METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IRRIGATION AND CLIMATE CONTROL

• US 20130162390A1
• Filed: 06/25/2012
• Published: 06/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rain Bird Corporation
• Original Assignee: ClimateMinder, Inc. (Rain Bird Corporation)
• Inventors: Ersavas, Bulut Fethi, Ersavas, Pelin, Pekol, Semih
• Granted Patent: US 9,829,869 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/3.1
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/16 Control of watering
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2625 Sprinkler, irrigation, watering

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for monitoring and controlling irrigation and climate conditions in landscapes (such as, e.g., municipal parks, gardens, and sports fields) and agricultural environments (such as, e.g., open agricultural fields, greenhouses, and other sites growing crops).

Claims

1. A remote monitoring and control system for landscape or agricultural environments, each of the landscape or agricultural environments having a sensor network comprising a plurality of sensor nodes for monitoring environmental, soil, or climate conditions and controlling irrigation or climate control systems, the remote monitoring and control system comprising:

a server computer system located remotely from the landscape or agricultural environments, said server computer system coupled to the sensor network in each landscape or agricultural environment over a communications network for receiving data from and controlling operation of the sensor nodes in the sensor network, said server computer system also coupled to client devices operated by end-users over a communications network for transmitting data to and receiving remote control commands or queries from the end-users for respective sensor networks;

wherein said server computer system provides a configurable user interface to the end-users, said user interface comprising a dashboard having a plurality of separate windows that can be customized by each end-user to display selected data from the server computer system, said windows being movable by end-users to different positions on the dashboard, wherein settings for dashboards configured by end-users are stored by the server computer system and used in subsequent log-ins by the end-users.

2. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the windows in a dashboard can be configured to separately display information on current site status, crop health, events, alerts, pump status, farm management, soil nutrient status, irrigation status or activity, notes, maps, or sensor status.

3. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 2, wherein the information on current site status includes information on whether forecast, temperature, humidity, dew points, evapotranspiration, or degree days.

4. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 2, wherein the crop health information includes pest and disease information including risk levels, based on the real time measurements collected by sensor nodes and analytical models run by the server computer system, and wherein crop, disease, or pest kinds can be added through a graphical user interface by a system administrator.

5. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 4, wherein the pest and disease information is displayed graphically and is color-coded to indicate risk level or in a table format as specified by an end user.

6. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the server computer system communicates with different types of client devices including personal computers and mobile devices, and wherein the server computer system is configured to adapt the dashboard configured by an end-user to the type of client device used by the and-user.

7. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 6, wherein the dashboard displayed on a mobile device is adapted such that the windows on the dashboard are rearranged in a column format to avoid the need for horizontal scrolling by the end-user and the menu formatted to fit the screen for easy browsing and clicking on links on the mobile device.

8. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein software can be configured by end-users to automatically generate and distribute reports based on data from sensor networks on a periodic basis.

9. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 8, wherein end-users can create multiple reports with different titles and content that can be distributed to different users with different schedules.

10. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the server computer system communicates with each sensor network and end-user through the Internet or a cellular network.

11. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the irrigation or climate systems to be controlled are defined as control elements, and wherein manual control commands and control conditions are entered through the dashboard.

12. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 11, wherein control conditions are tied into the control elements and either a time or sensor threshold constraint is defined within each condition using the dashboard or pages accessible through the dashboard.

13. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 11, wherein a manual control command history is stored by the server computer system indicating who turned a control element such as pump or valve on or off, when, for how long and if the operation was successful, said manual control command history can be viewed by an end-user through the dashboard.

14. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein end-users are assigned roles and are only authorized to access certain sites or features.

15. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein irrigation alerts can be defined based on pressure switch or flow meter activity given a time schedule or control condition set by an end-user.

16. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein control elements are tied into monitoring elements including pressure switches or flow meters in an irrigation application, and wherein the monitoring elements are used by the system to verify expected irrigation activity or send alerts for unexpected irrigation activity.

17. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein end-users can configure and store custom growing degree day calculators with different thresholds, time spans, and temperature sensors so that they track multiple degree day activity at the same time.

18. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein end-users can enter notes in the dashboard or in pages accessible through the dashboard using a built-in notepad and attach files to them, wherein said notes can be listed, sorted, and searched through notepad pages and displayed on the dashboard in automated reports, wherein notes stored using mobile devices also store their location'"'"'s GPS coordinates with the note.

19. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the dashboard includes chart windows containing charts defined by end-users and saved by the system, wherein said charts can be placed in the automated reports, and wherein when the charts are shown on a mobile device, the size of the chart matches the screen resolution of the mobile device.

20. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the dashboard displays irrigation status information including current soil moisture status, water bank fullness in percentage, estimated next irrigation, flow meter, pressure switch and/or valve status, and recommendations to the user regarding when and how much water should be applied for each irrigation zone.