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How dairy robots are changing work for cows and farmers

(spectrum.ieee.org)
225 points DonHopkins | 2 comments | 15 Apr 25 22:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.028s | source
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stickfigure ◴[16 Apr 25 01:55 UTC] No.43700589[source]▶
Super interesting read! But also feels a bit like a paid advertisement. You'd think that an article about robot farms would mention more than one brand of robot? Guessing this is the submarine at work:

https://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

It makes me wonder what the author isn't mentioning. Do they have bugs that take the whole farm down? If the internet goes out, do the machines start acting weird? I'm not a luddite, I love the idea of a robot farm, I just want a complete story.

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BotJunkie ◴[16 Apr 25 14:28 UTC] No.43706035[source]▶
I'm the author of this piece, and I'm happy to tell you where it came from.

I was at a robotics conference in Boulder last spring, where some folks from Lely presented a paper on their robotic code of conduct. I hadn't heard of robots for cows before, and thought it was fascinating. I happened to be in Rotterdam last fall for another conference, which was close enough to the Lely headquarters for a visit.

Lely is somewhat unique in that they're a robotics company rather than an agricultural machinery company that also makes some robots. There are a few other companies that make robotic systems like these, but Lely is the largest by a significant margin. Farms will often choose what brand of robot to buy based on what service center is closest to them, in case something goes wrong. I believe that Lely promises that they'll have someone on-site to fix (or, start fixing) a broken robot within about 2 hours.

The majority of farms who switch to these robots keep them- an expert that we talked to said that it's not common to go back, and only a small percentage do.

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9rx ◴[16 Apr 25 17:49 UTC] No.43708354[source]▶
> Lely is somewhat unique in that they're a robotics company rather than an agricultural machinery company that also makes some robots.

What equipment from the major agricultural manufacturers would you consider to be not robots these days? Even a simple tool like a field cultivator now employs robotics for things like keeping it at a precise depth, never mind the extensive robotics involved in more complex equipment.

There are some smaller companies still producing agricultural equipment that is not recognizable as a robot, but I'd consider that to be the exception rather than the norm.

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1. BotJunkie ◴[16 Apr 25 23:40 UTC] No.43711511[source]▶
Personally (and to some extent, professionally) I make a distinction between robotics and automation. In robotics, I look for a distinct, physically embodied system that can make decisions based on its environment and alter that environment by changing its behavior. Automation is much more limited and requires a much more structured environment. But it's all a matter of perspective.
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2. 9rx ◴[17 Apr 25 16:35 UTC] No.43719187[source]▶
Fair to say that it is a matter of perspective, but by your perspective the cultivator is a robot, right? A field is far less structured than a barn, and the tool makes decisions about how to alter its behaviour and environment in a pretty grand and visible fashion. Lely products are much closer to being automation in comparison.

Perhaps a more pedantic take is that the cultivator is simply attachment for the actual robot, which is the tractor. A cultivator on its own is useless. In that vein, there is seemingly a difference. Each product Lely sells is the full solution. Whereas John Deere gives you a menu and you have to select which "toppings" you want on your robot.

But then that gives nod to Lely products being closer to automation than robotics again. Beyond choosing a product at a high level, you don't have to get into the nitty gritty details because they will always operate in a comparatively strict and consistent environment.