System for intelligent delegation of irrigation control

• US 8,326,440 B2
• Filed: 02/23/2009
• Issued: 12/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ranch Systems LLC
• Original Assignee: Ranch Systems LLC
• Inventors: Christfort, Jacob Christen
• Primary Examiner(s): Gami, Tejal
• Application Number:
  US12/391,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20090216345A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,380 Days
• Field of Search: 700/79, 700/284, 700/21, 455/39
• US Class Current: 700/21
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0428 Safety, monitoring G05B19/0423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24199 Recover from fault, malfunction, go to safe state, correct and set new sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2625 Sprinkler, irrigation, watering

Abstract

A node of a fault-tolerant system relies upon a primary communication mechanism, when possible, for primary connection to a central server. The node monitors its primary connection to the server. While the primary connection is active, the node operates in a supervised mode, in that it generally does not perform a certain subset of tasks without having received real-time commands from the server to perform those tasks. However, when the node detects that it is no longer connected to the server, the node transitions into a fail-over mode. The node operates in the fail-over mode until the node detects that primary connection is re-established. While in fail-over mode, the node may execute a stored set of fail-over instructions that were provided by the server. The node may also attempt to establish a backup connection to the server via a second and different type of communication mechanism.

Claims

1. A method for remote management of an irrigation controller, the method comprising the steps of:

the irrigation controller establishing a first communication link to one or more servers via a first communication mechanism;

while the first communication link is established, the irrigation controller operating in a first mode and receiving, from the one or more servers, updates to a delegated program for operating the irrigation controller while in a second mode;

wherein the delegated program comprises a set of condition-based instructions that is updated by the one or more servers based at least in part upon environmental data available to the one or more servers;

while the irrigation controller operates in the first mode, performing the steps of;

the irrigation controller receiving a first command from one of said one or more servers via the first communication link;

in response to receiving the first command, the irrigation controller executing the first command;

in response to detecting a failure of the first communication link, the irrigation controller transitioning to the second mode;

while the irrigation controller operates in the second mode, the irrigation controller executing the delegated program until the irrigation controller re-establishes the first communication link;

wherein executing the delegated program while operating in the second mode causes;

accessing sensor data that is available to the irrigation controller while in the second mode, but unavailable to the one or more servers, wherein the sensor data is more recent than the environmental data upon which the set of condition-based instructions in the delegated program was last updated prior to transitioning to the second mode;

identifying actions to perform based upon applying the sensor data to the set of condition-based instructions in the delegated program, as last updated by the one or more servers prior to transitioning to the second mode;

causing performance of the identified actions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

causing performance of the identified actions comprises performing one or more actions for controlling irrigation; and

the condition-based instructions include one or more instructions for controlling irrigation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, while operating in said second mode, the irrigation controller establishes a second communication link, the method further comprising, while operating in said second mode:

the irrigation controller receiving a new update to the delegated program from one of said one or more servers via the second communication link.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, during the failure, the irrigation controller performing the steps of:

(1) establishing a second communication link;

(2) receiving data from one of the one or more servers over said second communication link;

(3) terminating said second communication link;

(4) determining whether the first communication link has been re-established; and

(5) repeating steps (1)-(4) in response to determining that the first communication link has not yet been re-established.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second communication link is less energy efficient or more costly to maintain than the first communication link.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the environmental data used to generate the condition-based instructions includes at least forecast data for an area in which the irrigation controller is deployed.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data is collected from one or more sensors attached to said irrigation controller.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the irrigation controller causing said failure by turning off said first communication mechanism to conserve power.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the sensor data comprises requesting via, a wireless mesh network, at least some of the sensor data from one or more nodes that also are not in contact with the one or more servers.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the environmental data upon which the condition-based instructions are generated includes historical trend data.

30. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the one or more servers periodically;

accessing updated forecast data for an area in which the irrigation controller is located, generating the updates to the delegated programs based on at least the updated forecast data and historical trends for the area, and sending the updates to the irrigation controller.

