Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120199073 | System and Method for Determining Whether to Operate a Robot in Conjunction With a Rotary Milking Platform Based on Detection of a Milking Claw - In certain embodiments, a system includes a robotic arm. The robotic arm is operable to extend between the legs of a dairy livestock located in a milking stall of a rotary milking platform. The system also includes a controller communicatively coupled to the robotic arm. The controller is operable to determine whether a milking claw is attached to the teats of the dairy livestock. The controller is also operable to control the robotic arm to extend between the legs of the dairy livestock based at least in part on whether the milking claw is attached. | 08-09-2012 |
20120200674 | System and Method for Determining Whether to Operate a Robot in Conjunction with a Rotary Parlor - In certain embodiments, a system includes a three-dimensional camera and a processor communicatively coupled to the three-dimensional camera. The processor is operable to determine a first hind location of a first hind leg of a dairy livestock based at least in part on visual data captured by the three-dimensional camera and determine a second hind location of a second hind leg of the dairy livestock based at least in part on the visual data. The processor is further operable to determine a measurement, wherein the measurement is the distance between the first hind location and the second hind location. Additionally, the processor is operable to determine whether the measurement exceeds a minimum threshold. | 08-09-2012 |
20120210938 | System and Method for Controlling the Position of a Robot Carriage Based on the Position of a Milking Stall of an Adjacent Rotary Milking Platform - A system includes a carriage track positioned adjacent to a rotary milking platform, a robot carriage mounted to the carriage track, and a controller. The controller is operable to receive both a first rotary encoder signal indicating a first rotational position of a milking stall of the rotary milking platform (corresponding to a starting linear position of the robot carriage) and a second rotary encoder signal indicating a second rotational position of the milking stall. The controller is further operable to determine, based on a difference between the first and second signals, a desired linear position of the robot carriage on the carriage track (a position corresponding to the second rotational position of the milking stall). The controller is further operable to communicate a position signal to a carriage actuator, the position signal causing the carriage actuator to move the robot carriage to the desired linear position. | 08-23-2012 |
20120216748 | System and Method for Using Robots in Conjunction With a Rotary Milking Platform - In certain embodiments, a system includes a first robotic device operable to prepare the teats of a first dairy livestock located in a first milking stall of a rotary milking platform. The system also includes a second robotic device operable to attach a first milking device to the teats of a second dairy livestock located in a second milking stall of the rotary milking platform. The system also includes a third robotic device operable to attach a second milking device to the teats of a third dairy livestock located in a third milking stall of the rotary milking platform. The system also includes a fourth robotic device operable to apply a sanitizing agent to the teats of a fourth dairy livestock located in a fourth milking stall of the rotary milking platform subsequent to a removal of a third milking device from the teats of the fourth dairy livestock. | 08-30-2012 |
20120272903 | System and Method for Improved Attachment of a Cup to a Dairy Animal - In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a milking cup, a pulsating device coupled to the milking cup, a robotic arm comprising a gripper, and a controller communicatively coupled to the robotic arm and the pulsating device. The controller is operable to instruct the gripper of the robotic arm to grip the milking cup, instruct the robotic arm to move the milking cup proximate to a teat of a dairy livestock, and instruct the robotic arm to move the milking cup towards the teat. The controller is further operable to instruct the pulsating device to apply pressure to the milking cup before attaching the milking cup to the teat and instruct the gripper of the robotic arm to release the milking cup. | 11-01-2012 |
20120272904 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ATTACHING A CUP TO A DAIRY ANIMAL ACCORDING TO A SEQUENCE - In certain embodiments, a robotic attacher performs a method of attaching and detaching a cup from the teats of a dairy livestock in the sequence of right front teat, left front teat, left rear teat, and right rear teat. The method comprises the steps of determining a reference point and then, for each teat, positioning the cup relative to the reference point, determining a location of the teat, attaching the cup to the teat, and detaching the cup from the teat. In certain alternate embodiments, the sequence of attaching and detaching the cup comprises left front teat, right front teat, right rear teat, and left rear teat. | 11-01-2012 |
