Mort & Co to host BunkBot demonstrations
18 September 2020
The BunkBot will be demonstrated on-site at Mort & Co’s Pinegrove Feedlot near Millmerran, Queensland.
Key points:
- Starting from November, Mort & Co’s Pinegrove Feedlot will host monthly demonstrations of the BunkBot, an autonomous robot for manoeuvring a feed bunk scanner around a feedlot.
- A new project at the feedlot will improve understanding of the operationalised benefits of the BunkBot system. Additionally, considerations for site interfaces and maintenance requirements will be clarified.
- Testing of the BunkBot has already proven the technology can autonomously read 100 feed bunks at a nominal operating speed of 10km/hr.
Lot feeders will soon be able to see the BunkBot robot at work in a commercial setting, with Mort & Co’s Pinegrove Feedlot near Millmerran, Queensland, set to host monthly on-site demonstrations of the technology.
The BunkBot is an autonomous robot for manoeuvring a Bunk Scanner around a feedlot. Through previous trials, the Bunk Scanner has been proven to be more precise and accurate than human bunk callers.
Starting in November, Pinegrove Feedlot will host monthly demonstrations on the third Wednesday of each month from 10am–1pm, beginning a new two-year project managed by MLA.
Developed by Brisbane-based automation and robotics solution company Manabotix, the BunkBot prototype underwent initial testing in 2019 at Pinegrove Feedlot as part of a project funded by grainfed levies and managed by MLA in consultation with the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association (ALFA).
Over several weeks, the testing saw the BunkBot, mounted with a Bunk Scanner, autonomously read 100 feed bunks throughout the site at a nominal operating speed of 10km/hr.
The prototype had improved precision, accuracy, and bunk score success over human operators after the remaining contents of feed bunks was determined by weigh-back truthing.
Pinegrove Feedlot will purchase a Bunk Scanner and will integrate the technologies into routine bunk calling operations at the feedlot under both day and night conditions.
Bookings for the monthly demonstrations at Pinegrove Feedlot are available through ALFA-MLA Technical Services Officer Jeff House:
P: 0419 262 207.
