公开(公告)号：US10817970B2

公开(公告)日：2020-10-27

申请号：US16256558

申请日：2019-01-24

Applicant: TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS CORP.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Richard B. Voigt

IPC: G06K9/00 ,  G06T1/00 ,  A01J7/00 ,  B25J13/08 ,  B25J19/04 ,  G06T7/12 ,  G06T7/13 ,  G06T7/55 ,  G06T7/521 ,  G06T7/73 ,  G06T7/11 ,  A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017

Abstract: A vision system that includes a robotic arm and a three-dimensional (3D) camera operably coupled to a processor. The processor is configured to acquire a 3D image and identify a teat of the dairy livestock within the 3D image. The processor is further configured to determine a distance between a portion of a robotic arm and an approach vector for the teat, to compare the distance between the portion of the robotic arm and the approach vector for the teat and the attachment range threshold value, and to send instructions to the robotic arm based on the comparison.

公开(公告)号：US10653103B2

公开(公告)日：2020-05-19

申请号：US15948400

申请日：2018-04-09

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Joel R. Henry ,  Bruce A. Schroeder ,  Adam R. Hachey ,  Rizwan Ajaz ,  Peter Willem van der Sluis

IPC: A01J7/04 ,  B25J9/16 ,  B25J15/00 ,  B25J15/04 ,  B25J5/02 ,  A01J5/017 ,  A01K1/12

Abstract: An apparatus includes a carriage, a platform, an extension member, and a spray tool member. The carriage moves along the track in a lateral direction. The platform is coupled to and positioned above the carriage. The length of the platform is greater than and orthogonal to the width of the platform and transverse to the lateral direction when in an operational state. The platform pivots about a fulcrum positioned between the platform and the carriage such that the front end and the back end of the platform move vertically in opposite directions. The extension member is movably coupled to the platform and has a longitudinal axis parallel to the length of the platform. The extension member extends away from the carriage in a first mode and retracts towards the carriage in a second mode. The spray tool member is coupled to the front end of the extension member.

公开(公告)号：US10595500B2

公开(公告)日：2020-03-24

申请号：US15828553

申请日：2017-12-01

Applicant: TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS CORP.

Inventor： Henk Hofman ,  Peter Willem van der Sluis ,  Ype Groensma

IPC: A01J7/04 ,  A01K13/00 ,  G06T7/73 ,  G06T7/13 ,  B25J9/16 ,  A01K29/00 ,  A01J5/003 ,  A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017 ,  A01K1/12 ,  G06T1/00 ,  A01J7/00 ,  B25J11/00 ,  G06T7/00 ,  B25J9/00 ,  H04N7/18 ,  G05B19/042

Abstract: A system for operating a robotic arm, comprises a controller and a robotic arm. The controller accesses an image of the rear of dairy livestock located in a stall of a rotary milking platform and, in conjunction with the stall of the rotary milking platform in which a dairy livestock is located moving into an area adjacent a robotic arm, determines whether a milking cluster is attached to the dairy livestock based at least in part upon the image. The robotic arm is communicatively coupled to the controller and extends between the legs of the dairy livestock if the controller determines that the milking cluster is not attached to the dairy livestock. The robotic arm does not extend between the legs of the dairy livestock if the controller determines that the milking cluster is attached to the dairy livestock.

公开(公告)号：US20190373841A1

公开(公告)日：2019-12-12

申请号：US16006295

申请日：2018-06-12

Applicant: TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS CORP.

Inventor： Gregory S. Bardosy ,  Anthony P. Spaeth ,  David J. Luzader

IPC: A01J5/00 ,  A01J11/04

Abstract: A milking claw for efficiently drawing milk is disclosed. The milking claw includes a claw top and a claw bottom. The claw top includes a pair of front inlets, a pair of rear inlets, and an outlet. The front inlets and the rear inlets extend upwardly from a top surface of the claw top and are spaced on opposite sides of a longitudinal axis of the claw top. The outlet includes an air channel along a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and a flow passage disposed below the air channel. The flow passage includes a horizontal portion and a vertical portion. The claw bottom is disposed below the claw top and includes a dividing wall, a sump, and a raised knob disposed within the sump.