20120272905 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ATTACHING CUPS TO A DAIRY ANIMAL - In certain embodiments, a robotic attacher retrieves cups from the right side of an equipment area located behind a dairy livestock and attaches the cups to the teats of the dairy livestock in sequence. The sequence comprises attaching a first cup to the right front teat, a second cup to the left front teat, a third cup to the right rear teat, and a fourth cup to the left rear teat. In certain alternative embodiments, the robotic attacher retrieves cups from the left side of the equipment area, and the sequence comprises attaching a first cup to the left front teat, a second cup to the right front teat, a third cup to the left rear teat, and a fourth cup to the right rear teat. | 11-01-2012 |
20120272912 | MILKING BOX WITH ROBOTIC ATTACHER AND BACKPLANE FOR TRACKING MOVEMENTS OF A DAIRY ANIMAL - In certain embodiments, a milking box comprises a stall portion and a backplane positioned in the stall portion. The backplane moves toward the rear of the stall portion in response to pressure applied to a contact surface of the backplane. The backplane moves toward the front of stall portion in response to pressure removed from the contact surface. | 11-01-2012 |
20120272913 | Arrangement of Milking Box Stalls - In certain embodiments, a system includes a first milking box stall of a size sufficient to accommodate a dairy livestock. The system also includes an equipment portion located adjacent to the first milking box stall. The equipment portion houses a robotic attacher. The system also includes a second milking box stall of a size sufficient to accommodate a dairy livestock. The second milking box stall is located adjacent to the equipment portion. The robotic attacher is configured to service both the first milking box stall and the second milking box stall by extending between the rear legs of a dairy livestock located within either stall in order to attach milking equipment to the dairy livestock. | 11-01-2012 |
20120272914 | MILKING BOX WITH ROBOTIC ATTACHER AND VISION SYSTEM - In certain embodiments, a system includes a robotic attacher comprising a main arm and a supplemental arm operable to extend into a stall portion of a milking box. A camera couples to the supplemental arm. The supplemental arm comprises a camera-facing nozzle operable to spray the camera with a cleanser. | 11-01-2012 |
20120272915 | MILKING BOX WITH STORAGE AREA FOR TEAT CUPS - In certain embodiments, a milking box comprises a storage area comprising a retractable hose, a hose lift belt, a cup holder base, a cup holder, and a cup holder bracket. The retractable hose couples to a cup and suspends the cup in the storage area. The hose lift belt couples to the retractable hose and is operable to retract the retractable hose. The cup holder base defines an aperture through which the retractable hose is positioned. The cup holder comprises a rimmed structure adapted to hold an attachment end of the cup. The cup holder is coupled to the cup holder bracket. The cup holder bracket is operable to open and close such that when closed, the rimmed structure of the cup holder aligns with the attachment end of the cup that is suspended from the retractable hose. | 11-01-2012 |
20120272916 | MILKING BOX WITH A ROBOTIC ATTACHER HAVING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL RANGE OF MOTION - In certain embodiments, a robotic attacher comprises a main arm, a supplemental arm coupled to the main arm, and a plurality of actuators operable to move the main arm and supplemental arm in response to signals from a controller. The actuators comprise first, second, and third actuators operable to move the main arm in x-, y-, and z-directions, respectively. The actuators further comprise fourth and fifth actuators operable to pivot a gripping portion of the supplemental arm in a first z-direction and a second z-direction, respectively, with the second z-direction being opposite the first z-direction. | 11-01-2012 |
20120273006 | CLEANING SYSTEM FOR A MILKING BOX STALL - In certain embodiments, a system comprises a milk collecting system, a teat cup holder, and a cleansing hose system. The milk collecting system comprises a teat cup, a milk collector, and a milking hose system connecting the teat cup to the milk collector. The teat cup holder stores the teat cup of the milk collecting system such that a nozzle of the teat cup holder substantially aligns with an opening of the teat cup. The cleansing hose system connects the nozzle of the teat cup holder to one or more cleanser sources and operable to backwash at least a portion of the milk collecting system by injecting a cleanser from one or more of the cleanser sources through the nozzle and into the teat cup. | 11-01-2012 |
20120274761 | Vision System and Method of Operation - In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a first camera, a second camera, and a processor wherein the second camera has a higher resolution than the first camera. The processor is communicatively coupled to the first camera and the second camera and is operable to determine a center coordinate of an udder of a dairy livestock based at least in part upon visual data captured by the first camera. The processor is also operable to determine a position of a teat of the dairy livestock based at least in part upon the center coordinate and visual data captured by the second camera. | 11-01-2012 |
