LIVESTOCK: It’s a decade since Dutch firm Schuitemaker started work on the Innovado feed robot. We outline the background and enjoy a visit to see one of the first commercial versions in action.
The Innovado SP feeder first broke cover nearly nine years ago at the 2008 edition of the German Euro-Tier livestock machinery exhibition.
Shown as a prototype, the in-house-designed and -built automatic feeding system was flagged up as the only robot capable of cutting silage from the clamp, loading additional feedstuffs, mixing the contents and then feeding them.
Awarded a EuroTier Gold medal, the first field tests began early the following year with a machine that measured 5.20m long x 2.00m wide x 3.18m high, had a payload of 6.0m³ and used a single hydraulically operated vertical auger. The four wheels were also hydraulically powered, with Deutz supplying the 60hp diesel engine. Work continued during the following six years and saw the prototype develop into the Mark 2 version on display at the same German show in 2014. Based loosely along similar lines to the prototype, the key difference concerned swapping the silage block cutter for a milling head.
Fitted to a hydraulically operated loading arm, the result could reach the top of a 4.5m high silage clamp. While still powered by a Deutz engine, the power increased to 80hp. A bigger change concerned the way the vehicle navigated though feed passages and to and from silage clamps: the 2008 version was remote-controlled, whereas the Mark 2 navigated automatically via transponders sunk into the concrete.
