Distributed systems for stormwater monitoring and reporting

• US 10,302,817 B2
• Filed: 04/05/2017
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hadronex, Inc.
• Original Assignee: StormSensor, Inc.
• Inventors: Stettler, Anya Rose, Darling, Robert Bruce, Gibbs, IV, William Irl
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Akki, Munear T
• Application Number:
  US15/480,084
• Publication Number:
  US 20170294101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• Field of Search: 3408701, 340616, 340606
• CPC Class Codes: E03F 1/00 Methods, systems, or installations for draining-off sewage or storm water
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/002 wherein the flow is in an open channel
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 1/663 by measuring Doppler frequency shift
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 15/063 using electrical means
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 15/066 involving magnetic transmission devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/02 for measuring temperature of moving fluids or granular materials capable of flow
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 13/026 of moving liquids
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/18 Water
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/14 Rainfall or precipitation gauges measuring volume in general G01F

Abstract

Distributed systems and methods for the automatic monitoring and reporting of data relating to the chemistry and flow of stormwater (i.e. stormwater data) are presented. Multiple fluid sensor devices are exposed to stormwater via positioning the sensor devices in locations of interest. The sensor devices are arranged in self-healing mesh networks. The sensor devices are enabled to acquire stormwater data indicating various fluid properties that are desired to be monitored. A sensor device is further enabled to transmit its acquired stormwater data, either directly or indirectly, to one or more remote computing devices that is hosting a stormwater monitoring application (SMA). The SMA is enabled to process and analyze the stormwater data. The SMA generates measurements and reports based on the processed and analyzed stormwater data.

Claims

1. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having instructions stored thereon for monitoring stormwater, which, when executed by a processor device cause the processor device to perform actions comprising:

providing, to a data-collection device, a configuration for the data-collection device and each of a plurality of stormwater sensor devices, wherein the configuration includes at least a data-acquisition frequency and a data-transmission frequency;

employing the data-collection device to provide, to each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices, a portion of the configuration that includes at least the data-acquisition frequency;

in response to receiving the data-acquisition frequency from the data-collection device, updating settings the plurality of stormwater sensor devices such that each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices is configured to iteratively acquire stormwater data based on the received data-acquisition frequency;

causing operations of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices based on the updated settings such that each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices iteratively acquires the stormwater data based on the received data-acquisition frequency;

employing the data-collection device to aggregate the stormwater data acquired from each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

employing the data-collection device to periodically provide, to a user-computing device, the aggregated stormwater data based on the data-transmission frequency;

employing the user-computing device to generate one or more stormwater measurements based on the provided stormwater data; and

employing a display device of the user-computing device to provide a visualization of the one or more stormwater measurements.

2. The computer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1, wherein the actions further comprise:

receiving a geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

receiving a sensor identifier for each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

associating the geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices with the corresponding sensor identifier; and

storing the associated of the geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices with the corresponding sensor identifier.

3. The computer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1, wherein the actions further comprise:

employing the user-computing device to generate a report based on the one or more stormwater measurements; and

employing the user-computing device to provide the report to a user.

4. The computer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1, where each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices includes at least one of a fluid flow rate sensor, a fluid ph-level sensor, or a fluid temperature sensor.

5. The computer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1, wherein the stormwater sensor devices are sensor nodes that are arranged in a self-healing mesh network and the data-collection device is a controller node of the self-healing mesh network.

6. The computer-readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of stormwater sensor devices is distributed across at least a portion of a stormwater drainage system.

7. The computer-readable non-transitory storage media of claim 1, wherein the actions further comprise:

employing the user-computing device to determine a Gauckler-Manning coefficient associated with a stormwater drainage system and based on the stormwater data.

8. A method for monitoring stormwater, comprising:

providing, to a data-collection device, a configuration for the data-collection device and each of a plurality of stormwater sensor devices, wherein the configuration includes at least a data-acquisition frequency and a data-transmission frequency;

employing the data-collection device to provide, to each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices, a portion of the configuration that includes at least the data-acquisition frequency;

in response to receiving the data-acquisition frequency from the data-collection device, updating settings the plurality of stormwater sensor devices such that each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices is configured to iteratively acquire stormwater data based on the received data-acquisition frequency;

causing operations of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices based on the updated settings such that each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices iteratively acquires the stormwater data based on the received data-acquisition frequency;

employing the data-collection device to aggregate the stormwater data acquired from each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

employing the data-collection device to periodically provide, to a user-computing device, the aggregated stormwater data based on the data-transmission frequency;

employing the user-computing device to generate one or more stormwater measurements based on the provided stormwater data; and

employing a display device of the user-computing device to provide a visualization of the one or more stormwater measurements.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

receiving a sensor identifier for each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

associating the geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices with the corresponding sensor identifier; and

storing the associated of the geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices with the corresponding sensor identifier.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

employing the user-computing device to generate a report based on the one or more stormwater measurements; and

employing the user-computing device to provide the report to a user.

11. The method of claim 8, where each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices includes at least one of a fluid flow rate sensor, a fluid pH-level sensor, or a fluid temperature sensor.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the stormwater sensor devices are sensor nodes that are arranged in a self-healing mesh network and the data-collection device is a controller node of the self-healing mesh network.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of sensor nodes is distributed across at least a portion of a stormwater drainage system.

14. A system for monitoring stormwater, the system comprising:

a plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

a data-collection device;

a processor device; and

a computer-readable storage medium, coupled with the processor device, having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor device, perform actions comprising;

providing, to the data-collection device, a configuration for the data-collection device and each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices, wherein the configuration includes at least a data-acquisition frequency and a data-transmission frequency;

employing the data-collection device to provide, to each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices, a portion of the configuration that includes at least the data-acquisition frequency;

in response to receiving the data-acquisition frequency from the data-collection device, updating settings the plurality of stormwater sensor devices such that each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices is configured to iteratively acquire stormwater data based on the received data-acquisition frequency;

causing operations of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices based on the updated settings such that each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices iteratively acquires the stormwater data based on the received data-acquisition frequency;

employing the data-collection device to aggregate the stormwater data acquired from each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

employing the data-collection device to periodically provide, to a user-computing device, the aggregated stormwater data based on the data-transmission frequency;

employing the user-computing device to generate one or more stormwater measurements based on the provided stormwater data; and

employing a display device of the user-computing device to provide a visualization of the one or more stormwater measurements.

15. The computing system of claim 14, the actions further comprising:

receiving a geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

receiving a sensor identifier for each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices;

associating the geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices with the corresponding sensor identifier; and

storing the associated of the geo-location of each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices with the corresponding sensor identifier.

16. The computing system of claim 14, the actions further comprising:

employing the user-computing device to generate a report based on the one or more stormwater measurements; and

employing the user-computing device to provide the report to a user.

17. The computing system of claim 14, where each of the plurality of stormwater sensor devices includes at least one of a fluid flow rate sensor, a fluid pH-level sensor, or a fluid temperature sensor.

18. The computing system of claim 14, wherein the stormwater sensor devices are sensor nodes that are arranged in a self-healing mesh network and the data-collection device is a controller node of the self-healing mesh network.

19. The computing system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of stormwater sensor devices is distributed across at least a portion of a stormwater drainage system.

20. The computing system of claim 14, wherein the actions further comprise:

employing the user-computing device to determine a Gauckler-Manning coefficient associated with a stormwater drainage system and based on the stormwater data.