Lateral Irrigation End-of-Run Control System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lateral irrigation systems often leave significant areas of a field unirrigated due to uneven movement of mobile towers and non-perpendicular field boundaries, causing the safety circuit to stop the system prematurely.
Innovation Solution
A lateral move irrigation system with a control system that monitors the positions of mobile towers and adjusts their speed or stops them at a second pre-determined distance before the safety circuit engages, ensuring all towers reach their end-of-run positions simultaneously, thus minimizing unirrigated areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If safety switches are mounted on mobile towers to stop all motors when end-of-run barricades are reached, then the irrigation system prevents traveling beyond field boundaries, but large areas of the field remain unirrigated when towers reach end-of-run positions at different times
Solution Approach 1:
The safety control system is segmented into multiple independent tower control units, each equipped with its own location determining component and control logic. This allows each tower to be controlled independently rather than stopping all towers when any single tower reaches its end-of-run position, thereby preventing large unirrigated areas while maintaining field boundary protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the operation of each tower based on its individual position and speed. The control system monitors location of each tower independently and can vary the speed or stop individual towers as needed, rather than applying a uniform stop command to all towers. This dynamic control ensures continuous irrigation coverage while preventing any tower from exceeding field boundaries.
2Speed
If motors on one side of the irrigation system move towers at faster rates than motors on the opposite side, then the irrigation system covers more ground quickly, but the safety circuit stops all movement when any tower reaches end-of-run position, leaving wedge-shaped unirrigated areas
Solution Approach 1:
The control system dynamically monitors and adjusts the speed of each tower's motor based on real-time position data. When one tower approaches its end-of-run position faster than others, the system independently slows or stops that specific tower's motor while allowing other towers to continue moving at full speed. This dynamic speed control eliminates wedge-shaped unirrigated areas while maintaining overall system productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
Each tower is equipped with location determining components that provide continuous feedback to the control system. This feedback mechanism allows the control system to monitor the position of each tower independently and adjust motor speeds in real-time to ensure all towers reach their end-of-run positions simultaneously, maximizing irrigation coverage without exceeding field boundaries.
3Reliability
If the safety circuit stops all motors when any tower is within a pre-determined distance of end-of-run position, then field boundary protection is ensured, but the system shuts down prematurely before all towers can complete their irrigation paths
Solution Approach 1:
The end-of-run control function is segmented and assigned to individual tower control units rather than a centralized stop command. Each tower independently monitors its own distance from the end-of-run position using location determining components and stops only when its own tower reaches the pre-determined distance threshold. This segmentation allows towers to operate independently, preventing premature system-wide shutdown and reducing irrigation completion time while maintaining accurate end-of-run position control.
Data Source
AI summary
A lateral move irrigation system more effectively irrigates a field by minimizing the portions of the field that receive no irrigation. The irrigation system includes a plurality of mobile towers, a plurality of elongated support structures attached to and extending between the towers, and a fluid delivery system. Each mobile tower has wheels and a motor for driving the wheels. A safety circuit stops the motors on all the mobile towers when any of the towers reaches an end-of-run position. Location determining components determine locations of the mobile towers as they traverse a field, and a control system stops or slows any of the towers before they trigger the safety circuit so that lagging mobile tower may catch up before the safety circuit shuts down or reverses all the motors.