Introduction

Designed for cows and farmers

Transform your farm with the new milestone in milking. The Lely Astronaut robotic milking system is an evolution that incorporates everything we learned in the past 25 years since we pioneered automatic milking. We took the needs of cows and our customers into consideration to create an innovative cow- and farmer-friendly milking system.

Astronaut USP's

  • Cow comfort

    Cow comfort

    Achieve optimal comfort for your cows by letting them decide when to eat, drink, relax, or be milked. The hybrid arm, I-flow concept, and teat detection system all contribute to a healthier cow and increase visits to the milking robot.

  • Ease of use

    Ease of use

    Stay in total control over your herd with our user-friendly interface and cutting-edge management system, Lely Horizon. Easily navigate through dashboards, tasks, alerts, predictions, information, and reports.

  • Peace of mind

    Peace of mind

    Enjoy peace of mind. The more you can rely on the Lely Astronaut, the more time you can dedicate to other high-value tasks, improving your work-life balance.

  • Lower cost of ownership

    Lower cost of ownership

    The Lely Astronaut is built to realize a significantly lower cost per pound of milk produced. Thanks to smart, state of the art hardware and software systems and the unique hybrid robot arm, it can help you produce high-quality milk at a lower cost.

Video

This is how the Astronaut works

Explore the

Astronaut

I-Flow

The Astronaut’s I‑Flow system offers a natural way of milking, with a cow‑friendly design. Cows can enter the Astronaut easily, simply by walking straight ahead.

Hybrid arm

The hybrid arm of the Astronaut creates a silent, relaxed environment for cows to be milked. Its movements are electrically driven, without the use of air, which means a huge gain in energy efficiency.

Cleaning with brushes

For optimal hygiene and stimulation, brushes clean the teats and the underside of the udder. The tactile cleaning of the teats with brushes offers the best stimulation for the milk‑let‑down response.

Consistent attaching

Fast, consistent and accurate connecting is more relaxing for the cow. That’s why a robot is more suitable for milking than a human. A three‑layer laser system delivers the most accurate teat‑position information.

Intuitive user interface

With a friendly design of the intuitive user interface, you will find it remarkably easy to find your way around functions, settings, information, and reports.

Build on experience

Milking solution

Astronaut

This automatic milking system is designed with the cow in mind, offering the most natural way to milk. The I-flow concept, hybrid arm, and teat detection system contribute to smooth and quick milking for all cows in the herd, resulting in a new milestone in cow comfort.

 

Features

Build on experience

The Lely Astronaut robotic milking system is designed around with the cow, offering the most natural way to milk. The I-flow concept, hybrid arm, and teat detection system contribute to smooth and quick milking for all cows in the herd, resulting in a new milestone in cow comfort.

Cows dislike obstacles, which is why the I-flow concept uses a straight route with unhindered entrance, leading cows into, and out of, the milking robot. As a result, cows are able to reach the Lely Astronaut with ease.

The hybrid arm combines fast and accurate electrical-driven movements with the softness and power of air-driven pneumatics for stress-free milking. Pneumatic components protect the electrical system by balancing the heavy load of the arm and buffering cow kicks. The hybrid arm is silent, allowing cows to experience more rest during milking.

A three-layer laser system delivers the most accurate teat position information and stores the data after each milking. The system’s 3D camera helps determine the cow’s position in the box, allowing the brushes and cups to find the teats quickly and with ease.

The healthier the udders, the better the milk. That's why the Lely Astronaut is equipped with a unique brush cleaning system designed to remove encrusted dirt and manure around the teats and underside of the udders, simultaneously stimulating milk let-down. After cleaning the teats, the brushes are thoroughly disinfected to help minimise the risk of cross-contamination.

Our customers

Testimonials

The Lely Astronaut is a game changer. Here's what some real farmers have to say.

Farmer standing in barn wearing blue coveralls.

Woodstock, Ontario

Hans van Lith

Five Lely Astronauts

The Astronaut A2 has been a very good robot to us. We concluded that it’s milked about a million cows, just by itself. From what we’ve seen so far from the Lely Astronaut A5, it really is a new milestone in milking.
Farmer standing in front of Lely Astronaut A5 robotic milking system wearing Lely branded coveralls.

Norwich, Ontario

Marcel Steen

Three Lely Astronauts, one Lely Vector

The biggest advantage of robotic milking I see on our farm is the cows. They’re calmer, more relaxed, they have increased longevity and we’ve seen improvements in reproduction.
Man standing in barn wearing black hat and jacket with cows in the background.

Athens, Wisconsin, United States

David Trimner

30 Lely Astronaut, three Lely Junos, one Lely Cosmix

The start-up was a very smooth process. Our service provider gave us someone who was experienced with start-ups and basically helped us walk through it all. We pre-trained the cows and they really got used to it quickly.

Lely farmers score better!*

Every year, figures show that Dutch cows milked by a Lely Astronaut produce, perform better than cows milked by other systems.

Higher milk yield with milking robots

Since 2015, we have seen that Dutch cows milked by a Lely Astronaut produce more milk on average than cows milked in other systems. We expect this  trend will continue, making the difference in milk production greater than ever. Additionally, Lely Astronaut users combine this with a better cell count and excellent fertility characteristics. View all the details in the graphs on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

*) The results are based on CRV data from the Netherlands (an independent party that develops information products for cattle farmers to better manage their businesses). Comparison of Lely with an aggregate of other systems. Individual results may differ based on make of other systems and relevant country. No rights can be derived from these results. 

Higher avg. annual milk revenue per cow   Higher average yearly milk production

Higher avg. annual milk revenue per cow   Higher average yearly milk production

Higher average fat production   Higher average lifetime production

Higher average fat production                   Higher average lifetime production

Higher average protein production   Lower somatic cell count

Higher average protein production            Lower somatic cell count

The process

Start-up support: every step of the way

  • Before

    Before starting up your Lely Astronaut, we help you prepare your farm for automatic milking. This includes discussions on cow health, standard feeding, partial mixed ration feeding, daily routines, and Free Cow Traffic. We also provide training on robot operation and the associated management system.

    01

  • During

    After the Astronaut is installed, it is extensively checked. Together we go through the new routines and group your cows. Once every detail is accurate, milking begins. During the initial milking, we provide intensive, hands-on support.

    02

  • After

    Once everything is up and running, the start-up period ends and we begin with the next step to further optimise your farm according to your preferences and goals. Together, we define which services will support you best.

    03

Media slider Astronaut pictures

 A man in a blue shirt and gray hat stands in a Lely Astronaut automated milking machine robot room.
A cow's teats being detected by an automated milking machine for attachment.
Two cows in a dairy farm, one in front and another in a Lely Astronaut, both with yellow ear tags.
A cow's teats being sprayed before milking by a Lely Astronaut, with red and white suction cups positioned below the udder.
a cow's teats are being cleaned with brushes in the Lely Astronaut.

Resources

Download the latest brochure

Lely Astronaut Brochure

Milking

Producing high-quality milk requires time and care. It requires making choices that fit in with you and your goals. Our solutions for automatic milking help you make the right decisions to attain those goals.