Formation of basic conditions for the development and effective use of robotized means in industrial technology of cow milking

Industrial milk production technology is a technology that ensures the production of high-quality products at a minimum cost, that is, using as little labor and technical means as possible in the production process. Modern dairy farming is considered industrial if milk production technology is used with labor costs of no more than 2.5 people/hour per centner of product. This is achieved through automation (e.g., robotic milking machines, automatic feed dispensers) and labor optimization, which reduces costs per unit of production. Popular automatic milking systems include Lely Astronaut, AMR DeLaval, GEA DairyRobot R9500, BouMatic Robotics and Fullwood M²erlin. These units are equipped with robotic manipulators, sensors, cameras and algorithms for monitoring milk quality and cow condition. Industrial cow milking technology ensures compliance with milk safety and nutritional value standards (e.g., GOST standards or international standards such as ISO 22000), minimizing the risks of contamination and deviations. Widely used at large farms (e.g., in the US, EU or Russia) where livestock genetics, automated systems and precision feeding are combined. According to USDA reports, such technologies increase cow productivity to 8–10 thousand liters of milk per year while reducing costs. This technology reduces risks to animal health and the environment, and provides a stable income. Industrial methods of cow milking are 20–30 % more efficient than traditional farms in terms of cost price. This technology has evolved since the 20th century due to mechanization and digital innovation, allowing production to be scaled up for the global market.

1. Popkov N. A., Timoshenko V. N., Trofimov A. F., Muzyka A. A., Baranovskii M. V., Kurak A. S. [et al.]. Technological recommendations for organizing milk production on new and reconstructed dairy farms. Zhodino, Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Animal Breeding, 2018. 137 p. (in Russian).

2. Kerimov M. A., Barabanov D. V., Nam I. Ya. G. Optimization of cow milking technology by improving robotic pre-milking udder preparation unit. AgroZooTechnika = Agricultural and Livestock Technology, 2023, vol. 6, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.15838/alt.2023.6.1.6

3. Fedchenko: Belarus enters top five world leaders in milk production per capita. SB.BY. Available at: https://www.sb.by/articles/belarus-voshla-v-pyaterku-mirovykh-liderov-po-proizvodstvu-moloka-na-dushu-naseleniya-fedchenko.html/ (accessed 1 September 2025) (in Russian).

4. Commentary: Quality decides. How the dairy industry is developing in Belarus. BELTA. Available at: https://belta.by/economics/view/kommentarij-kachestvo-reshaet-kak-razvivaetsja-molochnaja-otrasl-v-belarusi-624630-2024 (accessed 1 September 2025).

5. Belarus: Key figures of dairy exports in 2023. Belarus International. Available at: https://belarus-expo.com/belarus-keydigits-of-the-milk-ex/ (accessed 1 September 2025).

6. Kitikov V. O. The concept of creation of physiologically gentle process of machine milking of cows. Vestnik Belorusskoi gosudarstvennoi sel’skokhozyaistvennoi akademii = Bulletin of the Belarussian State Agricultural Academy, 2017, no. 1, pp. 126– 131 (in Russian).

7. Slin’ko O. V., Kondrat’eva O. V., Fedorov A. D., Voityuk V. A. Technological solutions in dairy cattle breeding. Effektivnoe zhivotnovodstvo [Effective Animal Husbandry], 2022, no. 1 (176), pp. 90–94 (in Russian).

8. Zagidullin L. R., Hisamov R. R., Shaidullin R. R. Digitalization of dairy cattle breeding on the robotic milking system example. Tekhnika i tekhnologii v zhivotnovodstve = Machinery and Technologies in Livestock, 2021, no. 4 (44), pp. 17–22 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.51794/27132064-2021-4-17

9. Ivanov Y. A., Kormanovsky L. P., Tcoi Y. A., Kirsanov V. V. The directions of research at cows milking automatic and robotic modules creating. Vestnik Vserossiiskogo nauchno-issledovatel’skogo instituta mekhanizatsii zhivotnovodstva = Journal of VNIIMZH, 2018, no. 3 (31), pp. 15–19 (in Russian).

10. Zhilich E. L., Rogalskaya Yu. N. Stages of domestic robotic milking system’s software-and-apparatus complex development. Tekhnika i tekhnologii v zhivotnovodstve = Machinery and Technologies in Livestock, 2024, vol. 14, no. 1, pp.18–23 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.22314/27132064-2024-1-18

11. Kirsanov V. V., Tsoi Y. A, Kormanovsky L. P., Pavkin D. U., Ruzin S. S. Modernization of the milking units type-sized row on the udder quarter milkings’ automated and robotic modules base. Vestnik Vserossiiskogo nauchno-issledovatel’skogo instituta mekhanizatsii zhivotnovodstva = Journal of VNIIMZH, 2019, no. 3 (35), pp. 20–24 (in Russian).

12. Kirsanov V. V., Pavkin D. Yu., Ruzin S. S., Tsymbal A. A. Comparative technical and economic assessment of automated and robotized milking plants. Agroinzheneriya = Agricultural Engineering, 2020, no. 3 (97), pp. 39–43 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.26897/2687-1149-2020-3-39-43

13. Kirsanov V. V., Tsoi Y. A., Kormanovsky L. P. The concept of creating a milking robot compatible with domestic milking equipment. Vestnik Vserossiiskogo nauchno-issledovatel’skogo instituta mekhanizatsii zhivotnovodstva = Journal of VNIIMZH, 2016, no. 3 (23), pp. 13–20 (in Russian).

