System and method for managing water or other type of fluid

• US 10,698,374 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2015
• Issued: 06/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ingenieria Wiseconn SPA
• Original Assignee: Ingiieria Wiseconn SA
• Inventors: Rivas Sabelle, Cristobal Alberto, Ulloa Suarez, Jose Francisco, Weinstein Crenovich, Max Mauricio
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tang, Michael
• Application Number:
  US15/572,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20190041816A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,881 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/167 Control by humidity of the soil itself or of devices simulating soil or of the atmosphere; Soil humidity sensors
• CPC Class Codes: E03B 1/00 Methods or layout of installations for water supply E03B3/00, E03B9/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E03B 1/02 for public or like main supply for industrial use
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2625 Sprinkler, irrigation, watering

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for managing water or other fluid that provides monitoring and reliable control of the use of water or other fluid in a given territorial area, facilitating the management of water use or other fluid in processes where it is involved, for example in tasks of irrigating agricultural land or in industrial processes using fluids such as leaching. The system and method of the invention operates on the basis of a distributed monitoring and control logic implemented to control and monitor a hydraulic system located in the given territorial area by an arrangement of sensors, actuators and controllers deployed in communication with a network of nodes that allows a user to monitor, control and automate the use of water in that territorial area, reducing to almost zero user intervention in the process of monitoring and control to almost zero.

Claims

1. A method for the management of water or other fluid, which provides reliable monitoring and control of the use of water or other fluid in a territorial area divided into sectors, wherein said method is implemented in a system for the management of water or other fluid comprising:

a hydraulic network located in the territorial area, comprising a set of hydraulic components hydraulically interconnected and located in the sectors of that territorial area, wherein each hydraulic component is associated with the area where it is located, and wherein each hydraulic component of the hydraulic network is defined by operating parameters and operating variables, and

a network of nodes located in the territorial area, comprising a set of nodes interconnected to each other and localized in the sectors of that territorial area, wherein at least one first node of the nodes network is in communication with at least one sensor, at least one actuator and at least one controller in such a way that;

said at least one sensor measures the operating variables and/or operating parameters of hydraulic components associated with said first node, obtaining operational information of said hydraulic components and/or of their environment,

said at least one actuator comprises actuating device for setting operating parameters and/or operating variables of said hydraulic components associated with said first node, driving said hydraulic components,

said at least one controller is in communication with the at least one sensor and the at least one actuator, comprising at least one transmitter/receiver to send/receive information to/from the nodes network and at least one processor to define a state condition of said hydraulic components,

wherein the method comprises;

defining, by the processor of at least one controller in communication with said first node, a state condition of at least one first hydraulic component of the hydraulic network associated with said first node, identifying the operation information of the first hydraulic component based on at least one sensor, actuator and/or controller associated with said first hydraulic component, wherein said operation information includes operating variables and/or operating parameters of the first hydraulic component;

communicating, via the transmitter/receiver of the at least one controller in communication with said first node, said state condition from the first node to the nodes network;

identifying at least one second hydraulic component of the hydraulic network associated with the first node or a second node, wherein the acting of driving said second hydraulic component, through the actuating device of at least one actuator associated with said second hydraulic component, allows to convert the state condition of the first hydraulic component into a preset state condition for said first hydraulic component;

processing the state condition of the first hydraulic component in the first or second node associated with the second hydraulic component identified in the previous stage, particularly by at least one controller associated with said second hydraulic component;

setting a response to said state condition by said at least one controller associated with the second hydraulic component;

driving the second hydraulic component by the actuating device of the at least one actuator associated with said second hydraulic component, so that its operating variables and/or operating parameters of said second hydraulic component allow converting the state condition of the first hydraulic component into a preset state condition for said first hydraulic component, employing hydraulic communication between hydraulic components;

defining, for a given set of sectors, control parameters of the hydraulic network located in said particular set of sectors, which are communicated to the nodes of the nodes network belonging to said set of sectors and, consequently, to a set of hydraulic components associated with said nodes, which are driven by the actuating device according to said control parameters; and

defining for each hydraulic component, node and/or sector, monitoring parameters associated with the functioning and operation of the system, which are communicated through the nodes network to a user;

wherein the hydraulic communication between the hydraulic components is performed through a hydraulic interface for each hydraulic component which is associated with the hydraulic component directly connected upstream, wherein said communication interface defines the interaction relation between hydraulic components, setting a hydraulic dependent relationship between each hydraulic component and the hydraulic component directly located upstream, wherein said dependence relates a water supplying component to a receiving component that receives water from said supplier;

wherein by the hydraulic communication interface the relationship that defines the communication of the operation information of each hydraulic component is set, wherein said operation information can be classified into inputting operation information and outputting operation information, wherein the operation information of a first hydraulic component located downstream with respect to at least one second hydraulic component is called outputting operation information and it is used as inputting information in said at least one second hydraulic component; and

