A vehicle for automatically milking dairy farm animals which carries a milk reservoir
having milk lines which connect to a set of teat cups that are automatically connected
to animals' teats by a milking robot. The vehicle is supported from the underlying
surface by wheels, caterpillar tracks, or an air cushion, and includes navigational
equipment which controls the vehicle so that it positions itself under the animals'
teats whereupon the teat cups automatically placed on the relevant animals' teats
one by one or in pairs. The vehicle also has its own propulsion power source. The
vehicle including all its components is movable and displaceable as a whole. A
gripping mechanism for connecting the vehicle to an animal may be included. In
a variation, a central station carries a milk reservoir and a plurality of satellite
milking units as described above seek out and milk the dairy farm animals. Such
units are coupled to the central station by conduits otherwise to deliver milk
they receive from the animals to the reservoir carried by the central station.