Lely Astronaut Robotic milking system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ONf6DxTnos

The main revolutionary feature of the Lely Astronaut A4 cow box is the walkthrough design called the I-flow concept. Allowing the cow to walk straight in and out of the box eliminates any unnecessary obstacles, further reducing the threshold for the cow to enter the cow unit at her own pace. The spacious cow friendly design and positioning of the cow unit, allows for continuous interaction with the rest of the herd and thus eliminating unnecessary stress on the cow.
The Astronaut A4 is set up in a modular concept. A central unit features a central vacuum and cleaning system for up to two cow units. It is self-contained and a configuration with two cow units can span a distance up to thirty metres which ensures much more freedom and space for the positioning of the units in the barn. Due to its modularity, it is a valid option both for family farms of 300,000 litres up to farms that produce well over 10 million litres of milk annually. The Lely Astronaut A4 comes in two models, the Manager and the Operator versions, both with additional options to configure the Astronaut A4 designed to the specific needs of the farmer.
Besides these innovations the new Lely Astronaut A4 is filled with new technology such as a new milk friendly pump transporting the milk to the tank without rotating impellers which can damage the milk. To reduce downtime as much as possible, key wear parts have been changed into easy to replace cartridge systems.
Lely has explicitly refrained from automating the actions of milking itself; instead the company continues to build a system around the cow to make sure that cows like to be milked within a low-threshold system. “Contrary to what seems to be the current market trend, we strongly believe this is the way forward in automating dairy farms in an animal friendly way”, said Alexander van der Lely.
Successful robotic milking is a new style of farm management, where the decisions shift from the farmer to the cow. Farmers can control many factors on an individual cow basis; factors that cannot be controlled in a conventionally milked herd. Through Lely’s dedicated management program for dairy farmers; Lely’s T4C, a quick overview is generated on the performance of the herd, the robotic milking system and the cows that require attention. It allows farmers to focus on the cows that need him/her the most. The T4C management program is now also available on the robot itself and therefore available for management on the spot. It comes with an optional dynamic feeding module (DLM). This system automatically changes feed allocations per cow based on optimum cost benefit ratio to maximize profits.
Like all Lely’s dairy products, the new milking system is available through Lely’s unique dedicated sales and service network, its Lely Center concept with more than 160 facilities covering over twenty countries worldwide.

http://www.lely.com/en/milking/robotic-milkingsystem/astronaut-a4