wherein the step of identifying at least one second hydraulic component of the hydraulic network comprises going through the hydraulic network upstream the first hydraulic component using the hydraulic communication interface of each hydraulic component and driving one or more second hydraulic components upstream the first hydraulic component to respond to the state condition of said first hydraulic component located downstream and/or to provide information, wherein said hydraulic communication interface associates the outputting operation information of the first hydraulic component with the inputting operation information of the second hydraulic component connected directly upstream.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control and monitoring parameters of the hydraulic network for each sector of the territorial area are defined by a user.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein it also includes the delivery of sending alarms and/or warnings communicated to at least one user of the system, wherein the alarms are associated with the operation of the hydraulic network and its hydraulic components, communicating abnormal operating conditions and activating preset actions to correct these abnormal conditions, and wherein warnings are associated with the monitoring of the environment, such as climate and/or soil, communicating conditions of the environment preset as outside the normal parameters,

wherein the communication of alarms and warnings to the at least one user of the system is performed by warning equipment deployed in the territorial area, messages sent to at least one server, text messages sent to the user and/or emails,

wherein each alarm and/or warning is associated with at least one sensor, which measurement gave rise to the alarm and/or warning and, therefore, with at least one sector associated with said sensor, wherein the system for the management of water or other fluid allows defining operating parameters of alarms and warnings, as well as the activation conditions thereof, the times that will be used activating and actuating in view of a particular condition and/or the type of warning to be communicated in the activation of the alarm and/or warning, and

wherein at least one system user is enabled to accept, reject or ignore alarms and warnings received.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein it also comprises coordinating the information and communications in at least one gateway node in charge of the communication of the nodes network and acts as a bridge between said nodes network and at least one server, along with collecting and storing the values of sensors, actuators and/or controllers, sending such information to said at least one server, and wherein said communication in the nodes network may be wired and/or wireless.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the set of hydraulic components of the hydraulic network comprises at least one water source, at least one tank, at least one pump, at least one valve and/or at least one injector.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one controller generates response messages from the at least one hydraulic component in view of the operation of the system, communicating such messages to the nodes network via the at least one transmitter/receiver, wherein said messages can communicate each other between hydraulic components upstream and/or downstream.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the outputting operation information of the first hydraulic component is processed by the at least one controller associated with the second hydraulic component for driving said second hydraulic component, giving response to the state condition of said first hydraulic component and/or to deliver information.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the operation information of the first hydraulic component, with its hydraulic dependence being defined through the hydraulic communication interface, is related to the inputting operation information from the at least second hydraulic component, modifying its operating parameters and/or state condition.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the state condition of a hydraulic component is defined based on information concerning the operating variables and/or operating parameters of said hydraulic component.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the system for the management of water or other fluid includes at least one sensor associated with the environment such as climate and/or soil, located in at least one sector of the territorial area, wherein said sensor associated with the environment is also associated to the sector wherein it is located and it is in communication with at least one node of the nodes network.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the state condition is communicated and processed by all network nodes that have dependence or relationship, generating a response in one or more hydraulic components of the hydraulic network.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the response from the at least one second hydraulic component to the state condition of the at least one first hydraulic component turns said state condition into a preset state condition for said first hydraulic component, wherein the preset state condition of each hydraulic component is determined by a user or by the system automatically.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the preset state condition refers to one of the following conditions:

operational or active—

the hydraulic component is operating within the operating parameters as established;

off or inactive—

the hydraulic component is inactive;

failure—

the hydraulic component is in a wrong state;

forced stop—

the hydraulic communication with the upstream component is interrupted or lost, i.e. there is no delivery of water or other fluid by said component;

manual—

the hydraulic component is in manual mode; and

automatic—

the hydraulic component is in automatic mode,

wherein each preset state condition may comprise sub-states.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein it also comprises classifying the sectors into irrigation sectors, soil sectors and/or weather sectors, with each sector of the territorial area being classified according to one or a combination of said classifications, wherein:

the irrigation sector is that where at least one hydraulic component is located, comprising a set of control and monitoring parameters associated with the irrigation of said sector;

the soil sector is that where at least one sensor associated with the soil is located, comprising a set of control and monitoring parameters associated with the soil analysis; and

the climate sector is that where at least one sensor associated with the weather is associated, comprising a set of control and monitoring parameters associated with the climate analysis of the environment.

15. A system for the management of water or other fluid providing reliable monitoring and control of water use or other fluid in a territorial area divided into sectors, implementing the method according to claim 1, wherein said system comprises:

a hydraulic network located in the territorial area, comprising a set of hydraulic components hydraulically interconnected and located in the sectors of that territorial area, wherein each hydraulic component is associated with the area where it is located, wherein each hydraulic component of the hydraulic network is defined by operating parameters and operating variables, and

a network of nodes located in the territorial area, comprising a set of nodes interconnected each other and localized in the sectors of that territorial area,

wherein;

at least one first node of the nodes network is in communication with at least one sensor, at least one actuator and at least one controller in such a way that

said at least one sensor measures the operating variables and/or operating parameters of hydraulic components associated with said first node, obtaining operational information of said first hydraulic components and/or of their environment,

said at least one actuator comprises actuating device for setting operating parameters and/or operating variables of said hydraulic components associated with said first node, driving said hydraulic components;

said at least one controller is in communication with the at least one sensor and the at least one actuator, comprising at least one transmitter/receiver to send/receive information to/from the nodes network and at least one processor to define a state condition hydraulic components.