the Lely Industries barn and feeding engineering department, I was part of a team which was developing a new Lely barn vehicle, the Lely Discovery 120A.
This robotic vehicle can navigate in an occupied barn while cleaning the floor. It drives pre-programmed routes through the barn at determined intervals and can problem solve when encountering unexpected objects. It cleans the barn floor by scraping manure off the floor and collecting it inside its low pressure tank. After the machine has passed and cleaned the floor, it sprays water on that section to keep the floor moist which counter intuitively prevents the floor getting too slippery for the cows. It can dump its load, refill its water supply and recharge the battery automatically at the corresponding locations in the barn. More info about this machine can be seen in the video below.
This project was a big undertaking as it represents a brand new vehicle for a new market, with new hardware, electronics and software. My part in this project was creative problem solving of mechanical challenges, cooperating in building and testing prototypes in the field and making preparations for series production. One of my tasks was to translate purely functional design of the early prototypes into one which is more in line with the Lely design style, while not compromising the function of the machine. The challenge was come up with striking design within the very limited design freedom in the machine dimensions, space claims, materials choice, production techniques and target cost price. In the end result, each line had a functional purpose, while the overall look is much more smooth and sleek. The following images give a small glimpse of that process:
Besides this machine, which claimed most of the time, I have been part of the development of at least two other projects which are developing completely new products to make the life of the dairy farmer easier. Due to confidentiality reasons, I can’t divert much about the contents and results of these projects, but the activities are broadly the same as explained above.
The video below explains more about the functions of this machine: