Water management device

Abstract

To provide a water management device for achieving labor saving when dealing with the occurrence of a faucet device failure in an agricultural field.SOLUTION: A water management system comprises a plurality of faucet devices for supplying water to a plurality of fields. The faucet device includes: a power supply unit including a storage battery; and a faucet driving unit that drives the opening and closing of a faucet portion by moving a shaft portion in the vertical direction in response to the rotation of a motor. When the plug drive unit becomes overloaded, an overload notification signal is output to a control unit. Alternatively, the control unit is allowed to detect an overload condition based on the load current value of the motor. When the plug drive unit becomes overloaded again after controlling the opening and closing of the plug to eliminate the overload state, an overload notification is sent to a water management server. When it is determined by the overload notification that a failure has occurred, the water management server is configured to give a failure notification including information on the faucet device in which the failure has occurred.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a water management device. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a water management system that uses a computer to control the opening and closing of water supply and drainage valves in paddy fields to manage water supply and drainage in paddy fields (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This configuration eliminates the need for human labor in supplying water to or draining water from the field, thereby enabling labor savings. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-161192 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In fields such as rice paddies, water supply and drain valves and other water faucet devices can experience some kind of malfunction, such as clogging with debris or malfunctioning. When such a malfunction occurs, the water faucet devices will no longer function properly, making it difficult to properly supply and drain water to the field. For this reason, it is desirable to detect the occurrence of such water faucet device malfunctions as early as possible so that they can be dealt with promptly. However, currently, when a malfunction occurs in a water faucet device, the first thing that needs to be done is for the farm owner to go to the field to check, which hinders labor savings.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to reduce the labor required to deal with the occurrence of malfunctions in water faucet devices in farm fields. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention is a water management device that includes a fault determination unit that determines whether a fault has occurred in a water faucet device that supplies water to or discharges water from a field based on detection information output from a state detection unit that detects a predetermined state in the water faucet device, and a fault response unit that performs at least one of fault resolution control that causes the water faucet device to perform an operation to resolve the fault that has occurred in response to the fault determination unit determining that a fault has occurred, and a fault occurrence notification that notifies the user that a fault has occurred.

[0007] Furthermore, one aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned water management device, which further includes an opening / closing control unit that controls the opening / closing state of a plug unit provided in a flow path until the water supplied to the faucet device is discharged, and the fault determination unit may determine that a fault has occurred when the state detection unit that detects the presence or absence of flow in the faucet device detects that there is flow and the opening / closing control unit is in a state where it has controlled the plug unit to be in a closed state.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned water management device, wherein the fault response unit may be configured to cause the opening and closing operation of the plug unit to be performed by the opening and closing control unit as the fault resolution control in response to the fault determination unit determining that the fault has occurred.

[0009] Another aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned water management device, wherein the fault response unit may issue the fault occurrence notification if the fault determination unit determines that the fault has occurred after performing the fault resolution control.

[0010] Another aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned water management device, wherein the fault response unit may further manage fault history information indicating a history of faults whose occurrence has been determined by the fault determination unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] As described above, the present invention has the effect of reducing the labor required to deal with the occurrence of a malfunction in a water faucet device in a farm field. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an irrigation water management system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a water supply valve in the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a water supply valve in the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a water management server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] 5A and 5B are diagrams showing examples of the contents of water faucet control information and fault history information in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the water management server in the first embodiment in response to a failure caused by clogging of a water faucet with debris. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the water management server in the second embodiment in response to a failure caused by an overload on a motor. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a water supply valve in a fourth embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a water supply valve in a fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] An irrigation water management system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of an irrigation water management system according to this embodiment. The irrigation water management system according to this embodiment manages water supply and drainage in a plurality of farm fields.

[0014] First, the water supply and drainage system of the farm field that is managed by the water management system will be described with reference to the same figure. The same figure shows an example in which the water management system manages three farm fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3. In this embodiment, the farm fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3 are, for example, paddy fields, and irrigation and drainage (water supply and drainage) are carried out to maintain appropriate water levels depending on the rice cultivation season. In the following description, when there is no need to distinguish between the fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3, they will be referred to as the field FM. The number of fields FM that are managed by the irrigation management system of this embodiment is not particularly limited.

[0015] Field FM-1 is provided with a water faucet 100-1. The water faucet 100-1 is a facility that supplies irrigation water sent from farm pond FP via pipeline PL to field FM-1. The water faucet 100-1 is equipped with a stopper (valve) that opens and closes in the flow path (flow path) from whence the irrigation water sent from farm pond FP is discharged into field FM-1, thereby making it possible to adjust the amount of irrigation water sent from farm pond FP that is supplied to field FM-1. Field FM-1 is also provided with a drain plug 200-1. The drain plug 200-1 is a facility that drains water that has accumulated in field FM-1. The drain plug 200-1 is equipped with a stopper (valve) that opens and closes in the flow path from whence the water drawn up from field FM-1 is discharged, for example, to a pipeline, thereby making it possible to adjust the amount of water that is discharged.

[0016] As in the case of the above-mentioned field FM-1, the field FM-2 is also provided with a water supply valve 100-2 and a drain valve 200-2, and the field FM-3 is also provided with a water supply valve 100-3 and a drain valve 200-3.

[0017] In the following description, when there is no particular distinction between water supply valves 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3, they will be referred to as water supply valve 100. In the following description, when there is no particular distinction between drain plugs 200-1, 200-2, and 200-3, they will be referred to as drain plug 200.

[0018] The irrigation management system of this embodiment includes a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) router RT whose communication range is the area covering the fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3. The wireless LAN router RT is connected to a network NT, and an irrigation management server 500 is connected to the network NT.

[0019] In this embodiment, the water supply taps 100 (an example of a water supply device) and the drain plugs 200 (an example of a water supply device) of each field FM each have a network communication function compatible with wireless LAN, which enables the water supply taps 100 and the drain plugs 200 of each field FM to communicate with the water management server 500 via the wireless LAN router RT and the network NT.

[0020] Each of the fields FM is supplied with water (irrigated) as follows: The water supplied to the fields FM is first drawn from, for example, the river RV via a pipeline to the farm pond FP, where it is stored. The farm pond FP is a pond that stores water for irrigation. The irrigation water stored in farm pond FP is pumped up by a pump (not shown) and supplied to pipeline PL under pressure. In the figure, pipeline PL branches into three routes, which are connected to hydrants 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 installed in fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3, respectively. As a result, irrigation water sent from farm pond FP via pipeline PL reaches hydrants 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3. At this time, if the hydrants 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 are open, irrigation water is supplied from hydrants 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 to fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3, respectively, for irrigation.

[0021] Furthermore, the irrigation water management system of this embodiment is provided with an irrigation water sensor 300-A and irrigation water sensors 300-B1, 300-B2, and 300-B3 to control water supply to the fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3.

[0022] The water sensor 300-A detects water flowing from the farm pond FP to the pipeline PL. As a specific example, the water sensor 300-A is a flow rate sensor installed to detect the amount of water (flow rate) flowing in the pipeline PL at a portion of the pipeline PL close to the farm pond FP. The water sensor 300-A installed in this manner can detect the amount of water flowing from the farm pond FP into the pipeline PL in response to the supply of water from the farm pond FP. The water sensor 300-A also has a network communication function compatible with wireless LAN, which allows the water sensor 300-A to communicate with the water management server 500 (an example of a water management device) via the wireless LAN router RT and the network NT.

[0023] The water sensor 300-B1 is provided corresponding to the water faucet 100-1 and detects the water flowing into the water faucet 100-1. As a specific example, the water sensor 300-B1 is provided so as to detect the amount of water (flow rate) flowing in a portion of the pipeline PL connected to the water faucet 100-1 that is close to the water faucet 100-1. For example, when the water faucet 100-1 is closed and no water flows through the water faucet 100-1, no water flows through the pipeline PL near the water faucet 100-1. Therefore, the water sensor 300-B1 in this case detects that the flow rate is zero. In contrast, when faucet 100-1 is open and water is flowing through faucet 100-1, water also flows in the pipeline PL near faucet 100-1. Therefore, in this case, water sensor 300-B1 detects a flow rate corresponding to the amount of water flowing through faucet 100-1. In this way, the water sensor 300-B1 can detect the water flowing into the water tap 100-1.

[0024] Furthermore, the water sensor 300-B1 and the water tap 100-1 are installed relatively close to each other. Therefore, the water sensor 300-B1 and the water tap 100-1 are configured to be able to communicate via short-range wireless communication. This allows the water sensor 300-B1 to transmit detection information indicating the detection results to the water tap 100-1, and the water tap 100-1 to transmit the received detection information from the wireless LAN router RT via the network NT to the water management server 500. In this way, the water management server 500 can obtain the detection information of the water sensor 300-B1 via communication.

[0025] The method of short-distance wireless communication between the water sensor 300-B1 and the water tap 100-1 is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), or the like. Such short-range wireless communication consumes little power, so for example, the water sensor 300-B1 can be operated for a long period of time using a battery as a power source, thereby reducing the labor required for maintenance. Also, even if the power generated during the day by a solar cell is charged and used as a power source, a small-capacity solar cell or rechargeable battery will suffice.

[0026] The water sensor 300-B2 is provided corresponding to the water faucet 100-2 and detects the water flowing into the water faucet 100-2. For example, the water sensor 300-B2 is also provided to detect the amount of water (flow rate) flowing in the pipeline PL in the vicinity of the water faucet 100-2. The water sensor 300-B2 and the faucet 100-2 can communicate with each other via short-range wireless communication, which allows the water management server 500 to acquire detection information of the water sensor 300-B2 from the faucet 100-2 via communication.

[0027] The water sensor 300-B3 is provided corresponding to the water faucet 100-3 and detects the water flowing into the water faucet 100-3. For example, the water sensor 300-B3 is also provided to detect the amount of water (flow rate) flowing in the pipeline PL in the vicinity of the water faucet 100-3. The water sensor 300-B3 and the faucet 100-3 are capable of communicating with each other via short-range wireless communication, which allows the water management server 500 to acquire detection information of the water sensor 300-B3 from the faucet 100-3 via communication.

[0028] The water management server 500 can use the detection information obtained from the water sensors 300-A, 300-B1, 300-B2, and 300-B3 as described above to perform water supply and drainage control corresponding to each of the fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3.

[0029] In the following explanation, when there is no particular distinction between the water sensors 300-B1, 300-B2, and 300-B3 corresponding to each faucet 100, they will be referred to as water sensor 300-B. Furthermore, when there is no particular distinction between the water sensor 300-A corresponding to the farm pond FP and the water sensor 300-B corresponding to the faucet 100, they will be referred to as water sensor 300.

[0030] Furthermore, multiple water level sensors 400-1 are installed in the farm field FM-1. The figure shows an example in which four water level sensors 400-1 are installed. Each water level sensor 400-1 detects (measures) the water level at the location where it is installed. The water level in a farm field varies depending on the position in the field. Therefore, when determining one water level for one farm field, it is preferable to place water level sensors at multiple different positions in the field and determine one representative water level based on the water levels detected by each water level sensor, as this increases the reliability of the measurement results. In this embodiment, from this perspective, multiple water level sensors 400-1 are installed in farm field FM-1. Furthermore, each water level sensor 400-1 is capable of communicating with a water hydrant 100-1 installed in the same field FM-1 via short-range wireless communication. This allows each water level sensor 400-1 to transmit detected water level information to the water hydrant 100-1. Furthermore, the water hydrant 100-1 can transmit water level information received from each water level sensor 400-1 to the water management server 500 via the wireless LAN router RT and the network NT. In other words, each water level sensor 400-1 can transmit detected water level information to the water management server 500 via communication relayed by the water hydrant 100-1.

[0031] Similarly, multiple water level sensors 400-2 are installed in field FM-2. Each water level sensor 400-2 is capable of communicating with a water hydrant 100-2 installed in the same field FM-2 via short-range wireless communication. This allows each water level sensor 400-2 to transmit detected water level information to the water management server 500 via the water hydrant 100-2. Additionally, multiple water level sensors 400-3 are installed in field FM-3. Each water level sensor 400-3 is capable of communicating with a water hydrant 100-3 installed in the same field FM-3 via short-range wireless communication. This allows each water level sensor 400-3 to transmit detected water level information to the water management server 500 via the water hydrant 100-3. In the following explanation, when there is no need to distinguish between the water level sensors 400-1, 400-2, and 400-3, they will be referred to as water level sensors 400. Note that if it is desired to reduce costs by reducing the number of water level sensors 400, one water level sensor 400 may be installed in one field FM. Then, the water management server 500 performs calculations using the information on the water level detected by the water level sensor 400, thereby making it possible to measure the water level of the entire field FM.

[0032] The water management server 500 can determine the water level in field FM-1 using water level information received from each water level sensor 400-1 installed in field FM-1, and use the determined water level for water supply and drainage management in field FM-1. Similarly, the water management server 500 can use water level information received from each water level sensor 400-2 installed in field FM-2 to determine the water level in field FM-2, and use the determined water level for water supply and drainage management in field FM-2. In addition, the water management server 500 can use the water level information received from each water level sensor 400-3 installed in field FM-3 to determine the water level in field FM-3, and use the determined water level for water supply and drainage management in field FM-3.

[0033] The water management server 500 manages water supply and drainage (water supply and drainage management) in the fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3. In managing water supply and drainage, the water management server 500 communicates with the water taps 100 in each field FM via the network NT and the wireless LAN router RT, thereby controlling the opening and closing of the taps 100. This allows the water management server 500 to individually control the water supply for each field FM. The irrigation water management server 500 also communicates with the drain plugs 200 in each field FM via the network NT and the wireless LAN router RT, thereby controlling the opening and closing of the plugs in each drain plug 200. This allows the irrigation water management server 500 to individually control drainage for each field FM.

[0034] The field owner terminal 600-1 is a network terminal device used by the owner (farmer) of field FM-1. The field owner terminal 600-1 is, for example, a personal computer, smartphone, tablet terminal, etc. owned by the owner of field FM-1. Similarly, the field owner terminals 600-2 and 600-3 are network terminal devices used by the owners of fields FM-2 and FM-3, respectively. In the following explanation, the field owner terminals 600-1, 600-2, and 600-3 will be referred to as the field owner terminal 600 unless they are to be particularly distinguished. In the figure, an example is shown in which field owner terminals 600-1, 600-2, and 600-3 are provided for fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3, respectively, in order to accommodate the case where the fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3 are owned by different field owners. However, one field owner terminal 600 may be shared by fields FM-1, FM-2, and FM-3 that have the same field owner.

[0035] An example of the configuration of the faucet 100 will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. In each figure, the structure of the faucet 100 is shown in cross section as seen from the side. In the water faucet 100, the water supply pipe 101 is a pipe through which water is supplied from the pipeline PL. As shown in the figure, the lower end of the water supply pipe 101 is connected to the end of the pipeline PL. As a result, the water delivered from the pipeline PL is supplied to the hollow portion 101a of the water supply pipe 101, as shown by the arrow α in Figure 2.

[0036] Discharge pipe 102 is attached to the upper end of water supply pipe 101. Hollow portion 102a of discharge pipe 102 is in communication with hollow portion 101a of water supply pipe 101. At the connecting portion between water supply pipe 101 and discharge pipe 102, the diameter of hollow portion 101a of water supply pipe 101 is larger than that of stop valve ball 104, and the diameter of hollow portion 102a of discharge pipe 102 is smaller than that of stop valve ball 104. In addition, the opening of hollow portion 102a of discharge pipe 102 on the hollow portion 101a side is tapered as shown in the figure, so that when stop valve ball 104 rises up to the opening of hollow portion 102a, it will be positioned so that it can close hollow portion 102a, as shown in the figure. In this embodiment, the stop valve ball 104 and the lower opening of the hollow portion 102a form a stopper portion.

[0037] A cup 103 is provided to cover the upper side of the discharge pipe 102. A hollow portion 103a is formed between the inside of the cup 103 and the discharge pipe 102. The hollow portion 103a serves as a path (flow path) through which the water discharged from the hollow portion 102a of the discharge pipe 102 is discharged to the outside.

[0038] The stop valve ball 104 is a spherical member having buoyancy. As shown in the drawing, the stop valve ball 104 is provided in the hollow portion 101a. Furthermore, the shaft 105 is provided so as to pass through the cup 103 and the hollow portion 102a of the discharge pipe 102. The shaft 105 can be moved up and down within a certain range of movement by the plug drive unit 111 as shown by the arrow A in FIG.

[0039] 2 is in a state where it is positioned at the topmost position within its movable range. In this state, the pressure of the water supplied from the pipeline PL to the water supply pipe 101 causes the stop valve ball 104, which is a buoyant body, to rise to the state shown in the figure, and the opening of the hollow portion 102a is blocked by the stop valve ball 104 (closed state). By being in this closed state, the water supplied from the pipeline PL to the water supply pipe 101 is not discharged outside the water supply valve 100.

[0040] On the other hand, the stem 105 shown in Fig. 3 has been moved downward from the state shown in Fig. 2 as indicated by arrow B in Fig. 3, and is in the lowest position within its movable range. In this state, the stop valve ball 104 is pushed down by the stem 105 as shown in the figure. As a result, the stop valve ball 104 is in a state (open state) where it is located lower than the hollow portion 102a in the hollow portion 101a. By opening the pipe in this manner, the water supplied from the pipeline PL to the water supply pipe 101 passes through a flow path made up of hollow portions 101a, 102a, and 103a, as indicated by the dashed arrow β in the figure, and is discharged outside the water supply faucet 100. In this way, the water is supplied from the water supply faucet 100 to the field FM. At this time, because a cup 103 is provided above the discharge pipe 102, even if the pressure of the water discharged from hollow portion 102a is high, it can flow downward through hollow portion 103a without spraying out upwards.

