Dutch agricultural technology company Lely has selected PrismTech’s Vortex intelligent data sharing platform to establish real-time data connectivity for automated robotic milking machine Lely Astronaut.

The company designed the machine to milk, feed, and monitor the health of cows. It also has the potential to check the quantity and quality of milk, separating any that is below standard or contaminated.

Lely's product development manager Nico Berkhoudt said: “Because of our constant drive to innovate, we have been able to introduce a range of ground-breaking products to the market which really changed the lives of farmers.

“After an extensive evaluation, PrismTech was our clear partner of choice. Vortex will provide our systems with efficient, secure, and interoperable real-time data sharing.”

"Vortex will provide our systems with efficient, secure, and interoperable real-time data sharing."

Lely Astronaut identifies an individual cow through a unique number coded into a transmitter. The system accesses specific records for each animal, which is maintained by a management system.

PrismTech’s Vortex provides real-time data connectivity for devices and machines based on the Object Management Group's (OMG) data-distribution service (DDS) standard.

Using these technologies, Vortex enhances Lely's capabilities for control monitoring systems such as automatic discovery, shared memory architecture, configurable quality of service (QoS) framework, and platform portability, which together enable system-wide scalability.

PrismTech develops software platforms for distributed systems. Lely distributes a complete portfolio of products and services, which include automated feeding systems, barn cleaners, and automatic milking robots.

Image: PrismTech’s Vortex intelligent data sharing platform will provide real-time data connectivity solution for Lely's automated milking system. Photo: courtesy of PrismTech.