20120275660 | System and Method for Filtering Data Captured by a 2D Camera - In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a camera and a processor communicatively coupled to the camera. The processor is operable to access visual data captured by the camera, wherein the visual data comprises an image of a dairy livestock and determine that an intensity measurement of a first portion of the visual data exceeds an intensity threshold. The processor is further operable to filter the first portion of the visual data in response to determining that the intensity measurement exceeds the threshold. The processor is also operable to determine a coordinate of a teat of the dairy livestock based at least in part upon the visual data, excluding filtered portions of the visual data | 11-01-2012 |
20120275661 | System and Method for Filtering Data Captured by a 3D Camera - In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a three-dimensional camera and a processor. The processor is operable to access a first portion of visual data captured by the three-dimensional camera wherein the visual data comprises an image of a dairy livestock and access a second portion of the visual data, wherein the first portion and the second portion are aligned in a first dimension. The processor is further operable to determine a first coordinate, wherein the first coordinate comprises a location of the first portion in a second dimension, the second dimension orthogonal to the first dimension and determine a second coordinate, wherein the second coordinate comprises a location of the second portion in the second dimension. The processor is further operable to determine a first distance exceeds a distance threshold, wherein the first distance is the distance between the first coordinate and the second coordinate in the second dimension. | 11-01-2012 |
20120275662 | System and Method for Analyzing Data Captured by a Three-Dimensional Camera - In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a three-dimensional camera and a processor communicatively coupled to the three-dimensional camera. The processor is operable to determine a first edge of a dairy livestock, determine a second edge of the dairy livestock, determine a third edge of the dairy livestock, and determine a fourth edge of the dairy livestock. | 11-01-2012 |
20120275894 | MILKING BOX WITH ROBOTIC ATTACHER COMPRISING AN ARM THAT PIVOTS, ROTATES, AND GRIPS - In certain embodiments, robotic attacher comprises a supplemental arm comprising a fixed portion and a gripping portion. The fixed portion comprises a pivot assembly and a rotating assembly. The pivot assembly pivots the gripping portion between maximum-left, maximum-right, and centered positions. The rotating assembly rotates the gripping portion between upright and upside down positions. | 11-01-2012 |
20140165916 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ATTACHING CUPS TO A DAIRY ANIMAL - A robotic attacher retrieves cups from the left side of an equipment area located behind a dairy livestock and attaches the cups to the teats of the dairy livestock in sequence. The sequence comprises attaching a first cup to the left front teat, a second cup to the right front teat, a third cup to the left rear teat, and a fourth cup to the right rear teat. | 06-19-2014 |
20140216349 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ATTACHING A CUP TO A DAIRY ANIMAL ACCORDING TO A SEQUENCE - A system includes a milking box and a robotic arm. The milking box comprises a stall portion that houses a dairy livestock with four teats. The robotic arm performs the following operation for a plurality of teats of the dairy livestock: retrieves a cup; attaches the cup to a teat; and detaches the cup from the teat. The cup is maintained within the stall portion of the milking box from the time that the cup is attached to a first teat of the dairy livestock through the time that the cup is attached to a last teat of the dairy livestock. The cup is retracted into an equipment area of the milking box after it is detached from the last teat of the dairy livestock. | 08-07-2014 |
20140318460 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE POSITION OF A ROBOT CARRIAGE BASED ON THE POSITION OF A MILKING STALL OF AN ADJACENT ROTARY MILKING PLATFORM - A system includes a carriage track positioned adjacent to a rotary milking platform, a robot carriage mounted to the carriage track, and a controller. The controller causes the robot carriage to move linearly along the carriage track in conjunction with a rotational movement of the rotary milking platform such that a first linear position of the robot carriage aligns with a first rotational position of a milking stall of the rotary milking platform and a second linear position of the robot carriage aligns with a second rotational position of the milking stall of the rotary milking platform. | 10-30-2014 |
