FutureDairy’s robotic prototype completes its journey

FutureDairy has announced that its prototype of the revolutionary robotic rotary will be decommissioned later in the year. Chairman, Shirley Harlock, said the decommissioning was both expected and planned. “The 16 – bail prototype at Camden was used for R&D purposes: it’s an early design that was used for concept testing,” Mrs Harlock said. In the process it was modified, using ‘one – off’ custom – made part s which are difficult to maintain in the long term. “From the outset, we knew the prototype would be ‘decommissioned’ after the successful commercialisation of the AMR TM by DeLaval.” The FutureDairy team has completed data collection from all of the component research work planned for the prototype robotic rotary. Plans are under way for a replacement dairy at the site. In the interim, FutureDairy’s activities will focus on existing commercial AMS and AMR installations to develop resources that support AMS farmers and provide answers to those who are considering AMS. The activities will include research, development of extension resources and support for farmers. “The decommissioning step marks another successful milestone for FutureDairy: the development of a product which is now commercially available. It is a world first that has been strongly influenced by the Australian dairy industry. That’s an achievement that we can all be very proud of,” Mrs Harlock said.