Robotics still going strong

[Kendra Kerrisk]

Hi everyone
I know it has been a long time since anyone posted any discussion on
this site but I thought it worthwhile dropping a line to give you all
a brief update on the "happenings" of 2010. This year has been a busy
one for the AMS staff at FutureDairy with further developments and
testing of the Robotic Rotary. Whilst the site has been closed for
almost 2 years we have been busy trying to understand the application
and feasibility of the prototype robotic rotary at Camden. The site
was officially re-opened in November and we have received a lot of
media and publicity around this new innovation. We have also been
recieving a lot of interest from different farmer and industry groups
to visit the site which we are trying to accomodate through the first
6 months of 2011.

The recently upgraded/updated FutureDairy website
(www.futuredairy.com.au) will continue to be updated with media
releases, new photos, video footage and reports of findings from the
wider FutureDairy project including the AMS research module.

Also during 2010 there were a number of new AMS farms commissioned
with installations occuring in Qld, Victoria, SA and Tasmania. There
are now in excess of 15 AMS farms operating in Australia which may
sound like a small number but it is relatively fast adoption for a
technology that changes the whole approach to dairy farming.

During 2010 the industry started to ramp up its investigations into
supporting AMS farmers and other service providers with a program
running throught the Dairy Extension Centre in Victoria. Whilst based
in Victoria it has a national focus and has been running a number of
workshops with dairy extension officers from all over Australia.

So it seems that there is still plenty going on in the robotic milking
world. I hope that you all had a good 2010 and wish you all the best
(and better for 2011).

Kind Regards
Kendra Kerrisk