20150022641 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING DATA CAPTURED BY A THREE-DIMENSIONAL CAMERA - In an exemplary embodiment, a system includes a three-dimensional camera and a processor communicatively coupled to the three-dimensional camera. The processor is operable to determine a first edge of a dairy livestock, determine a second edge of the dairy livestock, determine a third edge of the dairy livestock, and determine a fourth edge of the dairy livestock. | 01-22-2015 |
20150071499 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FILTERING DATA CAPTURED BY A 2D CAMERA - A system comprises a memory operable to store light intensity information for a plurality of neighboring pixels of an image that includes a dairy livestock. The system further comprises a processor communicatively coupled to the memory. The processor determine that a difference between the light intensity information for a first pixel of the plurality of neighboring pixels and at least some of the other neighboring pixels exceeds a threshold. The processor further discards the first pixel and determines a location of a teat of the dairy livestock based on the image, excluding the discarded pixel. | 03-12-2015 |
20150181829 | MILKING BOX WITH STORAGE AREA FOR TEAT CUPS - An apparatus comprises a cup holder bracket and a cup holder. The cup holder bracket comprises a hinge that allows the cup holder bracket to pivot between a substantially horizontal position when closed to a substantially vertical position when opened. The cup holder is coupled to the cup holder bracket and comprises a rimmed structure configured to hold an attachment end of a cup when the cup holder bracket is closed. | 07-02-2015 |
20150189850 | MILKING BOX WITH A ROBOTIC ATTACHER HAVING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL RANGE OF MOTION - A robotic attacher comprises a main arm, a supplemental arm coupled to the main arm, and a gripping portion coupled to the supplemental arm. The supplemental arm moves in an x-direction and a y-direction. The gripping portion moves in a first z-direction in relation to the supplemental arm. The gripping portion also moves in a second z-direction opposite the first z-direction in relation to the supplemental arm. | 07-09-2015 |
20150228068 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FILTERING DATA CAPTURED BY A 3D CAMERA - A system for processing an image comprises a three-dimensional camera that captures an image of a dairy livestock. A processor is communicatively coupled to the three-dimensional camera. The processor accesses a first pixel having a first depth location, and a second pixel having a second depth location. The processor determines that the second depth location is not within a threshold distance of the first depth location, and discards the second pixel from the image based at least in part upon the determination. | 08-13-2015 |
20150257359 | ARRANGEMENT OF MILKING BOX STALLS - A system includes a first milking box stall cluster comprising a first plurality of milking box stalls and a first robotic attacher associated with the first milking box stall cluster. The first robotic attacher is positioned to service each of the first plurality of milking box stalls. The system further includes a second milking box cluster comprising a second plurality of milking box stalls. It is positioned adjacent to the first milking box stall cluster. A second robotic attacher is associated with the second milking box stall cluster and is positioned to service each of the second plurality of milking box stalls. | 09-17-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090098848 | MODULATED IF RECEIVER AND METHOD - A modulated intermediate frequency receiver is shown having a low noise amplifier for receiving a radio frequency signal and a modulation source for generating a modulation signal. A local oscillator generates a modulated local oscillator signal in response to the modulation signal. A first mixer mixes the output of the low noise amplifier with the output of the local oscillator. The output of the mixer is DC filtered and receive bandwidth filtered before input to a demodulator that generates a demodulated received signal. Further embodiments are shown for a complex receiver and having phase or frequency modulation compensation. | 04-16-2009 |
20090258622 | CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR ANTENNA SELECTION IN AN ANTENNA DIVERSITY RECEIVER - An asynchronous receiver system has multiple antennae and an asynchronous receiver circuit with a signal input. The asynchronous receiver circuit receives a wireless signal at the signal input and generates a first quality signal responsive to the received wireless signal. A switch selects one of the antennae for coupling to the input of the asynchronous receiver circuit responsive to a control signal. A controller receives the first quality signal and generates the switching control signal. The controller sequentially selects each one of the antennae, measures the first quality signal and starts a timer with a time value for the selected antenna. The controller selects a next one of the antennae if the measured first quality signal value is below a threshold value and the timer expires and receives a remainder of a data packet based on the measured first signal quality values for the plurality of antennae. | 10-15-2009 |