[0041] The water tap 100 is also provided with a flow rate sensor 106 (an example of a state detection unit) that detects the flow rate of water in the flow path of the water tap 100. In the figure, the flow rate sensor 106 is provided in the hollow portion 102a and detects the flow rate in the hollow portion 102a. The flow rate sensor 106 outputs a flow rate detection signal indicating the detected flow rate to the control unit 112. The location of the flow rate sensor 106 is not limited to the example shown in the figure. The flow rate sensor 106 may be provided at any position in the flow path from the pipeline PL to the water tap 100 until the water is discharged from the hollow portion 103a. The flow rate detected by flow rate sensor 106 can be considered to be the same as the flow rate detected by water sensor 300-B provided corresponding to faucet 100. For this reason, flow rate sensor 106 may be omitted, and the flow rate detected by water sensor 300-B may be transmitted to control unit 112 as the above-mentioned flow rate detection signal. However, for example, if there is a certain distance between the water sensor 300-B and the water tap 100, a leak may occur due to aging of the piping. In this case, the flow rate sensor 106 provided in the water tap 100 can more accurately detect the flow rate of water in the flow path of the water tap 100. Furthermore, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a leak in the piping and the extent of the leak based on the difference between the flow rate detected by the flow rate sensor 106 and the flow rate detected by the water sensor 300-B. Furthermore, in a configuration in which multiple water taps 100 are branched and connected downstream of the water sensor 300-B, the water sensor 300-B detects the total amount of water flowing through the multiple water taps 100. Therefore, in this case, the sensor 106 can detect the amount of water in the flow path of each water tap 100.

[0042] The water faucet 100 is also provided with a dismantling sensor 107. The dismantling sensor 107 is a sensor that detects whether the water faucet 100 has been dismantled. The dismantling sensor 107 in the figure is provided so that it can detect when the water supply pipe 101 and the discharge pipe 102 have been dismantled so that they are separated. The dismantling sensor 107 may be provided with elements, circuits, etc. that output power in response to a physical change that occurs when the part to be detected is dismantled, and may be configured to output a dismantling notification signal to the control unit 112 using the output power. The disassembly sensor 107 will be used in a third embodiment described later. Therefore, the disassembly sensor 107 may be omitted in this embodiment. The location where the disassembly sensor 107 is provided is not limited to the example shown in the figure. For example, the disassembly sensor 107 may be provided between the circuit case 110 and the cup 103, or on the lid of the circuit case 110 itself.

[0043] 2 and 3, a circuit case 110 is provided, for example, on top of the cup 103. The circuit case 110 includes a plug driving unit 111, a control unit 112, a sensor-compatible communication unit 113, a server-compatible communication unit 114, a power supply unit 115, and a movement detection unit 116.

[0044] The plug drive unit 111 drives the plug unit to open and close. That is, by moving the shaft 105 up and down, the plug drive unit 111 changes the state between a closed state in which the stop valve ball 104 closes the opening of the hollow portion 102a and an open state in which the stop valve ball 104 is positioned below the opening of the hollow portion 102a. In addition, by changing the vertical position of the shaft 105 in the open state, the valve driver 111 can adjust the gap between the opening of the hollow portion 102a and the stop valve ball 104. This makes it possible to adjust the amount of water discharged from the water supply valve 100.

[0045] The tap drive unit 111 is configured to include, for example, a motor 111a and a mechanism that moves the shaft 105 up and down in response to the rotation of the motor 111a. For example, the mechanism that moves the shaft 105 up and down can be configured so that the shaft 105 is threadedly engaged with a predetermined location on the faucet 100, allowing it to move up and down by rotation, and the shaft 105 rotates in response to the rotation of the motor. Note that the mechanism that moves the shaft 105 up and down can have other structures and is not limited to the above example.

[0046] The control unit 112 controls the operation of the plug driving unit 111. To this end, the control unit 112 adjusts the open / closed state of the plug by, for example, outputting a motor control signal to the plug driving unit 111 to rotate the motor 111a of the plug driving unit 111.

[0047] The control unit 112 also transmits and receives information to and from the water management server 500 via the server-compatible communication unit 114 and the network NT. In this embodiment, when the control unit 112 receives a flow rate detection signal output from the flow rate sensor 106, it causes the server-compatible communication unit 114 to transmit flow rate detection information including information on the flow rate indicated by the received flow rate detection signal and a water tap ID indicating the water tap 100 to the water management server 500. The control unit 112 also transmits and receives information via the sensor-compatible communication unit 113 to and from the water level sensor 400 that is within the communication distance of the sensor-compatible communication unit 113. The control unit 112 also transmits and receives information via the server-compatible communication unit 114 to and from the water management server 500 over the network NT.

[0048] The sensor-compatible communication unit 113 communicates with the water level sensor 400 located within the communication distance range via short-distance wireless communication. The server-compatible communication unit 114 communicates with the water management server 500 via the network NT.

[0049] The power supply unit 115 supplies power to the plug driving unit 111, the control unit 112, the sensor-compatible communication unit 113, the server-compatible communication unit 114, and the movement detection unit 116. The power supply unit 115 includes, for example, a solar cell and a storage battery, and stores power generated by the solar cell during the day in the storage battery. The power supply unit 115 is then configured to supply the power stored in the storage battery as a power source. Alternatively, the power supply unit 115 may be configured to supply power from a battery of a predetermined standard, such as a secondary battery or a primary battery, and to replace the battery when the remaining battery power becomes low.

[0050] The movement detection unit 116 detects whether or not the main body of the faucet 100 to which the circuit case 110 is attached has moved. Specifically, the movement detection unit 116 can be configured to perform positioning in accordance with the Global Positioning System (GPS). In this case, the movement detection unit 116 detects that movement has occurred when the position to be measured changes over time. Alternatively, the movement detection unit 116 can be configured with a gyro sensor. In this case, the movement detection unit 116 detects that movement has occurred in response to the gyro sensor detecting a signal corresponding to the movement. The detection output of the movement detection unit 116 is used in the third embodiment, so the movement detection unit 116 may be omitted in this embodiment.

[0051] Here, because the irrigation water passes through an outdoor waterway before it is stored in the farm pond FP from the river RV, various types of garbage (an example of foreign matter) get mixed into the irrigation water. For this reason, garbage is also contained in the irrigation water that is supplied from the farm pond FP to the hydrant 100 via the pipeline PL. When the irrigation water is supplied from the farm pond FP to the pipeline PL, for example, a mesh filter or the like can be installed to remove some large pieces of garbage, but small pieces of garbage cannot be removed and remain. In this way, water containing garbage is supplied to the water faucet 100. This can cause problems such as the garbage clogging the flow passage inside the water faucet 100.

[0052] Specifically, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 3, debris mostly clogs the opening SP that is blocked by stop valve ball 104. As can be seen from the figure, this opening SP is the connecting portion between hollow portion 101a with a wide inner diameter and hollow portion 102a with a narrow inner diameter, and is the portion where the inner diameter becomes extremely narrow. If debris clogs the opening SP, the stop valve ball 104 will no longer be able to properly close the lower opening of the hollow portion 102a, as shown in FIG. 2. This will prevent the stop valve from opening and closing properly. Even if debris clogs the opening SP, there will be gaps between the clogged debris, and the water in the hollow portion 101a will flow into the hollow portion 102a through these gaps, resulting in the water being discharged from the hollow portion 103a to the outside. For this reason, for example, even though the open / close valve control is supposed to have controlled the water supply valve 100 to be in a closed state, the stop valve will not be completely closed internally, resulting in a problem of water leaking out. It is desirable to detect such problems as early as possible and deal with them as quickly as possible. Furthermore, it is also desirable to minimize the need for human intervention in detecting and dealing with problems, thereby saving labor.

[0053] Therefore, in this embodiment, the water management server 500 detects the occurrence of a debris clogging in the water faucet 100 based on detection information from the flow rate sensor 106 transmitted from the water faucet 100. If a debris clogging is detected, the water management server 500 is configured to have the water faucet 100 perform an operation to clear the clogging, and if the clogging is not cleared, to notify the administrator of the occurrence of a fault. This eliminates the need for manual work in detecting the occurrence of a clogging in the water faucet 100 and dealing with the clogging, thereby saving labor.

[0054] An example of the configuration of the water management server 500 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. The water management server 500 in Fig. 4 includes a communication unit 501, a control unit 502, and a storage unit 503.

[0055] The communication unit 501 executes communication corresponding to the network NT. By including the communication unit 501, the irrigation management server 500 can communicate with the water taps 100 and the drain taps 200 of each farm field FM from the network NT via the wireless LAN router RT.

[0056] The control unit 502 executes various controls in the water management server 500. The functions of the control unit 502 are realized, for example, by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) included in the water management server 500 executing a program. The control unit 502 in this embodiment includes an opening / closing control unit 521, a fault determination unit 522, and a fault response unit 523 as functional units related to detecting clogging of the water faucet 100 with debris and dealing with the clogging.

[0057] The opening / closing control unit 521 controls the opening and closing of a stopper unit provided in a water flow path through which service water is discharged to be supplied to the water tap 100. When controlling the open / closed state of the stopper unit of the water tap 100, the opening / closing control unit 521 transmits a stopper unit control signal to the water tap 100 that is the target of the opening control. The plug control signal is information that indicates the degree of open state of the plug. The plug control signal includes, for example, an opening degree that indicates the degree of open state of the plug. The opening degree indicates a value corresponding to the target open state within a range from zero (closed state) indicating a closed state to a predetermined maximum value indicating a completely open state. The transmitted tap unit control signal is received by the server-compatible communication unit 114 of the tap 100 that is the target of tap opening control from the network NT via the wireless LAN router RT. The control unit 112 of the water tap 100 controls the tap driver 111 in accordance with the opening degree included in the received tap unit control signal, and the tap driver 111 drives the tap unit in accordance with the control. This sets the state of the tap unit to the opening degree indicated by the tap unit control signal.

[0058] The fault determination unit 522 determines whether a fault has occurred in the faucet 100 based on detection information output from a state detection unit that detects a predetermined state in the faucet 100 . In this embodiment, the state detection unit in the faucet 100 is a flow rate sensor 106. The flow rate sensor 106 detects the flow rate of water in the flow path within the faucet 100 as a predetermined state of the faucet 100. As described above, the faucet 100 transmits flow rate detection information indicating the flow rate output by the flow rate sensor 106.

[0059] The fault determination unit 522 of this embodiment determines, based on the flow rate indicated by the received flow rate detection information, whether or not a fault due to clogging with debris has occurred in the faucet 100 that is the source of the flow rate detection information. As described above, when the water faucet 100 becomes clogged with debris, the debris becomes trapped between the lower opening of the hollow portion 102a and the stop valve ball 104, as shown by the opening portion SP. As a result, even when the water faucet 100 is controlled to be in the closed state, the stop valve ball 104 cannot completely block the lower opening of the hollow portion 102a. Then, water is discharged through the gaps between the debris trapped in the opening portion SP. In this way, when clogging with debris occurs, even if the valve is controlled to be closed, a water leak occurs, causing water to flow in the flow path of the water tap 100.

[0060] Therefore, the fault determination unit 522 of this embodiment determines that a fault has occurred when the flow sensor 106 in the water supply tap 100 detects that there is a flow rate and the opening / closing control unit 521 is in a state where it is controlling the tap unit to be in a closed state. That is, the fault determination unit 522 determines whether or not the flow rate detection information received from the faucet 100 indicates that there is a flow rate. For example, the fault determination unit 522 can determine that there is no flow rate if the flow rate value indicated by the flow rate detection information received from the faucet 100 is zero, and that there is a flow rate if the value is greater than zero. Furthermore, the fault determination unit 522 acquires the controlled opening for the faucet 100 with the faucet ID included in the received flow rate detection information from the faucet control information stored in the memory unit 503. The controlled opening in the faucet control information indicates the opening currently set for the faucet 100 by the opening / closing control unit 521. The fault determination unit 522 determines whether the acquired controlled opening is a value corresponding to a closed state (for example, zero or a value less than a predetermined value). Then, if the fault determination unit 522 determines that the flow detection information indicates that there is a flow and that the acquired control opening is a value corresponding to the closed state, it determines that a fault due to debris clogging has occurred. The occurrence of a fault due to debris clogging can be determined using the detection results of the water pressure inside the water faucet 100. In other words, in the case of the structure of the water faucet 100 shown in Figure 2, sufficient water pressure is obtained in the hollow portion 101a when there is no water leakage due to debris clogging, but when there is water leakage due to debris clogging, the water pressure in the hollow portion 101a drops. To detect the water pressure, for example, a water pressure gauge may be attached inside the water supply pipe 101 of the water tap 100, and information indicating the water pressure measured by the water pressure gauge may be transmitted to the water management server 500. In the case of the structure of the water faucet 100A (FIGS. 8 and 9) described below, the water faucet may be provided in any location that is subject to water pressure when the plug is closed, such as the water conduit 131 or the pressure chamber 123a.

[0061] In response to the fault determination unit 522 determining that a fault has occurred, the fault response unit 523 performs at least one of fault resolution control, which causes the faucet device to perform an operation to resolve the fault that has occurred, and fault occurrence notification, which notifies the user that a fault has occurred. In this embodiment, the fault response unit 523 first performs fault resolution control. The fault resolution control here is to operate the water faucet 100 so that the debris clogging is cleared. The operation that the water faucet 100 performs to clear the debris clogging is, for example, to repeatedly open and close the stopper a predetermined number of times. By repeatedly opening and closing the stopper a predetermined number of times, the water pressure of the water may wash away the debris, which may escape the flow path and be discharged to the outside. Therefore, as a fault resolution control, the fault handling unit 523 transmits an opening / closing control signal in accordance with a predetermined sequence so that the operation of opening and closing the tap unit in the water tap 100 is repeated a predetermined number of times.

[0062] After the fault resolution control, the fault response unit 523 controls the opening / closing control unit 521 to close the water tap 100, and then again determines whether a fault due to debris clogging has occurred based on the flow rate indicated by the flow rate detection information received from the water tap 100. If it is determined that no fault due to debris has occurred, the fault resolution control has removed the debris from the water faucet 100, and the water faucet 100 has returned to the normally closed state in response to the control to close the faucet. In this case, the processing for dealing with the fault is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that a fault has occurred due to clogging with debris, the debris is not removed by the fault resolution control, and the water tap 100 remains clogged with debris. Therefore, in this case, the fault response unit 523 determines that the clogging cannot be cleared by fault resolution control and issues a fault occurrence notification. The fault occurrence notification notifies the administrator of the water management system of this embodiment that there is a faucet 100 that has become clogged with debris. The fault occurrence notification may be, for example, sent to a terminal used by the administrator, or may be, for example, an email containing information about the faucet 100 that has become clogged with debris to the administrator's email address. The administrator who receives the fault occurrence notification can go to the faucet 100 that has become clogged with debris and remove the debris. Furthermore, the notification of the occurrence of a fault may be sent not to the administrator of the irrigation control system but to the owner of the field FM where the faulty hydrant 100 is installed. Furthermore, the notification of the occurrence of a fault may be sent to both the administrator of the irrigation control system and the owner of the field FM where the faulty hydrant 100 is installed.

[0063] Furthermore, the failure handling unit 523 also manages failure history information that indicates the history of failures that have been determined to have occurred by the failure determining unit 522 . Specifically, for each fault determined to have occurred by the fault determination unit 522, the fault response unit 523 stores the date and time of occurrence, the results of the fault response processing (control content of the fault resolution control, whether the fault was resolved by the fault resolution control, and a log of the fault occurrence notification) and the like as fault history information in the fault history information storage unit 532.

[0064] The storage unit 503 stores various types of information used by the control unit 502. The storage unit 503 in the same figure includes a hydrant control information storage unit 531 and a fault history information storage unit 532, which are related to the processing performed by the control unit 502 in response to the occurrence of a fault in the hydrant 100.

[0065] The hydrant control information storage unit 531 stores hydrant control information. The hydrant control information is information that indicates the current opening degree set by the opening / closing control unit 521 for each hydrant 100. Figure 5(A) shows an example of the contents of the hydrant control information. The hydrant control information in the same figure has a structure in which a controlled opening degree is associated with each hydrant ID of a hydrant 100. In the same figure, the hydrant IDs [F0001], [F0002], and [F0003] stored in the hydrant control information respectively indicate the hydrants 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 in Figure 1. The control opening indicates the opening currently set by the opening / closing control unit 521 for the water tap 100. In the figure, an example is shown in which the control opening is set in steps of 0 to 100% with a resolution of 16 from 0 to 15. Here, the above-mentioned controlled opening degree is merely a control value that the opening / closing control unit 521 instructs the water tap 100, and may differ from the actual opening degree of the tap part in the water tap 100. In other words, even if the opening / closing control unit 521 sets the controlled opening degree to "0," which corresponds to the closed state, if, for example, clogging with debris has occurred, the tap part will not be in a completely closed state, and the actual opening degree of the water tap 100 may not be "0." When determining whether or not a fault has occurred due to clogging with debris, the fault determination unit 522 obtains the control opening degree associated with the faucet ID contained in the received flow detection information (or information indicating the measurement results of the water pressure inside the faucet 100) from the faucet control information.

[0066] The fault history information storage unit 532 stores fault history information. The fault history information is information that indicates a history of faults that have occurred in the water supply tap 100 up to now. Figure 5(B) shows an example of fault history information. The fault history information in the figure has a structure managed for each hydrant 100. In other words, fault history information is associated with each hydrant 100. As described above, the fault history information associated with one hydrant ID stores the date and time of occurrence, the results of the fault response processing (control details of the fault resolution control, whether the fault was resolved by the fault resolution control, and a log of the fault occurrence notification) for each fault that has occurred in the corresponding hydrant 100 so far.

[0067] Furthermore, in the fault history information in the figure, each hydrant ID is associated with a field owner ID. The field owner ID indicates the field owner of the field in which the hydrant 100 indicated by the associated hydrant ID is installed. The field owner ID [FM0001] associated with the hydrant ID [F0001] indicates the field owner of field FM-1 where hydrant 100-1 is installed. The field owner ID [FM0002] associated with the hydrant ID [F0002] indicates the field owner of field FM-2 where hydrant 100-2 is installed. The field owner ID [FM0003] associated with the hydrant ID [F0003] indicates the field owner of field FM-3 where hydrant 100-3 is installed.

[0068] An example of a processing procedure executed by the water management server 500 in this embodiment in response to a failure caused by clogging of the water tap 100 with debris will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each water supply tap 100 periodically transmits flow rate detection information indicating the flow rate detected by the flow rate sensor 106 to the water management server 500. The water supply tap 100 then waits to receive the flow rate detection information (step S101-NO).

[0069] When it is determined that flow rate detection information has been received from a certain water tap 100 (step S101-YES), the fault determination unit 522 first performs processing to determine whether a fault has occurred in the water tap 100 that sent the flow rate detection information (the target of fault determination). Here, the fault determination unit 522 determines whether or not the open / close control unit 521 has controlled the tap unit to be in the closed state for the tap 100 that is the target of fault determination (step S102). For this purpose, the fault determination unit 522 acquires from the faucet control information storage unit 531 the controlled opening associated with the faucet ID indicating the faucet 100 to be determined to be faulty, which was included in the flow detection information received in step S101. Next, the fault determination unit 522 determines whether the acquired controlled opening is a value corresponding to the closed state. At this time, if the controlled opening is a value corresponding to the closed state ("0"), it is determined that the faucet 100 is controlled to be closed. On the other hand, if the controlled opening is a value greater than 0 corresponding to the open state, the faucet 100 is controlled to be open to a degree corresponding to the controlled opening. Therefore, in this case, the fault determination unit 522 determines that the faucet 100 is not controlled to be closed.

[0070] If it is determined that the valve is not controlled to be closed (step S102-NO), it is not possible to determine whether a malfunction has occurred because water is being discharged regardless of whether the valve is clogged with debris. Also, even if the valve is clogged with debris, water is being discharged in response to being controlled to be open, and in this respect, the water supply valve 100 is operating normally. In this case, the process shown in the figure is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the valve is controlled to be closed (step S102-YES), it is further determined whether the flow detection information received in step S101 indicates that there is a flow (step S103). If the flow rate is zero (step S103-NO), the water supply valve 100 to be determined as a fault is normally closed in response to the control to close it. Therefore, in this case, it is determined that no fault due to clogging has occurred. In this case, the process shown in the figure is terminated.

[0071] On the other hand, if the flow rate is present (step S103-YES), the water supply valve 100 to be detected as a fault is not in the closed state even though it is controlled to be in the closed state. In this case, it is determined that a fault has occurred due to clogging, and the following fault handling process is performed. The order of the processes in steps S102 and S103 may be reversed. That is, the determination in step S102 may be made after it is determined in the process in step S103 that there is a flow rate.

[0072] First, the fault handling unit 523 executes fault resolution control (step S104). In this case, the fault resolution control is, as described above, control for repeatedly opening and closing the stopper a predetermined number of times so that the water pressure of the service water pushes out the debris.

[0073] When the fault resolution control is completed, the fault response unit 523 causes the opening / closing control unit 521 to execute a valve closing control to close the water tap 100 that is the target of fault determination (step S105). After performing the control to close the valve as described above, the fault determining unit 522 again waits to receive flow rate detection information transmitted from the same water tap 100 that is the target of fault determination (step S106-NO). Then, when the flow rate detection information is received (step S106-YES), the fault determining unit 522 determines whether or not the received flow rate detection information indicates the presence of a flow rate (step S107).

[0074] If the flow rate is present (step S107-YES), the faucet 100 being determined to be faulty is still leaking water while being controlled to be closed in step S105. In other words, it is determined that the clogging caused by debris has not been resolved. Therefore, in this case, the fault response unit 523 notifies the administrator of the water management system of the occurrence of the fault (step S108), as described above.

[0075] As described above, the notification of the occurrence of a fault in step S108 may be sent to the owner of the field FM in which the hydrant 100 to be evaluated is installed, instead of to the manager. Alternatively, the notification of the occurrence of a fault in step S108 may be sent to both the manager and the owner of the field.

[0076] When sending a notification of the occurrence of a problem to the farm owner, the notification of the occurrence of the problem can be sent, for example, to an email address stored in the farm owner's information stored in the water management server 500 (not shown in Figure 4). Furthermore, if a field management application is installed on the field owner terminal 600, the field owner ID is registered as a user account in the field management application. Therefore, in step S108, the failure response unit 523 may notify the field management application of the occurrence of the failure to which the field owner ID associated with the hydrant ID of the hydrant 100 being evaluated in the failure occurrence history is registered as a user account.

[0077] After the process of step S108, or when it is determined that there is no flow rate (step S107-NO), that is, when it is determined that the clogging with dust has been cleared, the fault handling unit 523 adds the details regarding the occurrence of the current fault to the fault history information stored in the fault history information storage unit 532. That is, the fault history information is updated in accordance with the occurrence of the current fault (step S109). If the process proceeds from step S107 to step S109 without going through the process of step S108, the fault history information added in step S109 indicates that the fault has been resolved by fault resolution control. On the other hand, if the process proceeds to step S109 via the process of step S108, the fault history information added in step S109 indicates that the fault has not been resolved even though fault resolution control has been performed, and that a fault occurrence notification has been sent.

[0078] If it is determined in step S107 that there is flow, i.e., if it is determined that the fault due to clogging has not been resolved, the process may be returned to step S104 and the fault resolution control may be retried within a predetermined limited number of times. In this embodiment, the fault occurrence notification may be sent not only when the fault is not resolved even after the fault resolution control is performed, but also when the fault is resolved by the fault resolution control. In this case, if the fault occurrence notification includes information indicating whether the fault was resolved by the fault resolution control, the manager of the irrigation management system and the farm owner can know the occurrence of the fault as well as the results of the fault resolution control.

[0079] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described. When the valve driver 111 is operated to change the valve portion of the water tap 100 from a closed state to an open state, an excessive load may be placed on the motor 111a, for example, due to stiffness in the movement of the shaft 105 driven by the valve driver 111. Leaving this state as it is may be undesirable because it may cause malfunctions such as breakdowns in the valve driver 111 including the motor 111a. Therefore, the water management system of this embodiment is configured to target an overload on the motor 111a as a fault in the faucet 100, determine whether a fault has occurred, and take action to deal with the occurrence of the fault.

[0080] The water tap 100 in this embodiment may have the same configuration as that shown in Figures 2 and 3. In addition, in the water tap 100 of this embodiment, the tap driver 111 is configured to monitor the load current of the motor 111a, and if it detects an overload state, to output an overload notification signal indicating the overload state to the control unit 112. Alternatively, the tap driver 111 may notify the control unit 112 of the load current value of the motor 111a, and the control unit 112 may detect the overload state based on the load current value. When the control unit 112 receives the overload notification signal or detects an overload state as described above, it transmits an overload notification indicating that the motor 111a is in an overload state to the water management server 500. The overload notification includes a faucet ID indicating the faucet 100.

[0081] Furthermore, the configuration of the water management server 500 in this embodiment may be the same as that in Fig. 4. However, in this embodiment, the fault determination unit 522 and the fault response unit 523 in the control unit 502 perform the following processing in response to the fault in the target water tap 100 being determined to be an overload of the motor 111a. Furthermore, in the case of this embodiment, since it is not necessary to use the water hydrant control information to determine whether or not a failure has occurred, the water hydrant control information storage unit 531 in the storage unit 503 may be omitted.

[0082] An example of a processing procedure executed by the water management server 500 in this embodiment in response to a fault caused by an overload on the motor 111a will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. After the opening / closing control unit 521 performs control to open a certain water tap 100 (opening control), the fault determination unit 522 waits for an overload notification to be received from the water tap 100 that is the target of the opening control (step S201-NO).

[0083] In this case, the control unit 112 of the tap 100 that is the target of the opening control will not send an overload notification unless the motor 111a operates normally in response to the opening control and does not become overloaded. In this case, the process will not proceed to step S202 and subsequent steps in FIG. 7. On the other hand, if an overload condition occurs in the motor 111a of the water tap 100 that is the target of the opening control as a result of the opening control, an overload notification is transmitted from the water tap 100 that is the target of the opening control and is received by the water management server 500 (step S201-YES). In response to receiving the overload notification, the fault determination unit 522 determines that a fault due to an overload has occurred in the motor 111a of the water tap 100 that is the target of the opening control.

[0084] Therefore, in this case, the fault response unit 523 executes fault resolution control targeting the water tap 100 (step S202). As the fault resolution control in this case, the fault response unit 523 performs, for example, valve opening control again. Note that in the fault resolution control of step S202, the fault response unit 523 may perform the valve opening control once, or may perform it repeatedly a predetermined number of times. By attempting the valve opening control again in this way, for example, the mechanism that moves the shaft 105 may return to normal, allowing the shaft 105 to move in accordance with the rotation of the motor 111a, and as a result, the load current of the motor 111a may also return to the normal range.

