FarmRobotic cow milking

Milking robots

Name: Milking robots
Brand: Lely, DeLaval

by Lely, DeLaval

A milking robot lets each cow walk in to be milked when she likes. A laser-guided arm cleans the udder and attaches the milking cups, with no person needed at each milking. IEEE Spectrum, 1 Apr 2025

Stage 5 of 5

Regulator-cleared or mass market

Which rule placed it

Evidence: Independently reported
Human help: None reported
Last milestone: 1 April 2025

01Can I get it?

Yes, in places

Where it works today: On sale to dairy farms worldwide. In the US, robots produced 6 percent of the milk in 2021. USDA Economic Research Service, 2 Jun 2026
Published price: Several hundred thousand dollars per robot, plus about $5,000 to $10,000 a year to run as of 1 April 2025 IEEE Spectrum, 1 Apr 2025
Human help: Our sources report it working without human help.

02Track record

What has actually happened

Every milestone is dated and links to the page it comes from. Lines marked company-reported rest on the maker's own word.

1 April 2025
Mass market · sets the stage
Lely now makes only dairy farm robots, and about 135,000 of its robots are in use around the world.
IEEE Spectrum, 1 Apr 2025Company-reported
2021
Mass market · sets the stage
US government data show robots produced 6 percent of US milk in 2021, up from 4 percent in 2016.
USDA Economic Research Service, 2 Jun 2026
2021
Mass market · sets the stage
In 2021, 13 percent of US dairy farms with 150 to 499 cows used robotic milking.
USDA Economic Research Service, 2 Jun 2026
Sept 2013
Mass market · sets the stage
DeLaval sold its 10,000th VMS milking robot, to Glenirvine Farms in Ontario, Canada.
Hoard's Dairyman, 19 Sept 2013Company-reported
1998
On sale
Swedish company DeLaval sold its first VMS (Voluntary Milking System) robots in 1998.
Hoard's Dairyman, 19 Sept 2013Company-reported
1992
Demo
A prototype of Lely's Astronaut milking robot milked its first cow in summer 1992.
Lely community history postCompany-reported

03Safety and incidents

What has gone wrong

No crashes, recalls or regulator reports in our sources. That is not proof none happened; we add them when a regulator or trusted outlet reports one.

How we placed it

The rule, not an opinion

Stages are worked out by published rules from the dated milestones above. We never rate robots, and no maker can pay to change a stage.

5
Regulator-cleared or mass marketThis robot
A regulator has cleared it where approval applies: FDA clearance or approval for a medical robot, a permit to run with no one aboard for a self-driving vehicle, or an FAA approval for routine drone flights. Or: Widely sold: sales in the hundreds of thousands, or a product category you can buy in ordinary shops.
Placed by: Lely now makes only dairy farm robots, and about 135,000 of its robots are in use around the world (1 April 2025); US government data show robots produced 6 percent of US milk in 2021, up from 4 percent in 2016 (2021).
4
Paying customers
Delivered to customers who pay for it, beyond a trial, or a paid service the public can use.
3
Pilot
Working with a named customer in a real setting, as a trial.
2
Pre-orders
Orders, reservations or deposits taken, with nothing delivered yet.
1
Demo only
Shown in videos, staged events or a factory, with no units working for customers.

What we couldn't confirm. The 135,000 figure in IEEE Spectrum covers Lely's dairy robots in general, which may include feed and barn-cleaning robots as well as milking robots.

Sources

Cite this page

Robotics Verdict. “Milking robots (Lely, DeLaval): how far has it got?” roboticsverdict.com/robots/milking-robots. Checked 19 October 2026.