device through said dedicated path and thereafter ending said treatment operation, (ii) when said predefined time td has passed after at least one said spatial positions and before all said spatial positions of all the teats have been detected, then immediately halting any further detection of said spatial teat positions and registering the spatial position of each detected teat, and deriving, by using said control system, an adapted treating action for said teat treating device and said individual animal, effective to move said treating device through an adapted path defined by said registered spatial teat positions, said adapted path being additionally defined, for undetected teat positions, by approximated spatial locations, and initiating and carrying out said adapted treating action of all said teats by movement of said treating device through said adapted path and thereafter ending said treatment operation, and (iii) when said predefined time td has passed before any said spatial position of the teats has been detected, then immediately halting any further detection of said spatial teat positions and deriving a default treating action for said treating device and said individual animal, effective to move said treating device through a default treating path, and initiating and carrying out said default treating action of all said teats by movement of said treating device through said default treating path and thereafter ending said treatment operation, wherein said robot is a pre-treatment robot or a post-treatment robot, said treatment operation is a pre-treatment operation or a post-treatment operation, and said treatment location is a pre-treatment location or a post-treatment location. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification