Automatic irrigation control system

Abstract

The present invention provides an automatic irrigation control system that is communicatively linked with an integrated controller for a crop cultivation site and comprises: an information collection unit for collecting cultivation environment information including at least soil moisture content information as base information for automatic irrigation control; a crop cultivation information DB for storing crop cultivation information; a statistics DB for storing statistics information for the automatic irrigation control; an information processing unit for performing information processing for the automatic irrigation control of the crop cultivation site on the basis of the collected cultivation environment information; and a system operation unit for transmitting control commands for the automatic irrigation control to the integrated controller. According to the automatic irrigation control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, proper irrigation can be achieved in conformity with the crop growth cycle, the external environmental factors of the crop cultivation site, and the soil moisture content of the crop cultivation site.

Description

Automatic irrigation control system

[0001] The present invention relates to crop cultivation technology, and more specifically, to an automatic irrigation control system.

[0002] The most significant factor affecting crop growth is water. Therefore, farmers prioritize securing irrigation facilities over fertilizer and nutrient supply to prevent critical issues in crop growth.

[0003] In addition, when growing crops, more time and labor are concentrated on irrigation management than on other tasks. Accordingly, many automatic irrigation control systems have recently been introduced to enable unmanned irrigation work to reduce the time and labor required for irrigation work.

[0004] These conventional automatic irrigation control systems typically include a water supply pipe designed to supply water from a water source to a crop cultivation area, an electronic valve designed to control the flow of water supplied to the crop cultivation area through the water supply pipe, and a control unit designed to control the operation of the electronic valve.

[0005] In cases where irrigation work is performed according to a preset irrigation time, as in the case of conventional automatic irrigation control systems, unnecessary periodic irrigation may be performed even when there is sufficient soil moisture required for actual crop cultivation, which may result in a waste of resources and energy, and there is a problem in that an appropriate amount of water cannot be supplied to the crop cultivation area in response to sudden weather phenomena such as heat waves, heavy snow, or showers.

[0006] The present invention provides an automatic irrigation control system that can provide appropriate irrigation according to the crop growth cycle, according to the external environmental factors of the crop cultivation area, and according to the soil moisture content of the crop cultivation area.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, an automatic irrigation control system that is connected to an integrated controller of a crop cultivation area and communicates with the integrated controller, the automatic irrigation control system including: an information collection unit that collects cultivation environment information including at least soil moisture content information as basic information for automatic irrigation control; a crop cultivation information DB that stores crop cultivation information; a statistics DB that stores statistical information for the automatic irrigation control; an information processing unit that performs information processing for automatic irrigation control of a crop cultivation area based on the collected cultivation environment information; and a system operation unit that transmits a control command for the automatic irrigation control to the integrated controller.

[0008] According to the automatic irrigation control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide appropriate irrigation according to the crop growth cycle, according to the external environmental factors of the crop cultivation area, and according to the soil moisture content of the crop cultivation area.

[0009] Figure 1 is a general system configuration diagram of an agricultural platform system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the farming platform system of FIG. 1.

[0011] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an automatic irrigation control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] The present invention is susceptible to various modifications and embodiments. Specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, but rather to encompass all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

[0013] In describing the present invention, detailed descriptions of related known technologies will be omitted if they are deemed to unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention. Furthermore, numbers (e.g., "first," "second," etc.) used throughout the description of this specification are merely identifiers used to distinguish one component from another.

[0014] In addition, when a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" with another component throughout the specification, it should be understood that the component may be directly connected or directly connected to the other component, but may also be connected or connected via another component in between, unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, when a part is said to "include" a component throughout the specification, this does not mean that other components are excluded, but rather that other components may be included, unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, terms such as "part" and "module" described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, and this means that it can be implemented with one or more hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0015]

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0017] Here, FIG. 1 is a general system configuration diagram of an agricultural platform system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of one embodiment of the agricultural platform system of FIG. 1.

[0018] Referring to FIG. 1, the farming platform system (100) according to an embodiment of the present invention can collect or receive various data related to crop cultivation (i.e., temperature, humidity, wind volume, precipitation, snowfall, fine dust, soil, etc.), crop pest-related big data, and various farming activity-related information and crop cultivation-related information input by users through communication linkage with user terminals (see 10-1, 10-2, ... 10-N of FIG. 1, hereinafter collectively referred to as reference numeral 10) used by users who are crop growers or farmers; and external information systems (see 200-1, 200-2, ... 200-N of FIG. 1, hereinafter collectively referred to as reference numeral 200) (e.g., Korea Meteorological Administration server, soil information management server, Statistics Korea server, Rural Development Administration server, etc.).