9. A irrigation controller comprising:

a control unit for performing actions;

a primary communication mechanism for establishing a primary connection to one or more servers and for receiving data via said primary connection, said data including commands to execute in a first mode and updates to a delegated program for operating the irrigation controller while in a second mode;

wherein the delegated program comprises a set of condition-based instructions that is updated by the one or more servers based at least in part upon environmental data available to the one or more servers;

logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for causing said irrigation controller to operate in the first mode while said primary connection is established;

logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for, while operating in the first mode, causing the control unit to perform actions in response to receiving said commands via said primary connection;

logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for detecting a failure in said primary connection;

logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for transitioning the irrigation controller to the second mode upon detecting the failure;

logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for, while operating in said second mode, executing the delegated program until the irrigation controller re-establishes the primary connection;

wherein executing the delegated program while operating in the second mode causes;

accessing sensor data that is available to the irrigation controller while in the second mode, but unavailable to the one or more server, wherein the sensor data is more recent than the environmental data upon which the set of condition-based instructions in the delegated program was last updated prior to transitioning to the second mode;

identifying actions to perform based upon applying the sensor data to the set of condition-based instructions in the delegated program, as last updated by the one or more servers prior to transitioning to the second mode;

causing performance of the identified actions.

10. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein:

the identified actions are actions for controlling irrigation; and

the condition-based instructions include one or more instructions for controlling irrigation.

11. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising:

a backup communication mechanism;

logic, operatively coupled to said backup communication mechanism, for receiving a new update to the delegated program via said backup connection while operating in said second mode.

12. The irrigation controller of claim 11, further comprising:

a backup communication mechanism for establishing a backup connection; and

logic, operatively coupled to said backup communication mechanism, for, while operating in said second mode, performing the steps of;

(1) establishing said backup connection;

(2) receiving data from one of the one or more servers over said backup connection;

(3) terminating said backup connection;

(4) determining whether the primary connection has been re-established; and

(5) repeating steps (1)-(4) in response to determining that the primary connection has not yet been re-established.

13. The irrigation controller of claim 12, wherein the backup connection is less energy efficient or more costly to maintain than the primary connection.

14. The irrigation controller of claim 12, wherein the primary communication mechanism is an interface for a wireless mesh network and the backup communication mechanism is one of an interface for a cellular network, satellite network, or wired telephone network.

15. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein the irrigation controller is coupled to a backup communication mechanism, the irrigation controller further comprising:

logic, operatively coupled to the primary communication mechanism, for determining a plurality of paths over at least two different types of networks for establishing connections to the one or more servers;

wherein the backup communication mechanism is a component of a device other than the irrigation controller;

wherein said device is connected to the irrigation controller via said primary communication mechanism; and

wherein the a backup connection is routed via the backup communication mechanism through a different type of network than the primary connection.

16. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising:

a storage mechanism for storing the delegated program;

logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for identifying in the data received via the primary connection a first set of instructions for storage in said storage mechanism; and

logic, operatively coupled to said storage mechanism, for causing said first set of instructions to be stored in said storage mechanism as the delegated program in response to said identifying.

17. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein:

the environmental data used to generate the condition-based instructions includes at least forecast data for an area in which the irrigation controller is deployed.

18. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein the delegated program is compiled byte-code.

19. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising:

a storage mechanism for storing said one or more stored sets of instructions;

a backup communication mechanism;

logic, operatively coupled to said backup communication mechanism, for, while operating in said second mode, identifying in data received via the backup communication mechanism a new update to the delegated program for storage in said storage mechanism;

logic, operatively coupled to said storage mechanism, for, while operating in said second mode, causing the new update to be stored in said storage mechanism in response to said identifying.

20. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising:

one or more sensor mechanisms for collecting the sensor data.

21. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising:

one or more sensor mechanisms for collecting sensor data;

logic, operatively coupled to said primary communication mechanism, for, while operating in the second mode, sending said sensor data via the primary communication mechanism or a backup communication mechanism to another irrigation controller or a gateway.

22. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising at least one of:

a signal generating mechanism for generating audible or visible alerts indicating said failure;

logic for sending a command to another irrigation controller to generate an audible or visible alert indicating said failure.

23. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein the control unit controls an irrigation valve.

24. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising:

a battery for powering said irrigation controller;

a power generating mechanism coupled to said battery for charging said battery;

logic for, in response to determining that the charge level of the battery has dropped below a certain level, causing the first communication mechanism to turn off, thereby causing said failure, until the charge level of the battery has risen above another certain level.

25. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein the one or more servers comprise a master server and a backup server.

27. The irrigation controller of claim 9, further comprising logic for, while operating in the second mode, receiving at least some of the sensor data via the primary communication mechanism or a backup communication mechanism.

29. The irrigation controller of claim 9, wherein the environmental data upon which the condition-based instructions are generated includes historical trend data.