{"id":{"repo_id":"dcu","oai_identifier":"oai:doras.dcu.ie:16974"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/dcu/oai:doras.dcu.ie:16974","repository":{"repo_id":"dcu","name":"Dublin City University","base_url":"http://doras.dcu.ie/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Design of a robotic manipulator for automatic application of milking cups","abstract":"The application of milking cups to cow teats has been identified as a significant component of net manual labour on the commercial dairy farm. Several automatic milking systems (AMS) are available commercially, however such commercial AMS have low capacity (typically 7.5 cows/unit/hr) and speed of teat detection and rmlking cup application is relatively low. Attempts to introduce commercial AMS into pasture-grazing systems have been unsuccessful as maximising milking efficiency in pasture-grazed herds involves optimizing throughput of cows during the milking session. This design project investgated the use of a commercial robot arm for high-speed milking cup application. Operating requirements and workspace parameters were determined horn field observation of cows in a milking parlour. An end-effector capable of handling four milking cups simultaneously was developed and interfaced with a 6-axis robot arm to form a robotic milking cup application mechanism The end-effector profile is sufficiently compact to allow access between the rear legs of the cow while enabhg full access to all four teats for application of milking cups. A control system was designed and implemented for the applicator and basic testing was performed to validate operation. Test results indicate that small changes in teat location (<20mm) may be tracked at a position update rate of approximately 200 ms.","abstract_html":"The application of milking cups to cow teats has been identified as a significant component of net manual labour on the commercial dairy farm. Several automatic milking systems (AMS) are available commercially, however such commercial AMS have low capacity (typically 7.5 cows/unit/hr) and speed of teat detection and rmlking cup application is relatively low. Attempts to introduce commercial AMS into pasture-grazing systems have been unsuccessful as maximising milking efficiency in pasture-grazed herds involves optimizing throughput of cows during the milking session. This design project investgated the use of a commercial robot arm for high-speed milking cup application. Operating requirements and workspace parameters were determined horn field observation of cows in a milking parlour. An end-effector capable of handling four milking cups simultaneously was developed and interfaced with a 6-axis robot arm to form a robotic milking cup application mechanism The end-effector profile is sufficiently compact to allow access between the rear legs of the cow while enabhg full access to all four teats for application of milking cups. A control system was designed and implemented for the applicator and basic testing was performed to validate operation. Test results indicate that small changes in teat location (&lt;20mm) may be tracked at a position update rate of approximately 200 ms.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["White, James"],"institution":"Dublin City University","degree_name":"meng","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006","date_published":"2006","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:50Z","subjects":["Mechanical engineering"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["White, James"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2006"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2006"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["Dublin City University"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://doras.dcu.ie/16974/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["meng"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Mechanical engineering"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://doras.dcu.ie/16974/1/james_white_SC.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The application of milking cups to cow teats has been identified as a significant component of net manual labour on the commercial dairy farm. Several automatic milking systems (AMS) are available commercially, however such commercial AMS have low capacity (typically 7.5 cows/unit/hr) and speed of teat detection and rmlking cup application is relatively low. Attempts to introduce commercial AMS into pasture-grazing systems have been unsuccessful as maximising milking efficiency in pasture-grazed herds involves optimizing throughput of cows during the milking session. This design project investgated the use of a commercial robot arm for high-speed milking cup application. Operating requirements and workspace parameters were determined horn field observation of cows in a milking parlour. An end-effector capable of handling four milking cups simultaneously was developed and interfaced with a 6-axis robot arm to form a robotic milking cup application mechanism The end-effector profile is sufficiently compact to allow access between the rear legs of the cow while enabhg full access to all four teats for application of milking cups. A control system was designed and implemented for the applicator and basic testing was performed to validate operation. Test results indicate that small changes in teat location (<20mm) may be tracked at a position update rate of approximately 200 ms."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Design of a robotic manipulator for automatic application of milking cups"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["White, James"],"dc:date":["2006"],"dc:date.issued":["2006"],"dc:description.abstract":["The application of milking cups to cow teats has been identified as a significant component of net manual labour on the commercial dairy farm. Several automatic milking systems (AMS) are available commercially, however such commercial AMS have low capacity (typically 7.5 cows/unit/hr) and speed of teat detection and rmlking cup application is relatively low. Attempts to introduce commercial AMS into pasture-grazing systems have been unsuccessful as maximising milking efficiency in pasture-grazed herds involves optimizing throughput of cows during the milking session. This design project investgated the use of a commercial robot arm for high-speed milking cup application. Operating requirements and workspace parameters were determined horn field observation of cows in a milking parlour. An end-effector capable of handling four milking cups simultaneously was developed and interfaced with a 6-axis robot arm to form a robotic milking cup application mechanism The end-effector profile is sufficiently compact to allow access between the rear legs of the cow while enabhg full access to all four teats for application of milking cups. A control system was designed and implemented for the applicator and basic testing was performed to validate operation. Test results indicate that small changes in teat location (<20mm) may be tracked at a position update rate of approximately 200 ms."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://doras.dcu.ie/16974/1/james_white_SC.pdf"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:publisher.institution":["Dublin City University"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://doras.dcu.ie/16974/"],"dc:subject":["Mechanical engineering"],"dc:title":["Design of a robotic manipulator for automatic application of milking cups"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["meng"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:50Z"}