Reliable Energy Supply Systems for Milking Robots

Attaching, cleaning, stimulating, pre-milking, milking – these are the individual steps that the MIone, an automatic milking system from GEA Farm Technologies GmbH, takes care of independently as soon as an animal lines up at the box.

The mechanical engineering group's system has been in series production for several years and is in use for herd sizes of about 70 animals or more. The unique aspect of the MIone is that the cows decide for themselves when they go to milk. The animals simply line up at the free box, which is detected by the system thus initiating the automated process. A robotic arm is extended and the individual milking cups at the end of the arm place themselves one after the other precisely on the udders. The system works quietly while the animal is eating.

After the entire milking process is complete, the milking cups detach from the udder, are cleaned and prepared for the next animal.

The challenge with these systems is 24-hour operation and the wide variety of conditions that can prevail in the barn. These include, for example, fluctuating temperatures from 32 °F to 104 °F (0°C to 40°C), usually high humidity and air that often contains ammonia. This also affects all individual components of the MIone.

The energy supply to the robot arm is implemented with polymer e-chain cable carriers® and filled with chainflex® cables from igus®, which are unaffected by these normally harsh conditions. Specifically, two e-chains of the E2/000 series, which are filled with chainflex® cables specially developed for movement, are used. One e-chain travels on the horizontal and one on vertical axis.

For several years now, GEA has also been purchasing the e-chains as completely pre-assembled readychains®, which reduces procurement and installation costs. During the system design, the machine manufacturer worked closely with igus® to define the cable requirements in detail. Based on this collaboration, the expected number of cycles was determined that the system would have a service life over 10 years. Because both the e-chains and the cables are supplied from a single source, they can be optimally matched to one another, providing an added level of reliability for the customer.

The dynamics in the use of the MIone are relatively low, which is important in order not to injure the animals. The protected routing of the e‑chains in GEA’s systems helps virtually eliminate damage caused by external influences. At the same time, operational reliability and high availability are critical requirements as all systems must operate continuously, and unplanned downtime must be avoided.