SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED, RANGE-BASED IRRIGATION

• US 20120036091A1
• Filed: 03/04/2010
• Published: 02/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kenneth W. Cook
• Original Assignee: Kenneth W. Cook
• Inventors: Cook, Kenneth W.
• Application Number:
  US12/717,621
• Publication Number:
  US 20120036091A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/412
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/16 Control of watering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/04 Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

A centralized irrigation system provides non-decision-making controllers in combination with a client server architecture that employs irrigation algorithms for monitoring and control. Live feedback means send information back to a server for use with sophisticated modeling capabilities to monitor exceptions to a planned control scheme, adjust control parameters, and provide a real-time update to system performance. This feedback is instantaneously routed from the server to monitoring and feedback client software connected to the server through a network and enables volume-based cycles and soaks of irrigation. Range-based control strategies determine a total volumetric water-holding capacity for a volume of soil and a range of desirable soil moisture. The system permits a shared-savings business model where the vendor provides a system and the customer only pays the vendor a portion of the savings obtained by using the system. It further permits rapidly deploying improved control systems to save water for a community.

Claims

1-17. -17. (canceled)

18. A computer-based shared savings business method for a vendor to provide an irrigation water management system to a customer, the method comprising

determining the historical irrigation water use for the customer;

the vendor installing, at the vendor'"'"'s expense, an irrigation water management system for the customer, the water management system including computer-based tracking of customer irrigation water usage;

using the irrigation water management system for a time period;

determining, from the computer-based tracking, the actual irrigation water usage at the entity for the time period;

calculating the cost savings of irrigation water between the actual usage and the historical usage; and

the vendor charging the customer for at least a portion of the cost savings.

19-27. -27. (canceled)