The unique Watch ID system offers a reliable mobile animal identification system that meets the accuracy of per-post identification systems at a low cost. The system uses a special watch-like identification unit worn on operators’ wrists to detect both the address of the milking post and the tag of the animal at the moment the cluster is attached for milking, providing accurate and reliable data on that animal’s milking. The use of the Watch ID system eliminates the infrastructure costs of multiple antennas and wiring.

The design of the Watch ID system applies to most parlour systems, including:

• shared parlours, where animals standing opposite each other are milked by the same control unit through a swing-over system
• free-style parlours, where animals standing next to each other are milked by the same controller.

The watch is in wireless communication with the activator, the leg tag, and the RF Receiver, using three different frequency domains.

How Watch ID  operates 

When a new milking is started by pressing a specific button on the controller, the activator in that unit transmits a signal to the watch. The watch starts scanning for a tag.

When the milking cluster is attached to the udder, the watch on the milker’s wrist identifies that tag and broadcasts the gathered information to the RF Receiver.

This receiver then transfers the data to the management computer, which matches the tag number with the animal number and transfers the information to the display of the controller on that post. In this way, the results of the milking are linked to that animal in the Milking point controller.

Both the watch and control unit provide feedback to the milker about the progress of the identification process. The controller starts beeping as soon as the identification sequence is started by pressing or and stops beeping when it receives the retrieved animal code. The watch provides feedback as follows:

• several red LEDs flash: the watch is scanning for a tag
• two green LEDs come on: a tag is found and read.