Abstract:In response to the prominent issues of high labor intensity and low operational efficiency in traditional manual feed-pushing, which struggle to meet the feeding demands of cattle, along with uneven nutrition distribution caused by the sinking of concentrated feed, an intelligent feed-pushing robot for cattle barns was developed based on a dual-screw structure. Firstly, the overall structure and control system of the feed-pushing robot were designed according to the feeding and transportation processes in cattle barns. Then the feed-pushing motion was analyzed to determine the working structure and key parameters of the dual-screw pusher. EDEM discrete element simulation software was used to establish a simulation model of particle group movement during the feed-pushing process. Finally, a three-factor, three-level orthogonal experiment was conducted to identify the optimal feed-pushing combination, with feed moisture content, dual-screw pusher speed, and robot forward speed as experimental factors, and pushing rate as the evaluation index. The simulation results were validated through actual robot testing. The simulation experiment results showed that the optimal feed-pushing parameter combination was 50% feed moisture content, 72r/min dual-screw pusher speed, and 0.3m/s robot forward speed. The indoor experimental results indicated an average relative error of 6.11% between the simulated and actual pushing rates, confirming that the developed simulation model had high feasibility. Field tests conducted in cattle barns demonstrated that the robot achieved a max feed-pushing rate of 98.15%, the obstacle avoidance success rate was 100%, and it can work continuously for 25.5h under no-load conditions, and can work continuously for 3~5h under actual feed-pushing conditions, meeting the operational requirements of cattle barn feeding. The research result can provide a technical reference for the development of intelligent feed-pushing equipment in livestock farming.
