# Assessment of Production Technologies on Dairy Farms in Terms of Animal Welfare
## 6 Milking Technology
The waiting time for milking is critically assessed not only in milking technology using milking parlors but also in milking robots [47]. Taking into account time in the assessment of milking technology using AMS (automatic milking system), the essence is the structure of time and its losses [48], which determine the effectiveness of using the milking robot. However, time in relation to cows milked with AMS may determine the assessment of their comfort resulting from having to wait for milking; this waiting time of individual cows for milking may be the result of the hierarchy of animals in the herd [49] and other factors. Automatic milking systems (AMS) have made a significant contribution to improving cow milking technology. The inspiration to develop the design of a milking robot was to reduce the human workload in existing milking methods [50]. Hence, in the initial period of implementation of milking technology using AMS, the assessment of human work time savings dominated [51]. Nowadays, the implementation of milking robots is also identified in terms of the adaptation of labor-saving technologies, using equilibrium models that take into account the size of farms, or rather the size of herds of dairy cows [52]. The design stage of the milking robot in the 1970s was guided by the idea of replacing manual human work with the mechanism that puts teat cups on teats. The efficiency and accuracy of this task were the main goals of the design work on the construction of an automatic milking system (AMS) [53]. The initial design attempts to construct a milking robot were not easy for cows and their welfare. The cows were exposed to stress due to various ideas for automatically attaching teat cups to their teats. These ideas, implemented in the form of patents, included the use of a bowl covering the udder instead of four teat cups, and the use of airbags to restrict the movement of cows during automatic attachment of the teat cups [50]. Achieving technological progress was therefore associated with anti-progress in cow welfare. It resulted from the imperfections of the tools available at that time for automating tasks in production processes involving cows [54]. The key factor in overcoming barriers to the development of automatic milking technology was the use of various groups of sensors and other monitoring devices [55]. By incorporating sensors into milking technology, it has become possible to more accurately monitor the behavior of cows and their stay in the milking robot. When assessing the technology of milking cows with a robot, the benefits resulting from the inclusion of sensors in the milking process became crucial. It was possible to reduce the percentage of unmilked cows [56], improve the identification of mastitisies [57], or improve the cow traffic system in order to better use the potential efficiency of the milking robot [58]. These are important arguments in the evaluation of robot milking technology, and the benefits of using sensors in AMS also concern cows and their welfare [59]. For example, as a result of using the quarter milking system in AMS, operated by a set of sensors, more precise emptying of the udder of milk is achieved. This principle of operation is not without impact on the health of cows [60]. Sophisticated features incorporated into the operation of a milking robot can help cows achieve freedom from discomfort during milking. Sensors play an important role in the operation of the milking robot. They are used to identify cows coming for milking. However, sensors are also used in other areas, including feeding systems and cow behavior monitoring, which identifies the occurrence of heat, lameness and lying time. Sensors provide important support in herd management [61], including the use of sensors to collect and manage knowledge about animal health [62]. The purpose of implementing the herd management system was to help people process large data sets and make decisions regarding individual animals in the herd.