Automatically adjusting irrigation controller with temperature and rainfall sensor
First Claim
1. An irrigation control unit comprising:
- at least one input adapted to be coupled to and receive signals from a rainfall sensor and a temperature sensor, the signals corresponding to current values of an amount of rainfall and temperature;
a memory storing historical values of a plurality of variables; and
a processor coupled to the at least one input and the memory, the processor adapted to determine plant water requirements at least in part by determining an evapotranspiration (ET) value based at least in part on the historical values of the plurality of variables and the current value of the temperature and making an adjustment according to the current value of the amount of rainfall.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and devices are provided to automatically determine plant water requirements and adjust irrigation in order to make efficient use of water. In one implementation, an irrigation control unit comprises at least one input adapted to be coupled to and receive signals from a rainfall sensor and a temperature sensor, the signals corresponding to current values of an amount of rainfall and temperature. The unit also includes a memory storing historical values of a plurality of variables and a processor coupled to the at least one input and the memory. The processor is adapted to determine plant water requirements at least in part using the historical values of the plurality of variables and the current values of the temperature and the amount of rainfall.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An irrigation control unit comprising:
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at least one input adapted to be coupled to and receive signals from a rainfall sensor and a temperature sensor, the signals corresponding to current values of an amount of rainfall and temperature; a memory storing historical values of a plurality of variables; and a processor coupled to the at least one input and the memory, the processor adapted to determine plant water requirements at least in part by determining an evapotranspiration (ET) value based at least in part on the historical values of the plurality of variables and the current value of the temperature and making an adjustment according to the current value of the amount of rainfall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for use in irrigation control comprising:
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receiving current values of an amount of rainfall and a temperature from a rainfall sensor and a temperature sensor, the current values corresponding to a geographic location; receiving stored historical values of a plurality of variables from a memory, the stored historical values corresponding to the geographic region; determining an evapotranspiration (ET) value based on the historical values of the plurality of variables and the current value of the temperature; and determining plant water requirements based at least in part on the ET value and the current value for the amount of rainfall. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification