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Lely's milking journey - start

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This summer 33 years ago (1992), the Astronaut prototype milked its first cow. But actially Lely's milking journey started in 1985. Several wild thoughts how to milk automatically were written down in patents. An example of such from 1985 is added:  locating the udder via a build-in metal plate. All wild thougts ended in 1992 with more or less the present design by finding the teats via a laser. Lely kept the long development of the milking robot secret till 1993. The first article with the announcement of the Astronaut came in like a bomb. Nobody thougt that a company which always has made field machinery could develop such an earth moving device. This very first article is attached, however in Dutch.

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  • in reply to lindatryg

    Lely was not the very first milking robot brand at the time on the market, but very soon the largest. All other manufacturers (Duvelsdorf, Gascoigne Melotte, Orion, Prolion) at that time have gone. And of course Lely has patented and still patents a lot concerning robotic milking technology. The unique Lely feature of the rope attached to the milking cup was patented at that time. This idea is the base of the name ''Astronaut'' (the astronaut is making a space walk but remains attached to the mothership) 

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