公开(公告)号：US11832582B2

公开(公告)日：2023-12-05

申请号：US16092333

申请日：2017-08-17

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Bradley J. Prevost ,  Marijn Van Aart ,  Peter Willem van der Sluis ,  Alireza Janani

IPC: A01J5/00 ,  A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017 ,  G06T7/73 ,  G06V10/25 ,  G06V10/44 ,  G06V10/50 ,  G06V10/75 ,  G06V20/10 ,  G06V20/64 ,  H04N13/204 ,  H04N13/271

CPC classification number: A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017 ,  A01J5/0175 ,  G06T7/75 ,  G06V10/25 ,  G06V10/44 ,  G06V10/50 ,  G06V10/751 ,  G06V20/10 ,  G06V20/647 ,  H04N13/204 ,  H04N13/271 ,  G06T2207/10028 ,  G06T2207/30204 ,  G06V2201/06

Abstract: A leg (205) detection system comprising: a robotic arm (200) comprising a gripping portion (208) for holding a teat cup (203, 210) for attaching to a teat (1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 203S, 203) of a dairy livestock (200, 202, 203); an imaging system coupled to the robotic arm (200) and configured to capture a first three-dimensional (3D) image (138, 2400, 2500) of a rearview of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203) in a stall (402), the imaging system comprising a 3D camera (136, 138) or a laser (132), wherein each pixel of the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) is associated with a depth value; one or more memory (104) devices configured to store a reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) of the stall (402) without any dairy livestock (200, 202, 203); and a processor (102) communicatively coupled to the imaging system and the one or more memory (104) devices, the processor (102) configured to: access the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) and the reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); subtract the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) from the reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a second 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); perform morphological image (138, 2400, 2500) processing on the second 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a third 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); perform image (138, 2400, 2500) thresholding on the third 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); cluster (2616, 2618, 2626, 2628) data from the fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); identify, using the clustered data from the fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500), one or more legs (205) of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203); and provide instructions for movements of the robotic arm (200) to avoid the identified one or more legs (205) while attaching the teat cup (203, 210) to the teat (1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 203S, 203) of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203).

公开(公告)号：US20200344972A1

公开(公告)日：2020-11-05

申请号：US16092333

申请日：2017-08-17

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Bradley J. Prevost ,  Marijn Van Aart ,  Peter Willem Van Der Sluis ,  Alireza Janani

IPC: A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017 ,  G06K9/62 ,  H04N13/204 ,  H04N13/271 ,  G06K9/46 ,  G06K9/32 ,  G06K9/00 ,  G06T7/73

Abstract: A leg (205) detection system comprising: a robotic arm (200) comprising a gripping portion (208) for holding a teat cup (203, 210) for attaching to a teat (1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 203S, 203) of a dairy livestock (200, 202, 203); an imaging system coupled to the robotic arm (200) and configured to capture a first three-dimensional (3D) image (138, 2400, 2500) of a rearview of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203) in a stall (402), the imaging system comprising a 3D camera (136, 138) or a laser (132), wherein each pixel of the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) is associated with a depth value; one or more memory (104) devices configured to store a reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) of the stall (402) without any dairy livestock (200, 202, 203); and a processor (102) communicatively coupled to the imaging system and the one or more memory (104) devices, the processor (102) configured to: access the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) and the reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); subtract the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) from the reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a second 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); perform morphological image (138, 2400, 2500) processing on the second 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a third 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); perform image (138, 2400, 2500) thresholding on the third 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); cluster (2616, 2618, 2626, 2628) data from the fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); identify, using the clustered data from the fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500), one or more legs (205) of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203); and provide instructions for movements of the robotic arm (200) to avoid the identified one or more legs (205) while attaching the teat cup (203, 210) to the teat (1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 203S, 203) of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203).

公开(公告)号：US10477827B2

公开(公告)日：2019-11-19

申请号：US15455382

申请日：2017-03-10

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Alireza Janani ,  Peter Willem van der Sluis ,  Robert J. Godfrey

IPC: A01J5/017 ,  G06K9/46 ,  G06T7/00 ,  A01J5/007 ,  G01B11/24 ,  B25J19/02 ,  G06K9/00 ,  B25J9/16

Abstract: A system includes a robotic arm, a laser, and a processor. The processor is configured to determine that a teat cup is to be attached to a front teat of a dairy livestock, and in response, determine an amount of separation between the front teat and a rear teat. The processor is further configured to calculate, if the amount of separation between the front and rear teats is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, an updated front teat position based on the amount of separation between the front and rear teats and command the robotic arm to move to the updated front teat position. The processor is further configure to determine whether the front teat is found in a scan of the dairy livestock by the laser, and if so, command the robotic arm to attach the teat cup to the front teat.

公开(公告)号：US10383305B1

公开(公告)日：2019-08-20

申请号：US16157673

申请日：2018-10-11

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Bradley J. Prevost ,  Marijn Van Aart ,  Peter Willem van der Sluis ,  Alireza Janani

IPC: A01J5/00 ,  A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017 ,  A01K1/12 ,  A01J7/04 ,  A01K11/00 ,  A01J5/08

Abstract: A leg (205) detection system comprising: a robotic arm (200) comprising a gripping portion (208) for holding a teat cup (203, 210) for attaching to a teat (1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 2038, 203) of a diary livestock (200, 202, 203); an imaging system coupled to the robotic arm (200) and configured to capture a first three-dimensional (3D) image (138, 2400, 2500) of a rearview of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203) in a stall (402), the imaging system comprising a 3D camera (136, 138) or a laser (132), wherein each pixel of the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) is associated with a depth value; one or more memory (104) devices configured to store a reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) of the stall (402) without any dairy livestock (200, 202, 203); and a processor (102) communicatively coupled to the imaging system and the one or more memory (104) devices, the processor (102) configured to: access the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) and the reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); subtract the first 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) from the reference (3D) 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a second 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); perform morphological image (138, 2400, 2500) processing on the second 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a third 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); perform image (138, 2400, 2500) thresholding on the third 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to produce a fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); cluster (2616, 2618, 2626, 2628) data from the fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500); identify, using the clustered data from the fourth 3D image (138, 2400, 2500) to avoid the identified one or more legs (205) while attaching the teat cup (203, 210) to the teat (1102, 1104, 1106, 1108, 203S, 203) of the dairy livestock (200, 202, 203).

公开(公告)号：US20180049396A1

公开(公告)日：2018-02-22

申请号：US15455382

申请日：2017-03-10

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Alireza Janani ,  Peter Willem van der Sluis ,  Robert J. Godfrey

IPC: A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017 ,  G01B11/24 ,  B25J19/02

Abstract: A system includes a robotic arm, a laser, and a processor. The processor is configured to determine that a teat cup is to be attached to a front teat of a dairy livestock, and in response, determine an amount of separation between the front teat and a rear teat. The processor is further configured to calculate, if the amount of separation between the front and rear teats is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, an updated front teat position based on the amount of separation between the front and rear teats and command the robotic arm to move to the updated front teat position. The processor is further configure to determine whether the front teat is found in a scan of the dairy livestock by the laser, and if so, command the robotic arm to attach the teat cup to the front teat.