[0019] In addition, in the present invention, the farming platform system (100) may be implemented to include an information receiving unit (110), an information collecting unit (120), an information processing unit (130), a system operating unit (140), a farmer member database (151), a crop cultivation information database (153), a farming activity information database (155), a statistics database (157), and a pest and disease database (159), as illustrated in FIG. 2. Here, the statistics database (157) stores statistical information for the automatic irrigation control.

[0020] The information receiving unit (110) is linked with the crop cultivation application program (App) for farmers installed on the communication terminal used by the user, and receives user input information related to crop cultivation (see the information input screen of FIG. 3, etc.).

[0021] The information collection unit (120) collects cultivation environment information and cultivation activity information as basic information for automatic irrigation control from a remote external information system (200), a crop cultivation application program for farmers installed in the user terminal (10), and an integrated controller (300) installed in a crop cultivation area.

[0022] The information processing unit (130) performs information processing for automatic irrigation control, which will be described later, and the system operation unit (140) transmits control commands for automatic irrigation control to the integrated controller (300). It goes without saying that during such irrigation control, nutrients (such as fertilizers) useful for crop cultivation, such as the six major nutrients, can be supplied together in the form of liquid fertilizer.

[0023] Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail as follows.

[0024]

[0025] In an embodiment of the present invention, the crop cultivation information DB (153) records information on the target moisture content value of soil required for crop cultivation according to the growth period of the crop.

[0026] In addition, the statistical DB (157) stores, as statistical information for each cultivated crop, first statistical information, which is root depth statistical information for each crop growth period, which relates to how deep the roots of the crop penetrate into the soil as the crop grows; and second statistical information, which is soil infiltration time statistical information, which relates to how long it takes for water from irrigation to penetrate into the soil based on a pre-measured standard irrigation amount, to reach a pre-specified standard moisture content for each soil depth, as statistical information for each soil type.

[0027] In an embodiment of the present invention, the information collection unit (120) collects the current soil moisture content value measured from a soil moisture sensor inserted into the soil of the crop cultivation area from the integrated controller that is in communication with the soil moisture sensor.

[0028] In addition, the information processing unit (130) may extract the target moisture content value corresponding to the growth period of the crops grown in the corresponding crop cultivation area from the crop cultivation information DB in calculating whether irrigation is necessary and the required irrigation amount for each pre-specified period, calculate the required irrigation amount by subtracting the current soil moisture content value collected by the information collection unit from the extracted target moisture content value, extract the root depth corresponding to the growth period of the crops grown in the corresponding crop cultivation area using the first statistical information of the statistical DB, extract the soil infiltration time corresponding to the soil depth matching the extracted root depth using the second statistical information of the statistical DB, and calculate the value obtained by dividing the required irrigation amount by the extracted soil infiltration time as the reference irrigation amount.

[0029] In this case, the system operation unit (140) generates an irrigation control command that enables irrigation to be performed during the extracted soil infiltration time using the reference irrigation amount calculated by the information processing unit, and transmits the command to the integrated controller, thereby allowing automatic irrigation to be performed by an underground irrigation device controlled by the integrated controller.

[0030]

[0031] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the information collection unit (120) can collect information on the rainfall amount per unit time measured from a rainfall sensor installed in the crop cultivation area from the integrated controller that is in communication with the rainfall sensor.

[0032] In this case, the information processing unit (130) can calculate a corrected irrigation amount by subtracting the rainfall per unit time value from the standard irrigation amount.

[0033] In this case, the system operation unit (140) generates an irrigation control command to enable irrigation during the extracted soil infiltration time with the corrected irrigation amount calculated by the information processing unit when the corrected irrigation amount has a (+) value, and transmits the command to the integrated controller, thereby allowing automatic irrigation to be executed by an underground irrigation device controlled by the integrated controller.

[0034]

[0035] Additionally, in an embodiment of the present invention, the statistical DB may store third statistical information regarding the average soil moisture evaporation value at the ground surface at a pre-specified depth by soil temperature; and fourth statistical information regarding the average crop moisture evaporation value occurring in the stems and leaves of crops by wind speed or solar radiation.

[0036] At this time, the information collection unit (120) can collect soil temperature values, solar radiation values, and wind speed values ​​measured from the soil temperature sensor, solar radiation sensor, and wind speed sensor installed in the crop cultivation area from the integrated controller.

[0037] In this case, the information processing unit (130) can extract a soil moisture evaporation value corresponding to the collected soil temperature value using the third statistical information, and can extract a crop moisture evaporation value corresponding to the collected solar radiation value or the collected wind speed value using the fourth statistical information.