20100246649 | Circuit device including peak and average detectors - In a particular embodiment, a circuit device includes a peak detector to receive a signal and to generate peak output data related to the received signal and an average detector to generate average output data related to the received signal. The circuit device further includes a logic circuit to generate a data output related to the received signal based on the generated peak output data and the generated average output data. | 09-30-2010 |
20110150155 | IN-BAND INTERFERENCE REJECTION OF SIGNALS IN ALTERNATE AND ADJACENT CHANNELS - A method includes filtering a received signal to generate a band-pass filtered signal using a band-pass filter having a pass-band including frequencies located within a central lobe of a power spectrum associated with a target channel of a plurality of channels supported by a communications system. The pass-band is approximately centered at a frequency of a null of a power spectrum associated with at least one other channel of the plurality of channels supported by the communications system. The method includes processing the received signal based on the band-pass filtered signal. The at least one other channel may include at least one of an alternate channel and an adjacent channel of the plurality of channels. | 06-23-2011 |
20120106679 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HANDLING DATA RATE CHANGES WITHIN A PACKET OR FRAME - Systems and methods for handling data rate changes within a packet or frame are described. In an embodiment, a system may include a radio frequency (RF) circuit operable to receive a message having a plurality of segments, including a first segment that is modulated according to a first modulation data rate. The system may also include a demodulator circuit coupled to the RF circuit and operable to demodulate the first segment into a first demodulated segment having a demodulation data rate, wherein the demodulation data rate is greater than the first modulation data rate. The system may further include a de-mapper circuit coupled to the demodulator circuit and operable to convert the first demodulated segment into a first converted segment having the first modulation data rate. | 05-03-2012 |
20120276853 | PERFORMING TESTING IN A RADIO DEVICE - In a radio device such as a receiver or transceiver, a test operation can be performed to determine performance. A received signal can be processed to obtain demodulated samples, which can be provided to a logic to perform a logic operation on the samples to generate a logic output. A storage such as a counter or other mechanism is coupled to the logic to store a count of a number of the logic outputs having an error. | 11-01-2012 |
20120329415 | Apparatus and Method for Interference Management - A circuit includes a front-end circuit having an input for receiving a radio frequency signal, a control input, and an output. The front-end circuit includes an adjustable gain. The circuit further includes a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) circuit including an input coupled to the output of the front-end circuit and including an output. The circuit also includes a control circuit including an input coupled to the output of the RSSI circuit and an output coupled to the control input of the front-end circuit. The control circuit is configured to iteratively adjust the adjustable gain by a pre-determined adjustment until a difference between a first RSSI measurement and a second RSSI measurement is less than or approximately equal to the pre-determined adjustment. | 12-27-2012 |
20130065546 | Reducing Power Consumption Of A Filter - In one embodiment, the present invention includes a system that having a low noise amplifier (LNA) to receive and amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal, a mixer to receive and downconvert the RF signal to a second frequency signal, a filter to receive and filter the second frequency signal, a demodulator to receive and demodulate the filtered second frequency signal to output demodulated data, and a quality detector to detect a quality of the demodulated data and output a quality indicator based on the data quality. In addition, the system can include a controller coupled to the filter to cause a state of the filter to be stored into a storage responsive to the quality indicator. | 03-14-2013 |
20130077715 | RECEIVER HAVING A SCALABLE INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY - A technique includes using a receiver to process a radio frequency (RF) signal to downconvert spectral content from a first frequency band to a second frequency band to generate an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. The technique includes controlling a location of the second frequency band based at least in part on a selectable channel bandwidth of the receiver. | 03-28-2013 |
20130078936 | RECEIVER HAVING A CALIBRATION SOURCE - An RF receiver includes an RF signal reception path to process an input signal for the receiver for a first mode of the receiver; an oscillator; and a harmonic generator. The harmonic generator generates a harmonic signal in response to operation of the oscillator to replace the input signal with the harmonic signal for a second mode of the receiver. | 03-28-2013 |
