Latest innovation
Fresh grass solution Exos
Introduction
Unlock the full potential of fresh grass
With the launch of Lely Exos, we have unlocked the full potential of fresh grass. It’s our autonomous fresh grass solution for your farm. It cuts grass, harvests it, and fertilises your fields at the same time. Once fully loaded, it transports the grass to your barn(s) and feeds your cows. Exos does this completely autonomously, during day and night. Feeding fresh grass maximises the nutritional value. It saves you not only concentrate costs and storage, but also labour, fuel and machinery. Exos optimises your home-grown value.
USPs Exos
Feed fresh grass
Fresh grass contains valuable nutrients that can be lost during harvesting, ensiling and feeding silage. By harvesting and feeding fresh grass directly from the field multiple times a day throughout the growing season, Lely Exos helps preserve feed value and make better use of home-grown protein. This can lead to increased milk yield from your land.
Grassland efficiency
Adding fresh grass to the ration allows you to maximise the value of nutrients and energy grown on your own land. Lely Exos is designed to help increase grassland efficiency by extending the harvesting season, improving grass utilisation and maximising the value of home-grown feed.
Single operation
Cutting, harvesting, transporting, feeding and fertilising are combined in a single operation. Compared to conventional systems with multiple machines and field operations, this reduces traffic and pressure on the field while improving operational efficiency.
Sustainable solution
Feeding fresh grass can contribute to a more sustainable dairy farm. By making better use of home-grown feed, reducing fuel use and lowering dependence on external feed sources, Lely Exos supports a more circular farming system.
Images of the Lely Exos
Features
Discover the potential of fresh grass with Exos
Exos is an automated guided vehicle that drives according to a planning and follows mowing and feeding schemes the farmer has created. Exos gets an assignment from the management system and drives to the designated field. It calculates the mowing pattern and the starting point. Now it starts mowing. It cuts the desired amount of grass and fertilises immediately. Once the demanded weight is met, Exos transports the grass to the barn. The barn door(s) opens automatically, and Exos drives onto the feed alley, distributing the fresh grass evenly along the feed fences, as selected by the farmer.
Grass harvested with Exos is just as fresh and tasty as it would be in the pasture. The Exos way of cutting and loading grass preserves the plant structure, keeps dirt out and leaves the wax layer intact.
The mown grass doesn't hit the ground but is taken directly from the cutter bar by the plastic flaps of the elevator. The grass stays clean without any dirt picked up from the soil. The soft plastic flaps gently transport the grass upwards dropping the grass loosely into the bunker. A conveyor belt runs across the bunker floor, controlled by a top sensor to get an evenly filled bunker platform.
Exos cuts, harvests and fertilises in one pass. Exos can accurately apply liquid fertiliser to the grassland while mowing through its low-pressure fertiliser nozzles. The 200-litter liquid fertiliser tank and precision applicator are ready to do the job. And a weight- and dosing system is integrated as well. It can use both conventional liquid fertilisers and circular fertiliser generated by the Lely Sphere N-capture.
The lightweight vehicle and soil-friendly technology are designed to minimise traffic and pressure on the field compared to conventional harvesting methods. This helps protect the soil structure, supports grass growth and allows efficient harvesting throughout the growing season.
The right, left, or dual-side unloading conveyor belt ensures precise and airy distribution. Exos distributes the grass evenly in one pass. Gentle distributor rollers leave grass undamaged in front of the cows. When finished, Exos moves to another feed alley or to the charging station to be ready for the next run. Once distributed, Vector or Juno Max can push the fresh grass along the feed fence. This way, cows have their feed within reach always. Communication between Exos and Juno Max or Vector is established to prevent a collision at the feed fence. When feeding is done, Exos drives back to the loading station where it recharges and waits for a new assignment.
Safety is top priority. Exos is equipped with GPS for outdoor navigation, stereo-cameras for obstacle detection, and ultra sonic sensors that ensure accurate navigation in the field, at the farm, and in the barn. The driving speed is limited to 4,5 km/h. The automated guided vehicle has soft bumpers, shielded wheels, and indicates when it changes direction with audible and visual signals. Also, Exos can only drive on private terrain and is not allowed to cross public roads by itself.
Just as with manual work, unforeseen situations can occur. Thanks to Lely Remote assist, this does not have to disrupt your operation or peace of mind. Lely specialists are available day and night to monitor the system and can often resolve issues remotely before they affect operation and your planning. Farmers are only notified when their intervention is required, helping to maximise uptime and keep the system running smoothly.
Connected
Exos & Lely Vector
Exos and Lely Vector can complement each other. Exos feeds fresh grass, while Vector provides the other ration components. You can set the desired ration for each animal group in the management system. This way, Exos feeds fresh grass while Vector takes care of the rest.
You can adjust the quantity and composition of supplementary feed to the current grass supply. Moreover, you can align the timing of feedings according to your cows' needs. The Vector feeding robot regularly pushes the feed and simultaneously monitors the amount of feed at the feed fence. When it's time for a new meal of grass, Vector sends Exos into the field. When Exos receives that signal, it drives autonomously from the charging station to its intended destination. In many cases, this is the same point where it last stopped. It mows until it reaches the exact grass weight it requires. Then it drives to the barn. Meanwhile, Vector neatly clears a path for Exos by pushing already placed feed towards the feed fence.
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