Velos 2024.4 Dairy Farming

This Nedap Velos software version contains new and improved functionalities that provide new solutions, add valuable options to existing solutions and further increase the ease of use of Velos.

Nedap FarmControl

Identification

• The automatic configuration of milk stall identification on rotary parlours was not functioning correctly when the first milk stall had a number other than 1. This issue has now been resolved.

• Manually adjusting responder numbers after the automatic configuration of milk stall identification on rotary parlours was not working correctly. This issue has now been resolved.

• When milking is active on a stall near the exit of the parlour, a signal is sent to stop the rotary parlour from rotating. Occasionally, this signal was not reset after the milking on that stall finished. This issue has now been resolved.

Traffic

• In Velos 2024.2, a bug was introduced that caused cow separation to malfunction if the Velos license included separation but not feeding. This issue has now been resolved.

• In cases where a cow remained standing in a 2/3-way sorter and was continuously detected by the antenna, the status light would simultaneously pulse and blink. This issue has now been resolved. The light remains on as long as the antenna detects a cow, and it pulses only when the antenna no longer detects a cow.

Nedap MilkingControl

• Two new frequency bands have recently been added for SmartFlows to communicate with Velos, and these bands are now supported in Velos. As of this Velos version, the SmartFlow can now also be used in China and Malaysia.

• A new InTouch setting has been added to prevent the automatic removal of the milking cluster during the initial days of a cow's lactation. This feature can be enabled by selecting the "Manual take-off" option, which then activates two additional settings.

  

  The first setting allows you to specify for which lactation cycles manual take-off should apply: only the first lactation, the first and second lactation, or all lactations. The second setting enables you to set the number of days post-calving during which manual take-off should be used.

  With these configurations, the milking cluster will not be removed based on milk flow; instead, the milking process will wait for the milker’s action to remove the cluster. However, if a maximum milking time is set, it may still trigger automatic removal of the milking cluster.

• A new InTouch setting called "Show attentions" has been added, which is enabled by default.

  

  For large milking parlours where milkers are only expected to milk the cows without additional tasks, it can be useful to turn off attention alerts on the InTouch display. These alerts use a, continuously on or blinking, red LED indicator to signal that there is an issue, such as an undetected cow, an unidentified cow, or a cow flagged for milk separation. In each of these cases, an additional action—pressing a button—is required to allow milking to proceed.

  

  In large parlours where only cows ready for milking are present, this setting now makes it possible to disable the red LED indicator entirely. Milkers can then proceed with milking each cow with a single button press, regardless of any alerts. Additionally, the low milk yield alert at the end of a cow’s milking session will no longer be displayed in this configuration.

• The InTouch system features a single button for performing actions. In addition to starting and, if needed, manually stopping the milking of a cow, one of the InTouch devices can also be used to turn the entire milking parlour on or off. This setup makes operating the InTouch slightly more complex, as the outcome of pressing the button depends on the system's current status. In large milking parlours where milkers are solely focused on milking cows, minimizing the risk of errors is crucial.

  To address this, it is now possible to add extra control buttons to the installation, specifically for turning the parlour on and off, independent of the InTouch devices. In this setup, the on/off function is disabled on the InTouch devices, reducing complexity and helping to prevent operational mistakes.

• In Velos 2024.3, the wash controller has been made mandatory so that InTouch devices automatically enter washing mode when the wash system is activated. The wash system takes precedence, with the InTouch devices following its status regardless of their current mode. In washing mode, the InTouch devices activate the vacuum and pulsation, a function that remains unchanged in this Velos version.

  However, a new feature has been added: when all InTouch devices in a row are in standby mode, a short press of the button on any one of the InTouch devices can now manually switch the entire row already to washing mode. This serves two purposes:

  1. It allows users to ensure that any remaining milk in the milk line flows into the milk tank before washing begins.

  2. It provides an option to turn off the vacuum pump without it running under full load.

  As long as the wash system has not yet been activated, users can also return the entire row of InTouch devices to standby mode with a short press on any InTouch device in the row. If the wash system is already active, it will ensure that all InTouch devices automatically switch to standby mode once the washing cycle has completed.

• Some milking parlours use InTouch devices along with a backflush process to clean the milking clusters between cows. The system managing the backflush procedure can now be connected to the Velos system, ensuring that no milking sessions can be initiated via the InTouch devices while backflush is in progress.

  In some cases, a vacuum sweep is desired during the backflush procedure, requiring the milking cluster to be in a raised position. The system handling the backflush process now has the capability to control the cluster position, raising or lowering it as needed during backflush.

• The automatic SmartFlow calibration calculation has been reactivated for all installations. For installations with more than 60 milking stations, this calculation is performed on a secondary VPU specifically included in the system for this purpose. No devices should be connected to this VPU. If such a VPU is not present, the system will generate a notification.

• This Velos version supports the Taurus CSV export function, /milk_extended. This function allows for the export of more detailed milking data from Velos. The exported data includes: milking station, cow number, group number, cow ID timestamp, attach timestamp, milking duration, dead milk time, milk yield, maximum flow rate, average flow rate, 0-15s flow rate, 15-30s flow rate, 30-60s flow rate, 60-120s flow rate, detach flow rate, low flow rate duration, yield percentage 0-120s, number of attachments, and detach reason. A compatible Taurus version that supports the /milk_extended option is required to enable this CSV export.

• Milk place data can now be published via the MQTT protocol, providing the following information:

  • Identification of the cow detected at the milk place

  • Real-time flow and yield as measured by the SmartFlow.

  Additionally, it is possible to start and stop the SmartFlow measurement via the MQTT protocol. This setup allows for SmartFlow usage without requiring the InTouch system.

• In the mobile version of the parlour monitor page, the milking station flashes red when a cow with an alert is present. However, this was also happening for cows without alerts. This issue has now been resolved.

General

• Nedap constantly updates the software to prevent security vulnerabilities. In this version some 3rd party libraries have been updated because of these vulnerabilities: CVE-2024-8184

• An MQTT broker has been added to Velos, enabling device data to be made available through the MQTT protocol.

• Improved the loading speed of the page Maintenance > Identification. This helps especially in situations where many VP1004 devices are used.

• When Velos operates in Nedap Now mode, synchronization with Nedap-BI is disabled starting from this version.

• Creating animals via the .NET interface was no longer functioning. This issue has been resolved.

• In the transition of a Velos system to Nedap Now mode, a failed initial export was not displayed on the export status page. This issue has now been resolved.

• Starting up Velos in Nedap Now mode with a large number of animals in the system took over five minutes. This issue has now been resolved.

• The system notification about the availability of a new version displayed a popup, but the buttons in this popup had no text. This issue has now been resolved.

Firmware

• In Velos 2024.3, new firmware version 2.03.05 was added for the VP5001. However, Velos 2024.3.SR1 mistakenly reverted to version 2.03.04. This has now been corrected, and version 2.03.05 is once again included for the VP5001.

System requirements

Velos version

• An installation needs to run on version 2024.1.SR2 or newer to be able to update to this version. Make sure to update to version 2024.1.SR2 first before installing this version.

Taurus

• This version is compatible with Taurus 2020.1 (5.101.7.0) or higher.

Mobile device versions:

• iOS 15 or later

• Android 5.0 or later

Supported browsers:

• Google Chrome

• Microsoft Edge