SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN IMPROVED SPRINKLER CONTROL SYSTEM

• US 20170147011A1
• Filed: 02/03/2017
• Published: 05/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rachio, Inc
• Original Assignee: Rachio, Inc
• Inventors: Klein, Christopher Michael, Garsombke, Franz David, Reisman, Matthew B.
• Granted Patent: US 10,274,969 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/162 Sequential operation
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/165 Cyclic operations, timing systems, timing valves, impulse operations
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23435 Select a program per zone to be controlled
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2625 Sprinkler, irrigation, watering
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 7/0629 characterised by the type of regulator means

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments can provide a system and method for controlling irrigation schedules for a sprinkler system including automatically updating irrigation schedules based on qualitative and quantitative feedback and meteorological data as well as matching optimal or near-optimal irrigation schedules to other sprinkler zones based on characteristics of the landscape and sprinkler system as well as other characteristics.

Claims

1. A method of setting an irrigation schedule comprising:

receiving, by a processor, a request to set an irrigation schedule for a first sprinkler controller, the request comprising landscape characteristics of a first sprinkler zone associated with the first sprinkler controller;

generating, by the processor, an irrigation schedule for the first sprinkler zone based, at least in part, on the landscape characteristics; and

transmitting, by the processor, the irrigation schedule for the first sprinkler zone to the first sprinkler controller.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the landscape characteristics comprise soil type, vegetation type, turf type, terrain slope, terrain shade, or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the landscape characteristics further comprise geolocation data for the first sprinkler zone.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, second landscape characteristics and qualitative information for a second sprinkler zone associated with a second sprinkler controller;

comparing, by the processor, the landscape characteristics with the second landscape characteristics to determine one or more matching landscape characteristics;

modifying, by the processor, one or more of the landscape characteristics based, at least in part, on the second landscape characteristics and the qualitative information for the second sprinkler zone;

generating, by the processor, a second irrigation schedule for the first sprinkler controller based, at least in part, on the modified landscape characteristics; and

transmitting, by the processor, the second irrigation schedule to the first sprinkler controller.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the qualitative information is indicative of landscape health in the second sprinkler zone.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving qualitative information for the first sprinkler zone;

comparing the qualitative information for the first sprinkler zone with the qualitative information for the second sprinkler zone; and

determining, by the processor, that the qualitative information for the second sprinkler zone indicates that the second sprinkler zone has better landscape health than the first sprinkler zone.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the qualitative information comprises a text description, a numerical value, or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the qualitative information comprises a plurality of states selected from the group consisting of severely under-watered, under-watered, slightly under-watered, healthy, slightly over-watered, over-watered, and severely over-watered.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the irrigation schedule for the first sprinkler zone comprises one or more calendar data entities for storing irrigation cycle information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the irrigation cycle information comprises information indicative of whether an irrigation event is scheduled for a given date, a start time for the irrigation event, and a duration of the irrigation event.

11. A sprinkler system comprising:

a plurality of sprinkler valves configured to control water flow to a plurality of irrigation zones;

a central controller configured to generate an irrigation schedule based on one or more landscape characteristics of the plurality of irrigation zones; and

a sprinkler controller configured to control the plurality of sprinkler vales based, at least in part, on the irrigation schedule.

12. The sprinkler system of claim 11, further comprising:

a plurality of sensors configured to capture meteorological information for the plurality of irrigation zones and to transmit the meteorological information to the central controller.

13. The sprinkler system of claim 12, wherein the central controller is further configured to generate the irrigation schedule based, at least in part, on the meteorological information.

14. The sprinkler system of claim 11, wherein the central controller is configured to receive the one or more landscape characteristics from one or more consumer devices.

15. The sprinkler system of claim 11, wherein the irrigation schedule comprises one or more calendar data entities for storing irrigation cycle information.

16. The sprinkler system of claim 15, wherein the irrigation cycle information comprises information indicative of whether an irrigation event is scheduled for a given date, a start time for the irrigation event, and a duration of the irrigation event.

17. A central controller for generating irrigation schedules for a first sprinkler controller, the central controller comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive landscape characteristics of a first sprinkler zone associated with the first sprinkler controller;

generate an irrigation schedule for the first sprinkler controller based, at least in part, on the landscape characteristics; and

transmit the irrigation schedule to the sprinkler first controller.

18. The central controller of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive landscape characteristics of a second sprinkler zone associated with a second sprinkler controller;

compare the landscape characteristics of the first sprinkler zone with the landscape characteristics of the second sprinkler zone to determine one or more matching characteristics;

modify one or more landscape characteristics of the first sprinkler zone based, at least in part, on the matching characteristics;

generate a second irrigation schedule based, at least in part, on the modified landscape characteristics; and

transmit the second irrigation schedule to the first sprinkler controller.

19. The central controller of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive first qualitative information indicative of landscape health of the first sprinkler zone;

receive second qualitative information indicative of landscape health of the second sprinkler zone; and

compare the first qualitative information with the second qualitative information, wherein the processor is configured to generate the second irrigation schedule responsive to determining that the second qualitative information indicates that the landscape health of the second sprinkler zone is better than the landscape health of the first sprinkler zone.

20. The central controller of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive meteorological data from one or more sensors in the first sprinkler zone; and

generate the irrigation schedule for the first sprinkler controller based, at least in part, on the meteorological data.