Nozzle control system and method
First Claim
1. A sprayer control system configured to control spray characteristics of spray nozzles, the sprayer control system comprising:
- a master node configured for coupling with one or more of a system pressure valve or a system pump, the master node is configured to;
control the system pressure of a liquid agricultural product, anddetermine an error correction, the error correction based on the difference between an actual system flow rate and a sum of target flow rates; and
a plurality of smart nozzles, each of the smart nozzles includes at least one control valve and an electronic control unit (ECU) in communication with the master node, the at least one control valve and the ECU are configured to control a component flow rate of liquid agricultural product through one or more spray nozzles, each smart nozzle is configured to;
determine the target flow rate for the one or more spray nozzles with the ECU,determine a duty cycle for the one or more spray nozzles with the ECU, the duty cycle based on the target flow rate and the error correction, andoperate the at least one control valve to deliver the liquid agricultural product to the one or spray nozzles according to the duty cycle.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for nozzle control includes an overall system pressure valve, configured to adjust the pressure of an agricultural product within a boom. A master node is configured to receive an overall system flow rate measurement, an overall target flow rate, and an overall system pressure measurement, the master node configured to adjust the overall system pressure valve to control the pressure of the agricultural product. A plurality of smart nozzles are configured to dispense the agricultural product, the plurality of smart nozzles each associated with an electronic control unit (ECU) and one or more individual nozzle, the smart nozzle is configured to control a nozzle flow rate of the associated one or more individual nozzles.
119 Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A sprayer control system configured to control spray characteristics of spray nozzles, the sprayer control system comprising:
-
a master node configured for coupling with one or more of a system pressure valve or a system pump, the master node is configured to; control the system pressure of a liquid agricultural product, and determine an error correction, the error correction based on the difference between an actual system flow rate and a sum of target flow rates; and a plurality of smart nozzles, each of the smart nozzles includes at least one control valve and an electronic control unit (ECU) in communication with the master node, the at least one control valve and the ECU are configured to control a component flow rate of liquid agricultural product through one or more spray nozzles, each smart nozzle is configured to; determine the target flow rate for the one or more spray nozzles with the ECU, determine a duty cycle for the one or more spray nozzles with the ECU, the duty cycle based on the target flow rate and the error correction, and operate the at least one control valve to deliver the liquid agricultural product to the one or spray nozzles according to the duty cycle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method to control spray characteristics of spray nozzles in a sprayer system comprising:
-
controlling the sprayer system with a master node; controlling a system pressure of a liquid agricultural product, the system pressure corresponds to a specified spray droplet size, and determining an error correction based on the difference between an actual system flow rate and a sum of target flow rates; controlling a plurality of duty cycles of a plurality of smart nozzles, controlling a duty cycle of the plurality of duty cycles for a smart nozzle of the plurality of smart nozzles includes; determining the target flow rate for one or more spray nozzles with an electronic control unit (ECU) of a smart nozzle of the plurality of smart nozzles, determining the duty cycle for the one or more spray nozzles with the ECU, the duty cycle based on the target flow rate and the error correction, and operating at least one control valve with the ECU to deliver the liquid agricultural product to the one or more spray nozzles according to the duty cycle. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification