Zone-Based Irrigation Control Using Weather Forecast Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automatic irrigation systems struggle to maintain optimal soil moisture levels in open farm fields due to weather changes, leading to unsuitable conditions for plant growth.
Innovation Solution
A control device that determines an irrigation schedule based on environment values and weather forecasts to individually control the supply time and amount of irrigation water to each divided area of an open farm field, using a system of environment sensors, a calculation unit, and a water supply device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If existing automatic irrigation systems are used in open farm fields, then irrigation automation is achieved, but soil moisture levels become unsuitable due to weather changes
Solution Approach 1:
The farm field is divided into multiple divided areas, and the irrigation system is segmented to individually control water supply to each area based on local environmental conditions and weather forecasts, enabling precise moisture management despite weather variations
Solution Approach 2:
The system obtains weather forecasts in advance and pre-calculates irrigation schedules before irrigation events, allowing the system to proactively adjust water supply timing and amounts to counteract anticipated weather changes and maintain optimal soil moisture levels
2Device complexity
If uniform irrigation is applied to the entire farm field, then system complexity is reduced, but plant growth conditions become unsuitable due to weather variations across different areas
Solution Approach 1:
The irrigation system divides the farm field into multiple controlled zones and independently manages water supply to each zone based on environmental sensor data and weather forecasts, achieving localized adaptation without requiring complex centralized control for the entire field
Solution Approach 2:
Each divided area receives irrigation treatment tailored to its specific local conditions (environmental values) and anticipated weather changes, rather than applying uniform irrigation across the entire field, thereby optimizing plant growth conditions in each zone
Data Source
AI summary
A control device controls a water supply device that supplies irrigation water to an open farm field in which a plant grows. The control device includes a storage unit, a calculation unit, and an output unit. The storage unit stores an environment value of each of a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing the farm field and weather forecast of the farm field. The calculation unit calculates, based on an environment value and the weather forecast, an irrigation schedule in which supply time and amount of the irrigation water individually supplied to each of the plurality of divided areas during the irrigation period are determined. The output unit outputs to the water supply device, a control signal to control supply and no supply of the irrigation water to each of the plurality of divided areas based on the irrigation schedule.