Methods and systems for irrigation and climate control

• US 9,703,275 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rain Bird Corporation
• Original Assignee: Rain Bird Corporation
• Inventors: Ersavas, Pelin, Ersavas, Bulut, Devol, Thomas, Pekol, Semih
• Primary Examiner(s): Huang, Miranda
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sivanesan, Sivalingam
• Application Number:
  US13/844,304
• Publication Number:
  US 20130207771A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,579 Days
• Field of Search: 700275, 340 31
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/16 Control of watering
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23109 Configuration of display device, operator panel
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25167 Receive commands through mobile telephone
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/25168 Domotique, access through internet protocols
• 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 at least one device configured to monitor environmental, soil, or climate conditions and/or configured to control irrigation or climate, 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 at least one device in each landscape or agricultural environment over a communications network for receiving data from and controlling operation of the at least one device, 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 devices;

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 user selected data from the server computer system, 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, wherein the user selected data displayed to the end-user corresponds to at least one site for which the user is authorized to access data such that the data from the at least one site is displayed together to the end-user,

wherein the server computer system communicates with different types of client devices including personal computers and mobile devices, 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 end-users;

wherein the plurality of separate windows in the dashboard can be configured to separately display information for the at least one site on current site status, crop health, events, alerts, pump status, farm management, soil nutrient status, irrigation status or activity, notes, maps, or sensor status, and

wherein one or more windows of the plurality of separate windows in the dashboard displaying the crop health information includes pest and disease information for the at least one site including risk levels.

2. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the user selected data displayed to the end-user corresponds to the at least one site for which the user is authorized to access the data such that the data from the at least one site is displayed together to the end-user without requiring the end-user to switch between sites or log out of one site to access another site.

3. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein said windows are movable by end-users to different positions on the dashboard, and the dashboard provided by the server computer system is configured to provide options that allow a user to manually enter manual control commands and control conditions for the at least one site to control the at least one device configured to control irrigation or climate.

4. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 2, wherein the information on current site status for the at least one site includes information on weather forecast, temperature, humidity, dew points, evapotranspiration, or degree days.

5. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the pest and disease information for the at least one site 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 dashboard displayed on a mobile device is adapted by the server computer system based on the client device being a mobile device 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.

7. 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 at least one device of at least one site on a periodic basis.

8. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 7, wherein end-users can create multiple reports with different titles and content that can be distributed to different users with different schedules.

9. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the server computer system communicates with the at least one device and end-user through the Internet or a cellular network.

10. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1,

wherein the irrigation or climate systems to be controlled are defined as control devices, and wherein manual control commands and control conditions for the at least one site are entered through the dashboard.

11. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 10, wherein control conditions are tied into the control devices and either a time or sensor threshold constraint is defined within each condition using the dashboard or pages accessible through the dashboard.

12. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 10, 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.

13. 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.

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

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

16. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the dashboard includes chart windows containing charts for the at least one site 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.

17. The remote monitoring and control system of claim 1, wherein the dashboard displays irrigation status information for the at least one site 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.

18. A remote monitoring and control system for landscape or agricultural environments, each of the landscape or agricultural environments having at least one device configured to at least:

monitor environmental, soil, or climate conditions or control irrigation or climate, 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 at least one device in each landscape or agricultural environment over a communications network for receiving data from and controlling operation of the at least one device, 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 devices,

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 user selected data from the server computer system, wherein settings for dashboards configured by the end-users are stored by the server computer system and used in subsequent log-ins by the end-users, wherein the user selected data displayed to the end-user corresponds to at least one site for which the user is authorized to access data such that the data from the at least one site is displayed together to the end-user,

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 end-user, and

wherein the end-users can configure and store degree day calculations with different thresholds, time spans, and temperature sensors.

19. A remote monitoring and control system for landscape or agricultural environments, each of the landscape or agricultural environments having at least one device configured to at least:

monitor environmental, soil, or climate conditions or control irrigation or climate, 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 at least one device in each landscape or agricultural environment over a communications network for receiving data from and controlling operation of the at least one device, 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 devices,

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 user selected data from the server computer system, wherein settings for dashboards configured by the end-users are stored by the server computer system and used in subsequent log-ins by the end-users, wherein the user selected data displayed to the end-user corresponds to at least one site for which the user is authorized to access data such that the data from the at least one site is displayed together to the end-user,

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 end-user,

wherein the 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, and wherein notes stored using mobile devices also store their location'"'"'s GPS coordinates with the note.

20. A remote irrigation monitoring and control system for irrigation environments, each of the irrigation environments having at least one control device configured to control irrigation at the irrigation environment, the system comprising:

a server computer system located remotely from the irrigation environments, said server computer system coupled to the at least one control device in each irrigation environment over a communications network for receiving data from and controlling operation of the at least one control device, 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 control devices;

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 user selected data from the server computer system, 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, wherein the user selected data displayed to the end-user corresponds to at least one site for which the user is authorized to access data such that the data from the at least one site is displayed together to the end-user;

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 end-user;

wherein the one or more windows in the dashboard displaying crop health information includes pest and disease information for the at least one site including risk levels.