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：US10357015B2

公开(公告)日：2019-07-23

申请号：US14534766

申请日：2014-11-06

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Peter Willem van der Sluis ,  Brad A. Schaller ,  Kent B. Toepfer ,  Robert J. Godfrey

IPC: A01J5/017 ,  A01K1/12

Abstract: A robotic attacher comprises a main arm suspended from a rail, a supplemental arm coupled to the main arm, and a gripping portion coupled to an extension of the supplemental arm. The gripping portion comprises a first grabber positioned side-by-side with a second grabber. The first grabber is operable to attach a first teat cup to a first teat of a dairy livestock and the second grabber is operable to tilt downward independent of the first grabber in conjunction with the first grabber attaching the first teat cup. The second grabber is operable to attach a second teat cup to a second teat of the dairy livestock and the first grabber is operable to tilt downward independent of the second grabber in conjunction with the second grabber attaching the second teat cup.

公开(公告)号：US10349615B2

公开(公告)日：2019-07-16

申请号：US15448914

申请日：2017-03-03

Applicant: Technologies Holdings Corp.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Bradley J. Prevost

IPC: G06K9/00 ,  A01J5/007 ,  A01J5/017 ,  G01B11/24

Abstract: A system includes a robotic arm, a laser, and a processor. The processor is configured to command the robotic arm to move to a location of an expected teat position of a dairy livestock and to command the laser to perform two scans of the dairy livestock. The processor is further configured to determine whether a first teat is found in both of the scans, and if so, determine whether locations of the first teat in the two scans are within a predetermined distance of each other. The processor is further configured to, in response to determining that locations of the first teat in the two scans are within the predetermined distance of each other, command the robotic arm to move to a location corresponding to the location of the first teat and to command the robotic arm to attach a teat cup to the first teat.

公开(公告)号：US20190188820A1

公开(公告)日：2019-06-20

申请号：US16256558

申请日：2019-01-24

Applicant: TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS CORP.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Richard B. Voigt

IPC: G06T1/00 ,  A01J5/007 ,  A01J7/00 ,  B25J13/08 ,  B25J19/04 ,  G06T7/12 ,  G06T7/13 ,  G06K9/00 ,  G06T7/55 ,  G06T7/521 ,  G06T7/73 ,  G06T7/11

Abstract: A vision system that includes a robotic arm and a three-dimensional (3D) camera operably coupled to a processor. The processor is configured to acquire a 3D image and identify a teat of the dairy livestock within the 3D image. The processor is further configured to determine a distance between a portion of a robotic arm and an approach vector for the teat, to compare the distance between the portion of the robotic arm and the approach vector for the teat and the attachment range threshold value, and to send instructions to the robotic arm based on the comparison.

公开(公告)号：US20190180092A1

公开(公告)日：2019-06-13

申请号：US15947583

申请日：2018-04-06

Applicant: TECHNOLOGIES HOLDINGS CORP.

Inventor： Mark A. Foresman ,  Richard B. Voigt

IPC: G06K9/00 ,  A01J5/017 ,  H04N13/271 ,  G06K9/62

Abstract: A vision system that includes a robotic arm and a three-dimensional (3D) camera operably coupled to a processor. The processor is configured to position the robotic arm adjacent to the dairy livestock and acquire a 3D image using the 3D camera. The processor is further configured to identify a set of teat candidates within the 3D image and to filter the set of teat candidates based on one or more filtering rules. The processor is further configured to determine an aggregate teat candidate score for the consolidated set of teat candidates, compare the aggregate teat candidate score to a score threshold value, and update teat location information for the dairy livestock in response to determining the aggregate teat candidate score is greater than or equal to the score threshold value.