[0085] Opening control is also performed in the fault resolution control in step S202. Therefore, when the tap driver 111 is operating in response to opening control as fault resolution control, if the overload state of the motor 111a is not resolved, the control unit 112 of the tap 100 will again send an overload notification. On the other hand, if the overload state of the motor 111a is resolved by the tap driver 111 operating in response to opening control as fault resolution control, the control unit 112 of the tap 100 will not send an overload notification. Therefore, the fault determining unit 522 determines whether or not an overload notification has been received in response to the opening control in step S202, for example (step S203).

[0086] If the overload notification is received (step S203-YES), it is determined that the fault caused by the overload of the motor 111a has not been resolved. Therefore, in this case, the fault response unit 523 notifies at least one of the manager of the irrigation management system and the farm owner of the occurrence of the fault (step S204).

[0087] After processing in step S204, or if it is determined that an overload notification has not been received (step S203-NO), that is, if it is determined that the overload of motor 111a has been resolved, the fault response unit 523 updates the fault history information stored in the fault history information storage unit 532 with information related to the occurrence of this fault (step S205).

[0088] In this embodiment, too, if an overload notification is received in step S103, i.e., if it is determined that the fault has not been resolved, the process may be returned to step S202 again within a predetermined limited number of times, allowing the fault resolution control to be retried. In this embodiment, too, the notification of the occurrence of a fault may be sent not only when the fault is not resolved even after fault resolution control is performed, but also when the fault is resolved by fault resolution control. Moreover, overload notification may be performed in multiple stages. For example, in a case where overload notification is performed in two stages, the first stage detects a state in which the motor load has increased by a certain percentage or more compared to normal, for example, due to dirt around the moving parts or the rotating shaft, or debris getting caught in the shaft. When this state is detected, the water faucet 100 transmits a primary overload notification to the water management server 500. The primary overload notification indicates that an overload state has not yet been reached, but there is a possibility that an overload state may occur. Upon receiving the primary overload notification, the water management server 500 transmits, for example, an overload advance notification to the corresponding farm owner terminal 600, informing the farm owner that the water faucet 100 is approaching an overload state. In response to receiving the overload advance notification, the farm owner terminal 600 outputs, for example, a message on a display, informing the farm owner that the water faucet 100 is approaching an overload state. By viewing the message displayed in this way, the farm owner can carry out maintenance of the water faucet 100 in advance, thereby preventing an overload condition from occurring. Then, in the second stage, an overload notification similar to that previously described with reference to Fig. 7 is sent as a secondary overload notification from the water supply tap 100 to the water management server 500. Upon receiving the secondary overload notification, the water management server 500 executes fault resolution control, fault occurrence notification, and the like, similar to that previously described with reference to Fig. 7.

[0089] Next, a modification of the second embodiment will be described. For example, in the water tap 100, an abnormality may occur in the power, voltage, current, etc. in a portion (hereinafter also referred to as the circuit system) that has circuits such as the power supply unit 115 and the circuit unit operated by the power supply unit 115. When an electrical abnormality occurs in such a circuit system, it is preferable to respond as quickly as possible. Therefore, when the control unit 112 detects an abnormality in the circuit system as described above, it transmits a circuit system abnormality notification indicating this to the water management server 500. In other words, in this modified example, an abnormality in the circuit system in the water tap 100 is targeted as a fault in the water tap 100.

[0090] By receiving the circuit system abnormality notification, the fault determination unit 522 in the water management server 500 can determine that a fault due to an abnormality in the circuit system has occurred in the water supply tap 100 that sent the circuit system abnormality notification. When it is determined that a fault has occurred due to an abnormality in the circuit system, the fault response unit 523 can perform control to resolve the fault, such as stopping the operation of the power supply unit 115. This prevents the hydrant 100 from operating while an abnormality has occurred in the circuit system. The fault response unit 523 can then notify at least one of the manager of the irrigation management system and the farm owner of the occurrence of the fault. This enables the manager of the irrigation management system or the farm owner to quickly inspect and repair the circuit system in response to the abnormality. In addition to electrical abnormalities in the circuit system, for example, low battery voltage in the power supply unit 115 may also be notified as a fault. Also, if the water management server 500 determines that a communication failure has occurred with the water supply tap 100, it may be notified as a fault. Furthermore, a water level abnormality notification may be sent when it is determined that there is an abnormality in the water level, for example, based on the water level detected by the water level sensor 400. Specifically, the water management server 500 may determine that there is an abnormality in the water level when it is determined that the water level is higher than a preset upper limit water level or lower than a preset lower limit water level. In addition, if the water management server 500 determines that the water level does not change while controlling the water tap 100 to supply water to the field FM, it may be configured to issue an abnormality notification indicating that an abnormality has occurred due to water leakage from the field FM. Furthermore, a water thermometer is installed in the field FM, and the water temperature measured by the water thermometer is monitored by the water management server 500 via the water tap 100. The water management server 500 may then issue an abnormality notification indicating an abnormality in the water temperature if, for example, the monitored water temperature exceeds a preset upper limit water temperature. In addition, a water pressure gauge is provided inside the water tap 100 so that the water pressure can be monitored by the water management server 500. If an abnormality occurs, such as the monitored water pressure dropping below a predetermined lower limit pressure, the water management server 500 may issue an abnormality notification indicating an abnormality in the water pressure.

[0091] Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment will be described. Because the water taps 100 are permanently installed outdoors in the field FM, they are susceptible to theft and vandalism. Therefore, the irrigation water management system of this embodiment is configured to determine whether a state is suspected of fraudulent activity, such as theft of the water taps 100 or vandalism against the water taps 100, and if it is determined that fraudulent activity is occurring, to notify the administrator of the irrigation water management system, for example. This makes it possible to catch fraudulent acts such as theft and mischief at the scene, and to deter fraudulent acts.

[0092] The determination of whether or not a fraudulent act has been committed against the faucet 100 (fraudulent act determination) is specifically carried out by the following two estimation methods, a first determination method and a second determination method. First, when a tampering attempt is made, such as theft of the hydrant 100 or moving or knocking over the hydrant 100, the hydrant 100 is moved from its original installation location. Based on this, the first determination method determines whether a tampering has occurred as follows.

[0093] The water tap 100 is equipped with a movement detection unit 116 (FIGS. 2 and 3). As described above, the movement detection unit 116 has a GPS-compatible positioning function or an acceleration sensor, and detects whether its own position has moved based on the position measured by the positioning function or the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor. When the movement detection unit 116 detects that its own position has moved (been moved), it outputs a movement detection signal to the control unit 112 indicating this. When the control unit 112 receives the movement detection signal from the movement detection unit 116, it transmits a hydrant movement notification to the water management server 500 notifying that the hydrant 100 has moved.

[0094] Then, when the water hydrant movement notification is received, the fault determination unit 522 of the water management server 500 determines that fraudulent activity has been committed against the water hydrant 100 that sent the water hydrant movement notification. The fault response unit 523 then notifies at least either the manager of the water management server 500 or the farm owner of the occurrence of a fault, informing them that fraudulent activity has been committed against the water hydrant 100.

[0095] In addition, the control unit 112 may determine whether the water tap 100 has moved based on the position determined by the positioning function of the movement detection unit 116 or the acceleration detected by an acceleration sensor provided in the movement detection unit 116. Furthermore, for example, the location information measured by the movement detection unit 116 or the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor is transmitted from the water supply faucet 100 to the water management server 500 at regular intervals. The water management server 500 can then be configured to determine whether or not fraudulent activity is being committed against the water supply faucet 100 based on the received location information or acceleration.

[0096] Furthermore, in cases of fraudulent acts such as theft or vandalism, the faucet 100 may be disassembled. Therefore, in the second determination method, fraudulent acts are determined as follows. The water supply tap 100 is provided with a dismantling sensor 107 (FIGS. 2 and 3). As described above, the dismantling sensor 107 in the figures is configured to detect when the water supply pipe 101 and the discharge pipe 102 are dismantled so that they are separated, and to output a dismantling detection signal to the control unit 112. When the control unit 112 receives the movement detection signal from the dismantling sensor 107, it transmits a dismantling notification to the water management server 500 notifying that the faucet 100 has been dismantled.

[0097] When the dismantling notification is received, the fault determination unit 522 of the water management server 500 determines that fraud has been committed against the hydrant 100 that sent the dismantling notification. The fault response unit 523 then notifies at least either the manager of the water management server 500 or the farm owner of the occurrence of a fault, informing them that fraud has been committed against the hydrant 100.

[0098] It is preferable that the failure notification sent in response to the first determination method include information indicating that the hydrant 100 has been moved, and that the failure notification sent in response to the second determination method include information indicating that the hydrant 100 has been dismantled. This allows the manager or farm owner who receives the failure notification to understand to some extent the circumstances under which the theft or vandalism is occurring. In addition, in this embodiment, either a fraud prevention configuration using the movement detection unit 116 or a fraud prevention configuration using the dismantling sensor 107 may be adopted, or both configurations may be combined. For example, the water supply tap 100 and the water management server 500 communicate at regular intervals. If a communication error occurs a predetermined number of times or more in succession, the water management server 500 may be configured to issue a failure notification indicating that fraudulent activity such as theft or dismantling has occurred. In addition, the water management server 500 may monitor the water pressure at the water tap 100 at regular intervals, and if water pressure is no longer detected, may issue a notification of a malfunction indicating that fraudulent activity such as theft or demolition has occurred.