14. Portnoi A. I., Mikhailovskaya M. S. Prospects for the use of robotic milking systems in dairy farming in Belarus. Aktual’nye problemy intensivnogo razvitiya zhivotnovodstva: sbornik nauchnykh trudov [Actual problems of intensive development of animal husbandry: collection of scientific papers]. Gorki, 2023, iss. 26, pt. 2, pp. 39–45 (in Russian).

15. Palkin G. G. Robots on dairy farms. Sel’skokhozyaistvennyi vestnik. Belarus’ – Rossiya [Agricultural Bulletin. Belarus – Russia], 2001, no. 8, pp. 16–18 (in Russian).

16. Fedorenko V. F., Lachuga Yu. F., Orsik L. S., Buklagin D. S., Mishurov N. P., Gol’tyapin V. Ya. [et al.]. Trends in the development of agricultural machinery abroad. Moscow, Rosinformagrotech Publ., 2004. 144 p. (in Russian).

17. Schleitzer G. Melkorganisation in grossen Milchviehherden [Milking organization in large dairy farms]. Neue Landwirtschaft, 2009, no. 7, pp. 60–62 (in German).

18. Dichenskiy A. V., Grits N. V., Udotov A. Yu. Aspects of the use of robotic technology in agricultural production – current state and prospects. Izvestiya Mezhdunarodnoi akademii agrarnogo obrazovaniya [Bulletin of the International Academy of Agrarian Education], 2020, no. 50, pp. 15–19 (in Russian).

19. Terentyev S. S., Pashkin A. V., Burova E. I. Application of digital transformation tools in dairy cattle farming and their role in improving population health and animal productivity. Vestnik NGAU (Novosibirskii gosudarstvennyi agrarnyi universitet) = Vestnik NGAU (Novosibirsk State Agrarian University), 2024, no. 3 (72), pp. 277–286 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.31677/2072-6724-2024-72-3-277-286.

20. Kirsanov V. V., Pavkin D. Y., Yurochka S. S., Nikitin E. A., Vladimirov F. E., Ruzin S. S. Preparing an image received with 3D ToF camera for automatic detection of cow teats. Innovatsii v sel’skom khozyaistve [Innovations in Agriculture], 2019, no. 3 (32), pp. 340–346 (in Russian).

21. Kazakevich P. P., Timoshenko V. N., Muzyka A. A. Technological concept of a “Smart” Dairy Farm. Zhodino, Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus on Animal Husbandry, 2018. 245 p. (in Russian).

22. Komlach D. I., Kolosko D. N., Zhilich E. L., Rogalskaya Yu. N., Getsman S. A. Technological principles of the development of robotic milking. Mekhanizatsiya i elektrifikatsiya sel’skogo khozyaistva: mezhvedomstvennyi tematicheskii sbornik [Mechanization and electrification of agriculture: interdepartmental subject collection]. Minsk, 2022, iss. 55, pp. 26–29 (in Russian).

23. Kitikov V. O. Resource-efficient technologies for milk production. Minsk, Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Agricultural Mechanization, 2011. 233 p. (in Russian).

24. Perednja V. I., Kitikov V. O. Reequipment of dairy farms on a base of the machine lowexpeditured technologies. The 4th research and development conference of central and eastern European institutes of agricultural engineering (CEEAgEng), Moscow, May 12–13, 2005. Moscow, 2005, pp. 219–224.

25. Yurochka S. S., Khakimov A. R., Pavkin D. Yu., Dovlatov I. M., Vladimirov F. E. Using a convolutional neural network to determine the teat limits of a cow’s udder. Elektrotekhnologii i elektrooborudovanie v APK = Electrical Engineering and Electrical Equipment in Agriculture, 2022, vol. 69, no. 3 (48), pp. 82–88 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.22314/2658-4859-2022-69-3-82-88

26. Borla N., Kuster F., Langenegger J., Ribera J., Honegger M., Toffetti G. Teat Pose Estimation via RGBD Segmentation for Automated Milking. Cornell University. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2105.09843 (accessed 1 September 2025).

27. Sfikas K., Theoharis T., Pratikakis I. Pose normalization of 3D models via reflective symmetry on panoramic views. The Visual Computer, 2014, vol. 30, no. 11, pp. 1261–1274. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-014-0935-4

28. Zhilich E. L., Rogalskaya Yu. N., Nikonchuk V. V., Bernatskaya D. V. Determination of the udder nipples’ position at milking robotization. Tekhnika i tekhnologii v zhivotnovodstve = Machinery and Technologies in Livestock, 2024, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 18–24 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.22314/27132064-2024-14-4-18

29. Sharipov D. R., Yakimov O. A., Galimullin I. Sh. Features of robotic milking system at dairy cattle breeding using. Tekhnika i tekhnologii v zhivotnovodstve = Machinery and Technologies in Livestock, 2021, no. 3 (43), pp. 17–21 (in Russian). http://doi.org/10.51794/27132064-2021-3-17