Irrigation Pump Pressure Control via Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing irrigation management systems face challenges in maintaining optimal water pressure across multiple irrigation systems, leading to negative pressure deviations that affect system performance due to fluctuations in water demand and system configuration changes.
Innovation Solution
An automated irrigation management system that includes water pressure sensors and a controller to monitor and adjust water pump output, ensuring each irrigation system operates at its target pressure by identifying and addressing negative deviations across multiple systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single water pump supplies multiple irrigation systems, then water distribution efficiency is improved, but water pressure control for each system deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automatic feedback control by continuously monitoring water pressure at each irrigation system and adjusting the pump output accordingly. The controller receives pressure data from multiple irrigation systems and dynamically modifies pump operation to maintain target pressure levels, resolving the contradiction between serving multiple systems and maintaining precise pressure control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamic adjustment of pump output levels based on real-time conditions. Rather than fixed pump settings, the system continuously adapts pump performance to match the aggregate water demand of multiple irrigation systems, enabling both efficient multi-system service and precise pressure control through automated dynamic regulation.
2Device complexity
If manual valve adjustment is used to control pump output, then device complexity is reduced, but response time to pressure changes increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs self-service automation where the controller automatically monitors pressure and adjusts pump output without manual intervention. This eliminates the need for operators to manually actuate valves while enabling rapid automated response to pressure deviations, resolving the trade-off between simplicity and response speed.
Solution Approach 2:
Automatic feedback control loops continuously monitor water pressure and immediately trigger pump adjustments when deviations occur. This eliminates the time delay inherent in manual detection and adjustment while maintaining relatively simple control architecture through automated decision-making algorithms.
3Reliability
If pump output is increased to meet peak demand, then water availability improves, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts pump output to match actual aggregate demand from irrigation systems rather than operating at fixed high capacity. This enables the pump to scale performance with water demand, ensuring adequate supply during peak periods while reducing energy consumption during lower demand periods through automated performance modulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the pump based on real-time conditions, specifically adjusting output levels and speed according to aggregate water demand and pressure requirements. This parameter adaptation allows the system to maintain reliability when needed while optimizing energy efficiency during normal operation.
Data Source
AI summary
An irrigation management system includes a water pump, at least one mobile irrigation system, and a pump controller. The mobile irrigation system includes a water pressure sensor for generating water pressure data indicating water pressure in the irrigation system. The pump controller is configured to receive the water pressure data generated by the water pressure sensor, to compare a target water pressure with the sensed water pressure data to determine a difference between the target water pressure and the sensed water pressure, and to adjust operation of the water pump to increase or decrease water pressure to the irrigation system in a manner that resolves the difference between the target water pressure and the sensed water pressure.