BouMatic Gemini Robotics

The Gemini Double Robot is a compact milking robot with two stalls, side-by-side. It has one, well organised technical area with one robot arm and comprises two sets of milking equipment. This reduces building costs as there is no need for a purpose-built vacuum pump room as it is already part of the robot.

The ability to milk between 110 and 120 cows with one robot means that Gemini Double is well suited to average herd sizes in Ireland. This also results in a saving for the farmer as it eliminates the need for buying 2 single robots which is more expensive.

The Gemini Single Robot s a compact milking robot equipped with one stall. It has one well organized technical area with one robot arm. Similar in design to the Gemini Double, there is no need for a purpose-built vacuum pump room as it is part of the robot. The Gemini Single milks the cows from behind and this creates one great advantage over other robots on the market, the Gemini Single Robot can draft cows directly from the milking box as cows can enter and leave the box from both sides.

The Gemini Single Robot milks between 60 to 70 cows and its compact, neat design makes it suitable to many existing farm layouts

BouMatic has pioneered and patented a system that attaches the milking equipment from between the cow’s back legs, creating a milking experience that is similar to that of a side by side parlour. The cow is relaxed, comfortable and free from the visual distraction of arm movement encouraging her to milk often and fast. It keeps her in her normal routine as it feels natural to her as opposed to an approach from the side. The robotic arm does not stay underneath the cow throughout the milking process, resulting in a stress free experience for the cow.

Through the open frame of the Gemini BouMatic Milking robot, the cow has an unobstructed view and therefore feels like she is still among the herd. This experience is even more enhanced in a double box system where cows stand freely but are still next to each other.

Staying true to the main goal of milking cows “Gently, Quickly & Completely”, before milking, each teat is individually prepared for milking using a separate liner in a dedicated pre-treatment cup. The entire pre-milking process is sequenced for teat cleaning, teat-stimulation, pre-milking and maximum oxytocin production for optimal milk let-down. When preparation is complete, the milking cups are attached, and milking starts straight away. The whole preparation process lasts 60 to 90 seconds, which is also the time a cow needs to have a good oxytocin release and a good milk let-down.

BouMatic offers a solution for every farm type and management style, regardless of herd size. Farmers with expansion plans can easily combine single and double box solutions in the same barn, customized to their individual farm needs, now and in the future.

The camera’s time-of-flight technology can determine the exact position of the individual teats. This very advanced new technology gives the milking robots superior attachment results.

As it approaches, it conducts a 3D analysis of the teats, identifying the location more accurately. The waterproof stainless-steel 3D camera has a flat surface for easy cleaning.

The BouMatic milking robots are equipped with a unique dual attachment functionality; an intelligently designed mechanical head that allows the robot arm to fetch two cups at once resulting in efficient arm movement. By reducing the arm movement, this double grabber increases the cow through-put and box performance.

One of the favourite functions to use in the Gemini interface is the Teat Teach Screen. The camera brings up the image of the udder onto the screen. The operator can simply touch the teat ends on the image to ‘teach’ the camera where the teats are for that particular cow.

This can be done for cows that have difficult teat placement. The robot will then remember the location of her teats when that cow enters the box again, and make the attachment process much more efficient.

A new option on the Gemini milking robots is our SC-Guard, the milk monitoring instrument for Somatic Cell Count (SCC), which allows the farmer to monitor his cow’s health and treat preventively when necessary. The instrument automatically takes a milk sample during milking, which is analysed for sub-clinical mastitis based on the SCC in the earliest stages. This highly accurate device, allows the farmer to intervene quickly if necessary and monitor the trend and variation in the SCC. Early detection of sub-clinical mastitis followed by appropriate treatment reduces the risk of contamination and reduces the use and the amount farmers spend on antibiotics. Chances of recovery are increased, and loss of milk yield is reduced. Animal health and cost savings are secured.

With BouMatic RealTime Activity, you have a powerful device at hand to monitor your cows in real time.

With the eating time and rumination functionality the dairy farmer is able to give his cows the individual attention they deserve. The BouMatic neck tag provides extremely accurate heat detection with health monitoring. The dairy farmer is able to have individual data on each animal at any time – in real time. These details are needed to achieve optimal overall herd performance.

The Gemini milking unit is easily upgradable in terms of equipment and software. Since technological advances in robot milking has sped up exponentially, you as a forward-thinking dairy farmer can easily follow up on the latest innovations in your existing robot. This is not the norm in the industry and is quite an advantage.

The Gemini Milking Robots and grazing can be combined to good effect with the right strategy. Graze-way gates are an integral part of this.

When the cows decide for themselves to go out to pasture the graze-way gates determine if they can or not through Auto-Identification.