[0038] In this case, the system operation unit (140) can generate an irrigation control command to enable irrigation in the amount of soil moisture evaporation extracted by the information processing unit and transmit the command to the integrated controller, thereby allowing automatic irrigation to be executed by a spray irrigation device controlled by the integrated controller. In addition, the system operation unit (140) can generate an irrigation control command to enable irrigation in the amount of crop moisture evaporation extracted by the information processing unit and transmit the command to the integrated controller, thereby allowing automatic irrigation to be executed by a drip irrigation device controlled by the integrated controller.

[0039]

[0040] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to embodiments thereof, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes to the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below.

Claims

1. An automatic irrigation control system that is connected to the integrated controller of the crop cultivation area and communicates with it. An information collection unit that collects cultivation environment information including at least soil moisture content information as base information for automatic irrigation control; Crop cultivation information DB that stores crop cultivation information; A statistical DB storing statistical information for the above automatic irrigation control; An information processing unit that performs information processing for automatic irrigation control of a crop cultivation area based on the collected cultivation environment information; An automatic irrigation control system comprising a system operating unit that transmits a control command for the automatic irrigation control to the integrated controller.

2. In paragraph 1, The above crop cultivation information DB records information on the target moisture content of the soil required for crop cultivation according to the growth period of the crop. The above statistical DB is, An automatic irrigation control system characterized in that it stores first statistical information, which is root depth statistical information by crop growth period, regarding how deep the roots of the crop penetrate into the soil as the crop grows; and second statistical information, which is soil infiltration time statistical information, regarding how long it takes for moisture due to irrigation to penetrate the soil based on a pre-measured standard irrigation amount, regarding a pre-specified standard moisture content by soil depth, regarding statistical information by soil type.

3. In paragraph 2, The above information collection department, The current soil moisture content value measured from a soil moisture sensor inserted into the soil of the crop cultivation area is collected from the integrated controller that is in communication with the soil moisture sensor. The above information processing unit, In calculating whether irrigation is necessary and the amount of irrigation required for each pre-designated period, Extract the target moisture content value corresponding to the growth period of the crops grown in the crop cultivation area from the crop cultivation information DB above, The value obtained by subtracting the current soil moisture content value collected by the information collection unit from the target moisture content value extracted above is calculated as the required irrigation amount, Using the first statistical information of the above statistical DB, the root depth corresponding to the growth period of the crops grown in the crop cultivation area is extracted, Using the second statistical information of the above statistical DB, the soil infiltration time corresponding to the soil depth matching the extracted root depth is extracted, An automatic irrigation control system characterized in that the required irrigation amount is calculated as a reference irrigation amount by dividing the value by the extracted soil infiltration time.

4. In paragraph 3, The above system operation department, An automatic irrigation control system characterized in that it generates an irrigation control command that enables irrigation to be performed during the extracted soil infiltration time using the reference irrigation amount calculated by the information processing unit and transmits the command to the integrated controller, thereby allowing automatic irrigation to be performed by an underground irrigation device controlled by the integrated controller.

5. In paragraph 3, The above information collection unit collects the rainfall per unit time value measured from the rainfall sensor installed in the crop cultivation area from the integrated controller that is in communication with the rainfall sensor, The above information processing unit calculates a corrected irrigation amount by subtracting the rainfall per unit time value from the standard irrigation amount, The above system operation department, An automatic irrigation control system characterized in that when the above-mentioned corrected irrigation amount has a (+) value, an irrigation control command is generated and transmitted to the integrated controller so that irrigation can be performed during the extracted soil infiltration time with the above-mentioned corrected irrigation amount calculated by the information processing unit, thereby causing automatic irrigation to be performed by an underground irrigation device controlled by the integrated controller.

6. In paragraph 4, The above statistical DB is, Third statistical information on the average soil moisture evaporation value at the ground surface at a pre-specified depth by soil temperature; Fourth statistical information on the average crop moisture evaporation value occurring from the stems and leaves of crops by wind speed or solar radiation; are stored, The above information collection department, Soil temperature, irradiance, and wind speed values ​​measured from soil temperature sensors, irradiance sensors, and wind speed sensors installed in the crop cultivation area are collected from the integrated controller. The above information processing unit, Using the above third statistical information, the soil moisture evaporation value corresponding to the collected soil temperature value is extracted, Using the above fourth statistical information, the crop moisture evaporation value corresponding to the collected solar radiation value or the collected wind speed value is extracted, The above system operation department, By generating an irrigation control command to enable irrigation in the amount equivalent to the soil moisture evaporation amount extracted by the above information processing unit and transmitting it to the above integrated controller, automatic irrigation is executed by a spray irrigation device controlled by the above integrated controller. An automatic irrigation control system characterized in that it generates an irrigation control command to enable irrigation in an amount equivalent to the crop moisture evaporation amount extracted by the information processing unit and transmits the command to the integrated controller, thereby allowing automatic irrigation to be executed by a drip irrigation device controlled by the integrated controller.

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