Festo and Lely have developed the fifth generation of a milking robot - called Astronaut A5. The Astronaut A5 is the result of continuous development of the earlier models Astronaut A3 and A4. And it’s precisely these different milking robot generations which shows the evolution of Festo from a component supplier to a strategic business partner. From the first delivery of servo-pneumatic components for the Astronaut A3, Lely and Festo continued working together and developed the current solution for the robot arm of the Astronaut A5 milking robot with electric actuators and software from Festo.

 

The hybrid arm in the Astronaut A5 is set into motion by two electric cylinders ESBF from Festo and a customised, horizontal toothed belt axis. With its smooth surfaces and in clean look design, the ESBF is easy to clean, making it less susceptible to contamination. The actuators are powered by customised EMCA motors. The complete EMCA solution for positioning the electromechanical drives and controlling format changeovers consists of a maintenance and wear-free EC motor, as well as a motor controller including power electronics. This avoids long motor cables, improves electromagnetic compatibility and reduces installation effort and space requirements. Valve terminals type VTUB-12 valve terminals control the process valves for the milking process.

 

Compared to the servo-pneumatic and hybrid predecessor models, namely Astronaut A3 and A4, the electrically actuated powered robot arm has clear advantages: its motion is gentler, and it’s more energy-efficient and faster because it requires 30% less time to place the teat cups on the cow. And installation time is also reduced thanks to the use of quick connectors,” says Arnoud Nieuwdorp, Global Key Account Manager at Festo. “Operating and maintenance costs, and thus the total cost of ownership, are lower as well,” added Dr Jan Bredau, head of Systems Engineering at Festo headquarters in Esslingen, Germany.

 

The mechatronics solution developed by Lely and Festo doesn’t work without software. “We take advantage of Festo’s know-how so that we can concentrate on our core areas of expertise for the development of the overall Astronaut system,” reported Martijn Boelens, Vice President Customer Solutions at Lely.

 

“We were able to involve the application software team from the System Solutions division at Festo headquarters in Esslingen; they developed the motion software for the fully automated milking robot,” added Nieuwdorp.