[0099] <Fourth embodiment> Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the water faucet 100 in the first and second embodiments is configured to open and close the valve portion by utilizing the buoyancy of the stop valve ball 104. However, the structure of the water faucet that is the subject of the determination of whether or not a fault has occurred in this embodiment is not limited to the example shown in Figures 2 and 3. Therefore, in this embodiment, a water faucet having a structure in which the faucet portion opens and closes depending on the water pressure received by the diaphragm is used as the object to determine whether or not a fault has occurred.

[0100] An example of the configuration of the water faucet 100A of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. In each figure, the structure of the water faucet 100A is shown in cross section as seen from the side of the water faucet 100. In the water faucet 100A, the water supply pipe 121 is a pipe through which water is supplied from a pipeline PL. The lower end of the water supply pipe 121 is connected to the end of the pipeline PL (FIG. 1), not shown. As a result, as shown by the arrow α in FIG. 8, the water delivered from the pipeline PL is supplied to a hollow portion 121a in the water supply pipe 121. In addition, an opening 121b on the upper end side of the water supply pipe 121 is tapered to correspond to the shape of the bottom side of the valve body portion 125.

[0101] Discharge pipe 122 is attached to the upper end of water supply pipe 121. Hollow portion 122a of discharge pipe 122 communicates with hollow portion 121a of water supply pipe 121 at a portion corresponding to opening 121b. For example, as shown in Figure 9, when opening 121b is not blocked by valve body portion 125, water supplied from pipeline PL passes through a flow path formed by hollow portion 121a, hollow portion 122a, and is discharged to the outside from outlet 122b, as shown by arrow β. In contrast, when the opening 121b is blocked by the valve body portion 125 as shown in Figure 8, the water supplied from the pipeline PL remains in the hollow portion 101a and does not flow into the hollow portion 122a, and is therefore not discharged to the outside.

[0102] A diaphragm case 123 is attached to the upper part of the discharge pipe 122. A diaphragm 124 is attached inside the diaphragm case 123. The upper space in the internal space of the diaphragm case 123, partitioned by the diaphragm 124, is formed as a pressure chamber 123a for driving the diaphragm 124 by water pressure.

[0103] Diaphragm 124 is fixed to the upper side of shaft portion 126. Shaft portion 126 passes through discharge pipe 122 downward from the inside of diaphragm case 123. The lower side of shaft portion 126 is fixed to valve body portion 125 inside discharge pipe 122. As a result, in response to the displacement of diaphragm 124 in the up-down direction, valve body portion 125 also moves in the up-down direction.

[0104] A guide shaft 127 is attached to the upper side of the shaft 126, and the guide shaft 127 is inserted into the handle shaft 129. Although detailed structural illustrations are omitted, by rotating a handle 128 attached to the handle shaft 129, the shaft 126 can be moved up and down to adjust the open / closed state of the valve body 125 at the opening 121b. In other words, the open / closed state of the faucet 100A, including the valve body 125 and opening 121b, can also be adjusted manually.

[0105] A filter 141 is provided on the side of the water supply pipe 121 , and a water pipe 131 is connected from the filter 141 to a switching valve 142 .

[0106] The switching valve 142 switches the flow path between the connected water conduits. A water conduit 132 is connected from the switching valve 142 to the lower side surface of the atmosphere release valve 151. A water conduit 133 is connected from the upper side surface of the atmosphere release valve 151 to the switching valve 142. The switching valve 142 is also connected to the inside of the pressure chamber 123a.

[0107] The atmosphere release valve 151 has a spherical valve body 160 provided in an inner chamber 151a. An opening 151b is provided below the valve body 160. The valve body portion 160 is suspended from an arm 171 of the valve body drive portion 170 by, for example, a rope or a chain. The valve element driving section 170 operates by a plug driving section provided in the circuit case 110 to move the arm 171 in the up and down direction. 8 shows a state in which arm 171 is positioned at the lowest position within its movable range. In this state, valve body portion 160 suspended from arm 171 descends to opening 151b and closes opening 151b. 9 shows a state in which arm 171 is positioned at the top of its movable range. In this state, valve body 160 suspended from arm 171 moves away from opening 151b, opening 151b being opened.

[0108] 2 and 3, the circuit case 110 includes a plug driving unit 111, a control unit 112, a sensor-compatible communication unit 113, a server-compatible communication unit 114, and a power supply unit 115. Note that if the present embodiment also has a configuration that responds to fraudulent activity as in the third embodiment, it is sufficient to include a movement detection unit 116. The control unit 112 in this embodiment can also communicate with the water management server 500 via the server-compatible communication unit 114, as in the first embodiment. The control unit 112 can also transmit water level information acquired from the water level sensor 400 to the water management server 500 by communicating with the sensor-compatible communication unit 113. As a result, in this embodiment as well, it is possible to control each water tap 100A so that water is appropriately supplied to and drained from the field FM according to the water level in each field FM, for example.

[0109] In response to the opening and closing control of the control unit 112, the water tap 100A operates as follows. First, the case where the water tap 100A is closed will be described with reference to Figure 8. In this case, the control unit 112 controls the atmosphere release valve 151 to be closed. In other words, the control unit 112 controls the valve body drive unit 170 to move the arm 171 to the lowest position in its movable range. This causes the valve body unit 160 to close the opening 151b of the atmosphere release valve 151, and the atmosphere release valve 151 is closed.

[0110] Here, the water in the hollow portion 121a flows from the filter 141 through the water conduit 131 to the switching valve 142 due to the pressure from the pipeline PL. At this time, the switching valve 142 connects the water conduit 131 and the water conduit 132. The water that flows through the water conduit 131 flows into the inner chamber 151a of the atmosphere release valve 151 via the water conduit 132, but the atmosphere release valve 151 is in a closed state. Therefore, the water that flows into the inner chamber 151a of the atmosphere release valve 151 is stored in the inner chamber 151a.

[0111] When the inner chamber is filled with water supplied from the water conduit 132, water flows from the inner chamber 151a through the water conduit 133. At this time, the switching valve 142 connects the water conduit 133 to the pressure chamber 123a in the diaphragm case 123, and the water that flows through the water conduit 133 is stored in the pressure chamber 123a.

[0112] As described above, water accumulates in pressure chamber 123a, and when pressure chamber 123a is filled with water, the water pressure exerts a force that pushes diaphragm 124 downward. Here, the effective pressure area of ​​diaphragm 124 is much larger than valve body portion 125, so diaphragm 124 is pushed downward. As a result, valve body portion 160, which is connected to diaphragm 124 via shaft portion 126, also moves downward, closing opening 121b. In this way, faucet 100A is closed.

[0113] Next, a case where the faucet 100A is opened will be described with reference to FIG. 9. In this case, the control unit 112 controls the atmosphere release valve 151 to be in an open state. That is, the control unit 112 outputs a control amount corresponding to a predetermined control opening degree greater than "0" to the valve element drive unit 170. The valve element drive unit 170 drives the arm 171 in accordance with the input control amount. As a result, the arm 171 is moved to a position corresponding to the control opening degree, above the lowest position in its movable range. As a result, the valve element unit 160 moves the atmosphere release valve 151 away from the opening 151b, and the atmosphere release valve 151 is opened. Note that the same figure shows an example in which the arm 171 is moved to the top of its movable range to achieve the open state with the highest opening degree.

[0114] In this case as well, the water in hollow portion 121a flows from filter 141 through water conduit 131 due to the pressure from pipeline PL, and then flows further into water conduit 132 via switching valve 142, and then flows into inner chamber 151a of atmosphere release valve 151. However, in this case, atmosphere release valve 151 is in an open state. Therefore, the water that flows into inner chamber 151a of atmosphere release valve 151 is not stored in inner chamber 151a, but is discharged to the outside through opening 151b.

[0115] In the above case, water is not filled in the inner chamber 151a of the atmosphere release valve 151. Therefore, water does not flow under pressure into the pressure chamber 123a in the diaphragm case 123 and fill it. In this case, no force is generated to push diaphragm 124 downward, so the pressure that valve body 125 receives from hollow portion 121a becomes higher. This causes diaphragm 124 to move upward, and valve body 125 also moves away from opening 121b. This opens faucet 100A, and water flows from hollow portion 121a through hollow portion 122a and is discharged from outlet 122b. In the case of a water faucet 100A configured with a diaphragm in this manner, if the force acting on the valve body in the opening direction, i.e., the water supply pressure, is low, it may be difficult to raise the diaphragm 124, which is directly linked to the valve body section 125, and the valve body may be difficult to open. In response to such cases, the valve body drive section 170 of this embodiment also has the function of raising the diaphragm 124 as an electrical drive assist to compensate for any shortfall in water supply pressure.

