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The Lely Astronaut A1 launched 25 years ago.
Milking robots maker Lely overnight unveiled its new Astronaut A5 machine.
The new robotic milker was designed after observation of cow-machine interaction and feedback from farmers.
Lely says the Astronaut A5 (pictured below) combines proven automatic milking principles with unmatched reliability, ease of use and cost efficiency.
“The new A5 milking robot means stress-free milking for both the farmer and their cows,” it says.
The launch was done at the Lely Future Farm Days, held at its headoffice in The Netherlands.
“At Lely, we feel that healthy and stress-free cows mean more milk in the tank,” the company says.
The company says it has been proven that cows feel comfortable and perform well in Lely’s barn environment with free cow traffic, the I-flow concept and spacious milking boxes.
With the A5, cow comfort has been further improved with a new hybrid arm: silent, faster, energy efficient and more accurate, it results in consistent milking. Instantly following the cow’s every movement during milking, and remaining close to the udder, it quickly corrects itself in the case of any unexpected movement. This ensures a fast and thorough milking process, even with heifers. With the new Teat Detection System (TDS), post-milking teat spraying has been improved by pre-scanning the udder before spraying, ensuring optimal udder hygiene and limiting the risk of contamination.
The redesigned, intuitive user interface makes automatic milking easy to understand for everybody. From a cow’s first milking to everyday maintenance, all relevant information is available on one single page. Instant actions, such as feed allocation, cow-specific routing and daily maintenance tasks are just one click away. The Astronaut A5 is designed to deliver top-level usability, accessibility and serviceability, Lely says.
With 2025 marking the 30th anniversary of its first milking robot being installed in Belgium in 1995, Lely says it has taken automated milking to the “next level” with the release of the latest version of the Astronaut Series - the A5-Next.
Dairy automation company Lely reported a 3.4% decline in total turnover last year but notes that sales are picking up.
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