It’s an expensive business to check the fat and protein content of milk for signs of dietary disorder in the cows, and for the lactose fluctuations that give early warning of mastitis. Now Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture is patenting a cheap automated health check system (US 2004/0179194).
The rapid flow of milk from each cow’s milking stall is fed through a transparent U-trap. Ten LEDs, all with different but overlapping emission frequencies covering the visible to infrared range, shine on the trap. The LEDs are switched on in sequence while the levels of light that pass through the milk, and which are scattered by it,…
