The Shear Magic Robot

The Shear Magic Robot (SM robot) in Fig.4, was developed to improve on the Oracle robot. Oracle proved that robotics sheep shearing was a feasible operation, but proved to be a little to cumbersome to implement on the sheep stations when coupled with the ARAMP manipulator. The SM robot was designed to be more compact and practical unit based on what was learned from the Oracle system. Advances in computer engineering meant that more computer power could be called upon to assist the SM robot in its task, and enabled the Shear Magic's designers to 'build a better sheep shearer'!

The Shear Magic robot operates from above the animal rather than from the side as the Oracle system did. This allows the robot to have access to more surface area without moving the animal and improves the workspace size considerably. Having the robot overhead means that the floorspace is able to be used for animal and wool handling equipment, and any dags, faeces or other swarf drops away from the robot rather than around it. Aside from this basic difference, the SM robot retains the same surface modelling techniques used by the Oracle, but has a more extensive sensor suite and more effective control logic due to developments in technology since Oracle's day.

Overall, the Shear Magic was regarded as a system which is suitable for an automated sheep shearing production line. The robots may be mounted on overhead rails, allowing them to be mobile throughout the plant. When one manipulator is loading or unloading an animal, the robot may move to another section to assist or begin shearing another animal. This is possible with a centralised control system.

The SM robot uses the Simplified Loading and Manipulation Platform, or SLAMP, which is a derivative of the ARAMP system used in the Oracle robot.