JP2021052798A - Water sprinkling system comprising adaptive components - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a water sprinkling system comprising components by which, operations of sensor equipment and water sprinkling equipment may be adaptively adjusted for efficient garden design and care of lawn.SOLUTION: A system 10 comprises: sensor equipment 30 comprising one or a plurality of sensors which is arranged in one block of land; water sprinkling equipment 20 being arranged in the block and being configured to selectively apply water to the block; and a gate way 40 for providing communication between the sensor equipment 30 and the water sprinkling equipment 20. The gate way 40 may perform interface between a first network and a second network. The first network includes at least, the water sprinkling equipment 20 and the sensor equipment 30. An operator can radio communicate with the gate way through the second network.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

An exemplary embodiment relates to an intelligent system in general, and more particularly to a system for intelligent watering, including components configured to respond adaptively to environmental / circumstantial factors.

Soil care and maintenance tasks may include lawn care and / or landscaping tasks related to growth promotion and lawn or garden pruning, and this lawn or garden should be overgrown as a result of their efforts. .. Growth promotion generally requires individuals to take routine precautions to ensure that the growing conditions are suitable for plant growth and to provide the necessary care and care tasks for further growth enhancement. Will be done.

As technical capabilities have improved, various devices or sensors have been developed that can be used to monitor growing conditions in various ways. Therefore, it is possible for gardeners to use sensors or devices in specific locations to monitor the growing conditions and modify the growing conditions if necessary. However, even with improvements to surveillance devices or sensors, gardeners are still often required to perform approximately manual work in order to place and / or operate the devices or sensors.

Therefore, some exemplary embodiments provide the ability for intelligent control or management of multiple resources for garden maintenance with the assistance or inclusion of a gateway connecting a home communication network to a garden network. obtain. Thus, for example, the operation of sensor and watering equipment can be adaptively tuned for efficient landscaping and lawn care.

In an exemplary embodiment, a system for intelligent control or management of multiple resources for garden maintenance is provided. The system includes sensor equipment with one or more sensors located on a plot of land, and sprinklers located in this plot and configured to selectively water this plot. It may include gateways configured to provide communication with sensor equipment and sprinkler equipment. This gateway may provide an interface between the first network and the second network. The first network may include at least watering equipment and sensor equipment. The operator may be allowed to wirelessly communicate with the gateway over a second network (eg, via an app). At least one component of the sprinkler or sensor device can be an adaptive component.

Some exemplary embodiments may improve the operator's ability to maximize the beauty and productivity of the operator's garden and garden, and may be made in a simple and user-friendly manner.

As described above, the present invention has been described in general terms, but from here on, references are made to the attached drawings, and the attached drawings are not always in scale.

The block diagram of the system which concerns on an exemplary embodiment. A block diagram of deployed components of a system according to an exemplary embodiment. The figure which shows the deployed component which was duplicated for a plurality of water pipes which concerns on an exemplary embodiment. The block diagram of the processing circuit which can be used in the deployed component which concerns on an exemplary embodiment. The perspective view of the watering computer which concerns on an exemplary embodiment. An exploded perspective view of a watering computer according to an exemplary embodiment. The perspective view of the sensor which concerns on an exemplary embodiment.

Here, some exemplary embodiments are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the accompanying drawings illustrate some, but not all, exemplary embodiments. .. In fact, the examples described and depicted herein should not be construed as limiting with respect to the scope, applicability or configuration of the present disclosure. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided to meet the applicable legal requirements of this disclosure. Similar reference codes refer to similar elements throughout the text. Moreover, as used herein, the term "or" should be construed as a logical operator that results in true whenever one or more of its operands are true. The term "garden maintenance" is also intended to relate to any outdoor improvement or maintenance-related activity and is particularly applicable to activities directly linked to grassland, turf or turf soil care. There is no need to. Therefore, garden maintenance should be understood to include landscaping, lawn care, combinations thereof, and / or the like. As used herein, an operable bond relates to a direct or indirect connection, both of which are functional components that are operably connected to each other. It should be understood as allowing interconnection.

