Connected Watering Pump Control for Adaptive Irrigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current gardening and lawn care systems require significant manual interaction for monitoring and operating sensors and watering equipment, limiting efficiency and ease of use.
Innovation Solution
An intelligent system that includes sensor equipment, a watering pump with a pump sensor assembly, and a gateway for communication, allowing remote operation and programming of watering equipment through a user terminal, enabling adaptive and efficient watering based on environmental parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual interaction is used to operate sensors and watering equipment, then system complexity is reduced, but productivity and ease of operation deteriorate due to significant manual effort required
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service operation where the watering pump automatically monitors environmental parameters through sensor assemblies, processes the data locally, and executes watering decisions without requiring continuous manual intervention. The pump serves itself by integrating sensing, processing, and actuation functions into a single autonomous unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple previously separate functions (sensors, data processing unit, and watering pump actuation) into a single integrated system. This merging reduces the number of separate components needing manual coordination while maintaining intelligent operation, thereby improving ease of use without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Productivity
If manual monitoring and operation is required, then device complexity is minimized, but productivity deteriorates due to time-consuming manual tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The watering pump system performs self-monitoring of environmental conditions and self-execution of watering tasks based on processed sensor data. This automation eliminates the need for continuous manual monitoring and operation, significantly improving productivity by reducing the time and effort required for yard maintenance tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors environmental parameters through sensor assemblies, processes this feedback information locally, and automatically adjusts watering operations accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the system to respond dynamically to changing conditions, improving productivity through automated decision-making.
3Ease of operation
If remote control capability is added to reduce manual effort, then ease of operation improves, but device complexity increases due to additional communication components
Solution Approach 1:
The communication interface is merged with the existing data processing unit of the watering pump, allowing remote control functionality to be integrated into the core control architecture. This approach enables remote operation without requiring separate dedicated communication hardware, thereby minimizing the increase in overall system complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system (10) with sensor equipment (30) including one or more sensors (140,142) and watering equipment (20) disposed on a parcel of land and configured to selectively apply water to the parcel, and a gateway (40) configured to provide for communication with the sensor equipment (30) and the watering equipment (20). The watering equipment (20) comprises a watering pump (120), wherein the watering pump (120) is operably coupled to a water source (100) and a water line (110) to alternately couple the water source (100) to and isolate the water source (100) from the water line (110). The watering pump (120) includes a communication circuitry (160). The communication circuitry (160) includes an antenna for enabling the watering pump (120) to communicate with the gateway (40). The communication circuitry (160) is configured to monitor and calculate the runtime of and the water usage by the watering pump (120).