20130083648 | Receiver with Collision Detection and Method Therefor - A method of handling a collision event between a first and second transmission includes detecting a collision event between the first and second transmissions while processing the first transmission at a receiver. The method further includes halting decoding of the first transmission in response to detecting the collision, adjusting receive parameters to receive the second transmission, and detecting a preamble portion of the second transmission using the adjusted receive parameters. | 04-04-2013 |
20130083829 | APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING REFERENCE SIGNALS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS - An apparatus includes a signal processing circuit and at least two oscillators that provide, respectively, at least first and second reference signals. The apparatus further comprise a selection circuit. The selection circuit provides to the signal processing circuit one of the first and second reference signals depending on a mode of operation of the signal processing circuit. | 04-04-2013 |
20130083869 | Receiver with Asynchronous and Synchronous Demodulator - A receiver circuit includes an asynchronous demodulator having a demodulator input to receive a first signal and a demodulator output configured to provide a demodulated signal. The receiver circuit further includes a circuit, a multiplexer, and a synchronous demodulator. The modulator circuit includes a modulator input coupled to the demodulator output and includes a modulator output. The modulator re-modulates the demodulated signal to produce a second signal and provides the second signal to the modulator output. The multiplexer includes a first input to receive the first signal, a second input coupled to the modulator output to receive the second signal, a control input to a receive a select signal, and a multiplexer output. The synchronous demodulator includes an input coupled to the multiplexer output and an output to provide a demodulated output signal corresponding to a selected one of the first signal and the second signal. | 04-04-2013 |
20130083874 | AUTOMATIC FREQUENCY COMPENSATION METHOD AND APPARATUS - A method an apparatus for performing automatic frequency compensation (or control) is disclosed. A method and apparatus for performing automatic frequency compensation (or control) is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes a radio receiver receiving a radio signal and detecting a preamble in the radio signal. The method further includes freezing an automatic frequency compensation (AFC) loop responsive to detecting the preamble. A clock source of the AFC loop may be switched from a first clock signal to a second clock signal. The method further includes subsequently unfreezing the AFC loop. | 04-04-2013 |
20150030061 | RECEIVER WITH SIGNAL ARRIVAL DETECTION CAPABILITY - A receiver includes a phase click detector, a controller, and a comparator. The phase click detector detects phase clicks in an input signal, where a phase click corresponds to a change in phase of at least a first threshold. The controller is coupled to the phase click detector for calculating a number of phase clicks within one or more time periods. The comparator compares the number of phase clicks within the one or more time periods, and provides an arrival signal if the number of phase clicks is less than a second threshold. | 01-29-2015 |
20150092586 | RECEIVER WITH FREQUENCY DEVIATION DETECTION CAPABILITY AND METHOD THEREFOR - A receiver includes an analog receiver and a digital processor. The analog receiver has an input for receiving a radio frequency (RF) signal, and an output for providing a digital intermediate frequency signal. The digital processor has an input for receiving the digital intermediate frequency signal, and an output for providing digital symbols. The digital processor measures peak-to-peak frequency deviation of the digital intermediate frequency signal, and performs a digital signal processing function on the digital intermediate frequency signal to provide the digital symbols based on the peak-to-peak frequency deviation so measured. | 04-02-2015 |
20150131683 | RECEIVER WITH SIGNAL ARRIVAL DETECTION CAPABILITY - A receiver includes first, second, and third signal processors and a controller. The first signal processor provides a first signal in response to detecting a first attribute of a received signal. The second signal processor provides a second signal in response to detecting a second attribute of the received signal. The third signal processor provides a third signal in response to detecting a third attribute of the received signal and provides packet data. The controller enables the first signal processor in response to a receive enable signal, controls the third signal processor to provide the packet data in response to receiving the first signal and the third signal, and initializes the first signal processor and the third signal processor in response to receiving the first signal and the second signal. | 05-14-2015 |