An exemplary embodiment monitors the condition of the garden (ie, the condition of the lawn and / or the garden), and / / which may be multiple locations throughout a particular plot. Alternatively, it may provide an intelligent system to maintain and allow the operator a flexible interface with the devices in the system. In addition, the devices of the system may be tuned for their activities and / or to adapt to their environment, or at least to the current state or stimulus present within those environments. Can be configured in. In some cases, the actions and / or monitoring performed may be accomplished with the assistance of mobile resources such as robot rover. In this regard, for example, the system may utilize a communication network that collects information about training conditions from sensor devices and associate this information with the area from which this information was collected. The system gives operators great flexibility in remotely controlling various components of the system and programming such components in each individual component via a processing circuit. An interface mechanism that allows it to be used can also be used. Therefore, programming can be coordinated remotely, but at least some of that programming is also local so that the system can work with or without connectivity. Can be remembered. In some cases, the connection mode of the system may utilize the home network component and the wide area network component (for example, the Internet), but the deployed component (for example, the component in the garden / garden) may be used. , Or other components related to garden maintenance) and gateways configured to provide an interface between the home network / wide area network components. As mentioned above, the processing modes may be distributed between the locally managed and remote managed components, so that some modes of garden maintenance utilize remote resources. , Or at least, while incorporating information obtained from the outdoors, other aspects can be managed locally. In any case, the adaptability and ease of interface and control are characteristics of the system that are improved by using exemplary embodiments.

Thus, the system can use any combination of fixed and / or mobile resources that can accommodate different areas and collect data related to a particular segment of that parcel. A particular segment may have different types of plants within that segment and, therefore, may optionally have the desired different growing conditions associated with each individual of that segment. The owner / operator may program the action instructions to guide the deployed components with respect to the actions within a particular segment, which particular segment may be referred to as a "zone". In some cases, the processing circuit may be provided to allow the user to define specific operating parameters, and therefore the system adapts the current state to operate according to those operating parameters. I can let you. If an internet connection is possible, in some cases the system may be associated with plants identified as desirable growing conditions based on stored information associated with each plant from a database or online resource. Can be used to correlate. Thus, each zone may have a corresponding breeding condition parameter associated with that zone, the user can see the breeding condition parameters associated with the various areas, and the desired breeding condition (eg, for example) for the corresponding zone. , Moisture level, temperature, lighting level, pH, and / or any or all of the same), the behavior of system components can be programmed. In some cases, scheduling between deployed components avoids collisions or avoids conflicts to prevent damage to the components, ineffective use of resources, or substantially reduced behavior. Otherwise it can be adjusted. The deployed components associated with the zone may provide reports and / or alerts to the operator through the gateway, allowing the operator to intervene in certain circumstances, or These components may simply respond and notify the operator of those responses via the gateway.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system 10 that can be used to achieve the basic operations described above, according to an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that within the context of FIG. 1, certain tasks such as mowing, feeding chemicals, visual surveillance and / or similar can be performed by the robot or robot rover 15. Since the system can operate without the robot rover 15, the robot rover 15 is shown by the dashed line in FIG. The robot or other device is also involved in performing certain other garden maintenance tasks, such as rake, fertilization, lighting, watering, wildlife placement and / or similar. Can be done.

Other tasks, such as watering the lawn, may be performed by a watering computer that interfaces with the sprinkler head and / or the sprinkler head. The sprinkler head may be attached to a hose and the sprinkler computer may turn on / off watering at each sprinkler head location by providing a central shutoff valve for the hose. A mechanism for controlling the hose may be provided. The hose, sprinkler head and / or sprinkler computer may form the sprinkler 20 together.

On the other hand, various sensors monitor the soil or other growing conditions (eg, lighting level, moisture level, pH, temperature, video or image data, etc.) by inserting such sensors into the soil. Can be used to Therefore, these sensors can be understood to take various forms within the system 10. However, generally speaking, those sensors may have a connection to the system 10 to improve the operation of the system components based on the soil and / or growing condition information collected by the sensors. Regardless of the particular configuration or placement paradigm, various sensors may represent the sensor device 30 as described above.

The sensor device 30 and, in some cases, one or more of the devices constituting the sprinkler device 20 may also communicate with the gateway 40 via a wired or wireless connection. The gateway 40 may subsequently have a wired or wireless connection to the access point (AP) 45, which may be directly or indirectly connectable to the user terminal 50. The AP45 may be a router on the operator's home network. In some cases, the direct connection of the AP45 to the user terminal 50 may be provided by a short-range wireless communication method (eg, Bluetooth®, WiFi and / or the like). The indirect connection of the AP 45 to the user terminal 50 may occur via the network 60. The network 60 includes a data network (eg, local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN) (eg, internet), wireless personal area network (WPAN), and / Or something similar), this data network may be a device (eg, a deployed component) and a processing element (eg, a personal computer, a server computer, or the like). It may combine with a device and / or a network such as the user terminal 50. Communication between network 60 and other devices in system 10 can be achieved by either a wired or wireless communication mechanism and a corresponding communication protocol. Therefore, for example, some or all of the sensors of the sensor device 30, the sprinkler device 20 and / or the robot rover 15 are connected to the user terminal 50 by a wired communication means and / or a wireless communication means. obtain.

