Herding cattle remotely, and safely

The Cargill beef plant in Nebraska in the US processes about 5 000 head of cattle a day. Traditionally, as elsewhere, cattle herders are employed to control the animals. When the cattle move out of a pen, the herders, waving plastic bags and shouting, move them forward.

With the average weight of an animal being 750kg, the herders take no chances: they wear chest pads and lacrosse helmets and look more like baseball umpires than cowboys. Despite this protection, they remain at some risk due to the size and proximity of the cattle.

Recently, however, this scenario has changed, thanks to a specially customised robot. Plant operations manager Brad Churchill was sent a video by someone showing a robot at work.

“Probably within 10 seconds of watching it, I knew we could move cattle with that kind of robot,” he said.

RUGGED AND AGILE

The robot that Cargill required had to be ‘beefier’ than similar machines used elsewhere. The works were therefore enclosed in metal, the wheels were redesigned to move agilely over trampled and muddy ground, and a loudspeaker that could play voice commands was fitted.

Also added were two thin, whip-like arms with plastic bags attached. These simply wave back and forth to simulate real herders waving their arms. “I set aside three days to test the prototype, but after 45 minutes I could have gone home,” says Churchill.

Employees stand on catwalks overlooking the pens and operate the robot remotely to herd the cattle. If cattle being pushed forward suddenly turn around, nobody is at risk of being hurt.

“This system could be used someday in all of our beef facilities,” says Churchill. “Finding technology that helps keep our people safe and improves animal welfare is a big win.”

Visit bit.ly/roboticowboy for a video of the robot cowboy in action.