Teach the system to find the teats
Below is the new engineered technique to first attachement. If you've had robots before today, you probably learned the old way. There's a slight twist in the way to set up first milking that will save you time and frustration. Make sure to review and teach others involved on the farm.
The first 6 steps are really the same as before. The key is in step 7.
1. When a cow goes into the box for the first time, the teat coordinates are unknown. When the cow is identified, the pop-up window 'Visit cow needs supervision' is shown on the E-Link: Select the button [OK].
2. The pop-up window 'Presence of user is needed because:' is shown:
Select the button [OK].
3. The pop-up window 'Change and validate the following settings to continue milking process:' is shown:
1. Select the teats that must be milked.
2. Select the type of udder (1 or 2).
3. Select the button [OK].
4. Select the button [Swing in].
The robot arm swings in and the sTDS is on.
5. Put the robot arm under the cow with the top right red double arrow button in field 2.
6. If necessary, push the feed button (top right) to give the cow some extra feed.
7. Move the robot arm with the arrow buttons to the position that is shown in the figure: the rear teat cups must be underneath the front teats (imagine they are in the upright position) and the
lowest beam of the sTDS must touch the tip of the rear teats.
**The KEY here is, as much as possible, to have the 2 top beams of the laser on the front teats and the bottom laser beam hitting the back teats. As seen on the picture beside.**
The four single arrow buttons move the robot arm in small
steps.
The four double arrow buttons move the robot arm in larger
steps.
8. When the robot arm is in the correct position, select the button
[Start connection].
Do not use this method
If you've had robots for some time, you most likely learned the old technique. This technique required you to put the lasers right below the teat ends prior to selecting the button
[Start connection]. The updated engineering makes the robot think and learn differently. Hence why the new start position is critical in having a faster and better rate of first attachment.
We've seen great success rate improvement on the farms that have started using this slight adjustment.
Let us know if this helps!