Turf Irrigation System

• US 20090150003A1
• Filed: 11/15/2008
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Benivoli LLC
• Original Assignee: Benivoli LLC
• Inventors: Jordan, B. Delano
• Granted Patent: US 7,913,653 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/284
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/021 Electronic training devices specially adapted for dogs or cats
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/023 Anti-evasion devices
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/12 responsive to conditions of ambient medium or target, e.g. humidity, temperature position or movement of the target relative to the spray apparatus B05B12/082, B05B12/084 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 12/122 responsive to presence or shape of target B05B12/124 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B05B 15/74 driven by the discharged fluid

Abstract

An irrigation system has a water distribution system, a controller, and a pet monitoring system. The controller may modify an irrigation setting of the water distribution system based on a pet elimination signal from the pet monitoring system. The pet elimination signal may correspond to an event such as a pet urination event.

Claims

1. A pet monitoring system comprising:

a collar;

a wireless communication module coupled to the collar; and

a pet elimination module coupled to the collar, the pet elimination module to generate a pet elimination signal in response to detection of a pet elimination event and the wireless communication module to transmit the pet elimination signal to an irrigation system controller.

2. The pet monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the pet elimination module includes:

an accelerometer;

a timer to increment an idleness counter if the accelerometer indicates that the collar is stationary; and

a radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader to identify one or more nearby sprinkler heads if the idleness counter reaches a predetermined threshold.

3. The pet monitoring system of claim 2, wherein the timer is to increment the idleness counter if a predetermined monitoring period has not expired.

4. The pet monitoring system of claim 3, wherein the timer is to start the predetermined monitoring period in response to an initiation trigger signal.

5. The pet monitoring system of claim 4, wherein the initiation trigger signal is to be received from the irrigation system controller.

6. The pet monitoring system of claim 4, wherein the initiation trigger signal is to be received from a stand-alone triggering device.

7. The pet monitoring system of claim 4, wherein the initiation trigger signal is to correspond to a pet entering a lawn serviced by the irrigation system.

8. The pet monitoring system of claim 2, wherein the pet elimination module is to generate the pet elimination signal based on the identified nearby sprinkler heads.

9. A machine readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, if executed, cause an irrigation controller to:

receive a pet elimination signal from a pet monitoring system; and

modify a setting of a water distribution system based on the pet elimination signal.

10. The machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions stored thereon, if executed, cause the irrigation controller to:

select a zone from a plurality of zones serviced by the water distribution system based on the pet elimination signal; and

increase an amount of water delivered to the selected zone.

11. The machine readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions stored thereon, if executed, cause the irrigation controller to:

extract a sprinkler head identifier from the pet elimination signal; and

match the sprinkler head identifier to the selected zone.

12. The machine readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions stored thereon, if executed, cause the irrigation controller to increase an activation time of a valve corresponding to the selected zone.

13. The machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the pet elimination signal is to be received from a pet-mounted device.

14. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions stored thereon, if executed, cause the irrigation controller to transmit a trigger signal to the pet-mounted device, wherein the trigger signal instructs the pet-mounted device to monitor the pet for the pet'"'"'s movement.

15. The machine readable medium of claim 9, wherein the pet elimination signal is to be received from a perimeter motion detection system.

16. The machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions stored thereon, if executed, cause the irrigation controller to transmit a trigger signal to the perimeter motion detection system, wherein the trigger signal instructs the perimeter motion detection system to monitor the pet for the pet'"'"'s movement.

17. A sprinkler head comprising:

a housing;

an actuation assembly to control a transfer of water through the housing; and

a radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag coupled to the housing to uniquely identify the sprinkler head.

18. The sprinkler head of claim 17, wherein the RFID tag is to uniquely identify the sprinkler head to a pet management system in accordance with a pet elimination event.

19. The sprinkler head of claim 18, wherein the pet elimination event is a urination event.

20. The sprinkler head of claim 17, wherein the actuation assembly includes a pop-up actuator.

21. The sprinkler head of claim 17, wherein the actuation assembly includes an architecture selected from a group consisting of bubbler, spray and rotary head architectures.

22. An irrigation system comprising:

a water distribution system;

a controller; and

a pet monitoring system, the controller to modify an irrigation setting of the water distribution system based on a pet elimination signal from the pet monitoring system.

23. The irrigation system of claim 22, wherein the pet elimination signal corresponds to a pet urination event in a zone serviced by the water distribution system, the controller to use the pet elimination signal to select the zone from a plurality of zones and increase an amount of water delivered to the selected zone.

24. The irrigation system of claim 23, wherein the water distribution system includes:

a plurality of valves corresponding to the plurality of zones;

a plurality sprinkler heads; and

a conduit network coupled to the plurality of valves and the plurality of sprinkler heads, the controller to increase an activation time of a valve corresponding to the selected zone.

25. The irrigation system of claim 24, wherein each of the plurality of sprinkler heads includes a radio frequency identifier (RFID) to identify a corresponding sprinkler head to the pet monitoring system.

26. The irrigation system of claim 22, wherein the pet elimination signal corresponds to a pet urination event near a sprinkler head, the controller to use the pet elimination signal to select the sprinkler head and increase an amount of water delivered to the selected sprinkler head.

27. The irrigation system of claim 26, wherein the water distribution system includes a plurality of sprinkler heads and the controller includes a plurality of valves corresponding to the plurality of sprinkler heads, the controller to increase an activation time of a valve corresponding to the selected sprinkler head.