[0116] In a water faucet 100A configured as described above, debris can easily become clogged in, for example, the water conduit 131, filter 141, switching valve 142, and opening 151b, which can cause problems. If debris clogs the water conduit 131 or filter 141, water cannot be sent to the pressure chamber 123a, and the stopper cannot be closed. Furthermore, if debris clogs the switching valve 142, opening 151b, or the like, water cannot be discharged from the pressure chamber 123a, and the pressure on the diaphragm 124 cannot be reduced, making it impossible to open the stopper. Therefore, in this embodiment, the water supply tap 100A having the diaphragm structure shown in Figures 8 and 9 is configured to be able to determine the occurrence of a fault and perform fault response processing to deal with the occurrence of a fault, even when the water supply tap 100A is installed in a farm field FM.

[0117] In this embodiment, the configuration for determining whether a fault has occurred due to clogging may be the same as in the first embodiment. That is, in this embodiment as well, a flow rate sensor is provided to detect the amount of water (flow rate) flowing through the flow path in the faucet 100A. In addition, in this embodiment as well, the occurrence of a fault may be determined based on whether the flow rate detected by the flow rate sensor when the opening / closing control unit controls the stopper unit to be in the closed state (or the open state) corresponds to the closed state (or the open state).

[0118] In this embodiment, if the above-described clogging occurs, it is unlikely that the clogging will be resolved even if the tap portion is opened and closed as in the case of the water tap 100 of FIG. Therefore, in this embodiment, the following configuration can be adopted for fault resolution control. For example, although not specifically shown, the valve stem 126 shown in Figures 7 and 8 may be hollowed out and an additional hole drilled in the valve body 125, thereby establishing communication between the hollow portion 121a and the pressure chamber 123a. In other words, a bypass is provided for supplying water into the pressure chamber 123a. Under normal circumstances, the bypass is closed, for example, by a solenoid valve, to prevent communication between the hollow portion 121a and the pressure chamber 123a. When the water management server 500 determines that debris has clogged the valve and the valve cannot be closed, it activates the solenoid valve to allow water to pass through the bypass, thereby closing the valve. Although not shown, a plurality of water conduits 131 may be provided. In this case, if the water management server 500 determines that the water conduits 131 are not closed despite having controlled them to be closed, it controls the solenoid valves of the water conduits 131 to open, and supplies water to the pressure chamber 123a from the water conduits 131 that are not clogged with debris. This allows the stopper to be closed. Furthermore, to cope with a state in which the stopper does not enter the open state, another auxiliary open valve is provided that communicates with the outside from the diaphragm 124, separate from the atmosphere open valve 151. Then, when the water management server 500 determines that the stopper does not enter the open state despite having controlled the stopper to enter the open state, the auxiliary open valve can be controlled to open, and water can be discharged from the pressure chamber 123a to the outside, thereby opening the stopper. In this embodiment, too, a failure occurrence notification may be made in the same manner as in the previous embodiments.

[0119] Even when the water supply tap 100A having the structure of FIGS. 8 and 9 is provided, the determination of whether a fault has occurred and the processing to deal with the fault that has occurred in the second or third embodiment can be applied.

[0120] Furthermore, either the first embodiment or the fourth embodiment can be appropriately combined with the second embodiment or the third embodiment.

[0121] Furthermore, the structure of the water faucet in this embodiment is not limited to the examples shown in Figures 2, 3, 8, and 9, and other structures may be used. Furthermore, for example, the water faucet devices that are the subject of the determination of whether or not a fault has occurred in this embodiment may include not only water faucets but also drain plugs. Furthermore, the water faucet devices that are the subject of the determination of whether or not a fault has occurred are not limited to water faucets and drain plugs installed in farm fields, but may also be water gates such as slide gates installed in dams, rivers, etc.

[0122] Note that a program for implementing the functions of the water management server 500 or the water taps 100 and 100A may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program may be loaded into a computer system and executed to perform the processing of the water management server 500 or the water taps 100 and 100A. Here, "loading a program recorded on a recording medium into a computer system and executing it" includes installing the program on a computer system. The term "computer system" here includes hardware such as an operating system and peripheral devices. The term "computer system" may also include multiple computers connected via a network, including the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or a dedicated line. The term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as a flexible disk, optical magnetic disk, ROM, or CD-ROM, as well as storage devices such as a hard disk built into a computer system. The recording medium storing the program may also be a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM. The term "recording medium" also includes internal or external recording media accessible from a distribution server for distributing the program. The program code stored on the recording medium of the distribution server may be different from the program code in a format executable by the terminal device. In other words, the format in which the program is stored on the distribution server is not important as long as it can be downloaded from the distribution server and installed in a format executable by the terminal device. The program may be divided into multiple parts, each downloaded at a different time and then combined on the terminal device, or each part may be distributed by a different distribution server. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" also includes a storage medium that stores a program for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory (RAM) within a computer system that serves as a server or client when a program is transmitted over a network. The program may also be for implementing part of the functions described above.Furthermore, the above-mentioned functions may be realized in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, that is, a so-called differential file (differential program). [Explanation of symbols]

[0123] 100 (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), 100A water supply valve, 101 water supply pipe, 101a hollow portion, 102 discharge pipe, 102a hollow portion, 103 cup, 103a hollow portion, 104 stop valve ball, 105 shaft portion, 106 flow rate sensor, 107 disassembly sensor, 110 circuit case, 111 valve drive unit, 111a motor, 112 control unit, 113 sensor-compatible communication unit, 114 server-compatible communication unit, 115 power supply unit, 116 movement detection unit, 121 water supply pipe, 121a hollow portion, 121b opening, 122 discharge pipe, 122a hollow portion, 122b discharge port, 123 diaphragm case, 123a pressure chamber, 124 diaphragm, 125 Valve body part, 126 shaft part, 127 guide shaft, 128 handle, 129 handle shaft, 131 water pipe, 132 water pipe, 133 water pipe, 140 movement sensor, 141 filter, 142 switching valve, 151 atmospheric release valve, 151a inner chamber, 151b opening, 160 valve body part, 170 valve body drive part, 171 arm, 200 (200-1, 200-2, 200-3) drain plug, 300 (300-A, 300-B1, 300-B2, 300-B3) water sensor, 400 (400-1, 400-2, 400-3) water level sensor, 500 water management server, 501 communication part, 502 control part, 503 memory part, 521 Opening / closing control unit, 522 fault determination unit, 523 fault response unit, 531 water supply hydrant control information storage unit, 532 fault history information storage unit, 600 (600-1, 600-2, 600-3) farm owner terminal, 600-1 farm owner terminal, 600-2 farm owner terminal, 600-3 farm owner terminal

Claims

1. A plurality of water faucet devices are installed in a plurality of farm fields and supply irrigation water to the farm fields, The faucet device includes a control unit, a server-compatible communication unit that communicates with the water management server, a power supply unit having a storage battery, and a tap drive unit that drives the opening and closing of a tap unit that is provided in a flow path until the water to be supplied to the faucet device is discharged by rotating a shaft unit in accordance with the rotation of a motor using power supplied from the power supply unit and moving it up and down. In the faucet device, the faucet drive unit monitors the load current of the motor, and outputs an overload notification signal to the control unit when the load current reaches an overload state, or the control unit detects an overload state based on the load current value of the motor, and the control unit transmits an overload notification including identification information indicating the faucet device to the water management server in response to the re-occurrence of an overload state after fault resolution control that opens and closes the faucet unit to resolve the overload state, The water management server a fault response unit that, when it is determined that a fault has occurred based on the overload notification sent by the control unit, sends a fault occurrence notification including information about the faucet device in which the fault has occurred to at least one of an administrator of the water management system and a farm owner; The fault response unit issues a notice of an abnormality when the fault determination unit determines that the water level in the field has not changed based on the water level detected while the water faucet device is being controlled to supply water to the field. Water management system.

2. A plurality of water faucet devices are installed in a plurality of farm fields and supply irrigation water to the farm fields, The faucet device includes a control unit, a server-compatible communication unit that communicates with the water management server, a power supply unit having a storage battery, and a tap drive unit that drives the opening and closing of a tap unit that is provided in a flow path until the water to be supplied to the faucet device is discharged by rotating a shaft unit in accordance with the rotation of a motor using power supplied from the power supply unit and moving it up and down. In the faucet device, the faucet drive unit monitors the load current of the motor, and outputs an overload notification signal to the control unit when the load current reaches an overload state, or the control unit detects an overload state based on the load current value of the motor, and the control unit transmits an overload notification including identification information indicating the faucet device to the water management server in response to the re-occurrence of an overload state after fault resolution control that opens and closes the faucet unit to resolve the overload state, The water management server a fault response unit that, when it is determined that a fault has occurred based on the overload notification sent by the control unit, sends a fault occurrence notification including information about the faucet device in which the fault has occurred to at least one of an administrator of the water management system and a farm owner; The failure response unit issues a notification of an abnormality when it is determined that the storage battery in the power supply unit has become low in voltage. Water management system.

3. A water level sensor is provided in the field, The water faucet device includes a sensor-compatible communication unit, The water level sensor transmits the measured water level to the water faucet device. The water management system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The water level sensor transmits the measured water level to the water faucet device via short-range wireless communication. The water management system according to claim 3.

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