Reliable energy supply to the robot arm in milking system during continuous operation

Attaching, cleaning, stimulating, pre-milking, milking - these are the individual steps that the MI_one_, an automatic milking system from GEA Farm Technologies GmbH, carries out automatically as soon as an animal lines up at the box.
The system from the engineering group has been in series production for several years and is used for herd sizes from around 70 animals. The special feature of the MI_one_ is that the cows themselves decide when they go to be milked. The animals simply line up at the free stall - this is recognised by the system and the automatic process is initiated. A robot arm is extended and the individual teat cups at the end of the arm are placed on the udder teats one by one with pinpoint accuracy. The system works quietly while the animal is busy eating. Once the entire milking process is complete, the teat cups detach from the udder, are cleaned and prepared for the next animal. The challenge with these systems is the 24-hour operation and the wide range of conditions that can prevail in the barn. These include fluctuating temperatures from 0 °C to 40 °C, usually high humidity and air that often contains ammonia. This also affects all individual components of the MI_one_.

The energy supply to the robot arm is realised with plastic energy chains and cables from igus®, for which these conditions do not present any major difficulties. Specifically, two energy chains from the E2/000 series are used, which are filled with chainflex® cables specially developed for the movement. One chain travels on the horizontal axis and one on the vertical axis. For some years now, GEA has also been purchasing the e-chain® as completely pre-assembled readychains, which enables savings to be made in the procurement process.
The dynamics in the application of the MI_one_ are relatively low, which is important in order not to injure the animals. Thanks to the protected installation of the energy chain in GEA's plants, damage caused by external influences can be virtually ruled out. However, operational safety and high availability are all the more important. All systems must function around the clock and unplanned downtimes must be avoided at all costs. When the machine specialist designed the cable for the application together with igus®, the cycles were extrapolated for ten years and thus the requirements were precisely determined. As both the energy chain and the cable are supplied from a single source, it is possible to harmonise them perfectly. This creates additional security for the customer.