ASTRONAUT Milking Robot

Lely has a long and deep history of working with and recognizing the needs of the modern dairy farmer. The Astronaut robotic milking system offers substantial financial and lifestyle advantages to dairy farmers. In addition to increased milk production through better herd management, farmers will be liberated from labour-intensive milking allowing them a better quality of life. Depending on your situation, the Astronaut will enhance production output per labour unit and as such reduce or eliminate the dependency on external labour. The Astronaut represents the most consistent reliable employee imaginable: "every hour of every day, every day
of the year, for years to come". With over 5,200 units of this advanced milker installed, this new leading technique is now also available to improve your farm operation.

Pasture grazing and robotic milking

Let there be no misunderstanding: the combination of pasture grazing and a Lely Astronaut robotic milking system is no problem. In fact, 70% of our customers apply grazing. The capacity of the Astronaut milking robot depends on different factors such as, the production level of the herd, the milking rate and the calving pattern.

General benefits;

• Automation of the milking process: a natural and animal-friendly approach
• A complete system for milking, feeding management
• Compact construction
• Easy installation
• Production increase due to more cow friendly milking times
• Healthier udders, less mastitis
• Less strain on the udders resulting in a longer life span for the cow
• Labor saving for the dairy farmer
• Production increase per worker
• Improvement of milker's social live
• Lely is leader on the robot milking market
• Years of experience with the Lely Astronaut milking robot.
• Over 5,000 installations working world wide

Milk Quality Control (MQC)

This sensor system provides feedback on each of the cow's quarters. The MQC sensors measure the following important factors: milk colour, dead milk time, conductivity, milk speed, milk volume, milk yield and other important factors relating to cow health. Modern sensor techniques are used to ensure only highquality milk is transported to the dairy factories. Unique in the dairy sector is the fact that the MQC sensor system is able to automatically separate abnormal or undesirable milk that contains blood or colostrum, or is a result of mastitis or a high conductivity rate.

MQC-C

A recent breakthrough in the control of milk quality and udder health is MQC-C, the first available on-line determination of somatic cell count per quarter. This tool allows you to determine yourself at what time and for which cow cell count measurement is required and as such is a unique tool for optimal cow (udder) health. This tool is a New Zealand invention.

The milking process with the Astronaut milking robot can be described as follows:

• Cow enter the Robot milking box
• Cow is identified by means of a responder on the neck
• The robot decides if she may be milked on the basis of milk yield, physical state of the cow and the group
• If the cow may be milked, the right amount of feed is concentrated in front of the cow
• The robot arm swings underneath the cow
• The rotated brushes cleans and stimulates the teats
• The laser finds the exact teat position
• The teat cups are connected one by one, starting with the teat with the longest milking time
• The pre-milk will be separate
• After milking the teat are sprayed, the robot arm goes back to his original place and cow can leave the robot

The fastest robotic milking system

The concept of guiding the whole milking process by means of a sophisticated arm underneath the cow has proven to be one of the key factors in the success of the Astronaut robotic milking system. The unique advanced, active and adoptive Astronaut arm includes further improvements. The 3D movements - taking the shortest way from point to point, just like the human arm - ensures quick reaction times plus a larger reach towards both low and high teats. The TDS scanning technolog ensures quick and precise teat cup attachment. Lely has set a standard in milking technique by being the first one to offer pulsation per individual quarter.

The cleanest robotic milking system

Adequate teat and udder bottom cleaning through a combination of brushes (disinfected with a special developed chlorine-free detergent) and the precise arm movement guarantees the most optimal cleaning and stimulation. The teat cups are tilted away in the rest position and the tubes are housed inside the arm for optimum protection. The TDS scanning technology ensures quick and precise teat cup attachment as well as optimum effectiveness in teat cleaning and teat spraying.

The longest life span

The box of the Astronaut milking robot is constructed with state-ofthe art materials such as stainless steel and titanium, and features greased bearing for the lifetime of the robot. Due to a combination of rigid design and overload protection in all directions, the arm remains invulnerable. Today, even robots of over 12 years old have been resold and are fulfilling their daily duty to the full satisfaction of the customer.

The most economical robotic milking system

The utilization of a robotic milking system allows maximum production per animal through increased milking frequency. With the lowest energy and water consumption and the highest capacity, the Astronaut robotic milking system provides you the best return on investment and guarantees the maximum liters of milk production. The robotic milking system requires a minimal number of service turns per year and even allows you a full-fledged service contract based on number of milkings per year. Due to a well-balanced combination of high temperatures and the use of specially developed chlorine-free chemicals, the robotic milking system only requires minutes of downtime for cleaning. In addition, the use of first-class materials guarantees a long life time and a high second hand value.