News –

Intelligent NORD Drive Technology in the Cowshed

Discover Celi Invest's cow brushes with NORD's NORDBLOC.1® helical gearboxes and NORDAC BASE VFDs.

Waunakee, WI, 2021-04-07

The Danish company Celi Invest specializes in the production of electrically powered cow brushes. These rotating brushes provide enrichment that improves the health and welfare of the cows, making them extremely important tools to ensure comfort for the herd. Ever since Celi Invest made the switch to NORD drive technology, their brushes have been running like clockwork. NORD’s intelligent and robust gear units, motors, and variable frequency drives ensure reliable, safe, and efficient operation.

Automatic cow brushes serve two purposes. They allow animals to rub against them to massage their bodies and they also work as a grooming tool. To accomplish this, an autonomous process control was implemented directly into the integrated PLC of the decentralized, intelligent NORD drive. A vibration sensor was then connected to the frequency converter that registers each approaching cow. Based on the signal received from the sensor, when the brush tilts 10°, the drive starts and the brush rotates. The drive can also automatically change to reverse operation via torque monitoring. This is especially useful if a cow’s tail were to get caught in the brush. Torque monitoring is possible via the status data available in each NORD variable frequency drive. Another feature of the cow brushes is a timer that stops the NORD drive after a specific amount of time, ensuring that other cows can enjoy its benefits. Sensor connection, torque monitoring, reverse mode, and the timer are all implemented via the VFD’s integrated PLC. Functions like these add value not only in the cowshed, but also in a variety of other commercial and industrial applications.