Although the robot rover 15 is shown separately in FIG. 1, it is also understood that the robot rover 15 may function as one or both of a portion of the sensor device 30 and a portion of the sprinkler device 20. I want to be. However, the ability of the robot rover 15 to function as one or both of a part of the sensor device 30 and a part of the watering device 20 and the robot rover 15 for performing other tasks (eg, mowing). The robot rover 15 is shown separately in FIG. 1, assuming that the capabilities are combined with or independent of the sensor device 30 and the sprinkler device 20.

The gateway 40 may be a translation agent configured to interface with any or all of the deployed components via wired or wireless communication. In some embodiments, the gateway 40 provides a high performance antenna to allow the gateway 40 to wirelessly communicate with the deployed components via a 868 MHz wireless link (eg, a first wireless link). Can include. However, in other cases, other wireless links may be used. The first radio link, and the components connected by the first radio link, can be part of a first network that extends outdoors (eg, a garden network) or a deployed component network. Components that are inside a home or business and extend to and from the user terminal 50 to the user terminal 50 may form a second network. Therefore, the gateway 40 can be a translation agent between the first network and the second network. The gateway 40 can be an aggregation point and communication center for communication in both networks.

Therefore, the gateway 40 is provided in the operator's home or other indoor environment and still wirelessly communicates with the deployed component (via the first wireless link) to the component from the operator. The instructions can be translated and the instructions can be provided to the AP45 via a second radio link. In an exemplary embodiment, wireless communication can be secured by using encryption or other security techniques. Gateway 40 may also provide secure cloud data storage through a connection to network 60 (eg, via AP45). In some examples, the first radio link and the second radio link may be different radio links using different communication protocols and / or frequencies.

The gateway 40 may also provide the ability to interface with the user terminal 50, such as monitoring, controlling, and programming each of the components deployed by the operator using the user terminal 50. In particular, in some cases, the user terminal 50 provides an easy-to-use interface for easy setup and / or interaction with the gateway 40 (and the corresponding deployed components reachable through the gateway 40). It may be configured to run a adapted application (or app). Thus, the user terminal 50 may be a smartphone or other mobile terminal, laptop computer, PC, or other computing / communication device. Therefore, the user terminal 50 interfaces with the gateway 40 and / or the corresponding processing circuit of the deployed component to program and control the deployed component in a manner described in more detail below. , Or may include processing circuits that are otherwise allowed to interact.

The interaction between the user terminal 50 and the gateway 40 to facilitate the programming of the deployed components, the control of the deployed components, or the interaction with the deployed components is irrigation and / or reaping. It can create an interactive and fully connectable garden system for control / coordination. The application that can be executed on the user terminal 50 may be configured for real-time or programming-based control of any or all of the deployed components. The resulting system can be a holistic, connected and automatic garden system. In addition, the connection to the content on the Internet via the network 60 allows the educational content to be integrated into the operation of the system, giving the operator an improved interface and an operator's landscaping experience. It can provide more control and control over the acquisition of sufficient satisfaction.

2 and 3 show water movement paths that can be implemented for exemplary embodiments. However, some of the components may be removed in simpler exemplary embodiments, as some components provide a more complex architecture in other exemplary embodiments. Please understand that it may be added to. Therefore, the examples of FIGS. 2 and 3 are not provided to limit the components included in the system, but various examples of several components that may be included in one exemplary system. It only shows. Further, it should be understood that FIG. 3 is only illustrated to show one way in which multiple water supply pipes can be provided to service a plot or garden. The fact that FIG. 3 shows only two water pipes is not intended to suggest that an exemplary embodiment can operate with only two water pipes. In contrast, exemplary embodiments may be implemented using any number of tubes, as well as separate and / or different water sources. In addition, the pipe may be an underground pipe that is part of an installed irrigation system, or a movable hose typically provided above the ground.

Here, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the water source 100 can be used to fill the first water pipe 110 via the sprinkler computer 120. In some cases (see FIG. 3), the water source 100 may also fill the second water pipe 112 via the second watering computer 122. The first water pipe 110 and the second water pipe 112 can be flexible watering hoses or garden hoses, respectively. The first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 can each be one of the deployed components forming one component of the watering device 20 of FIG. The first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 can be attached directly to the water source 100 such that the water source 100 is a faucet or tap to which a pressurized water supply of a home or other structure is supplied. However, in another example, a hose or other connector may be provided between the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 and the water source 100. An example of such other connectors is shown in FIG. 3, which can be otherwise identical or similar to each other in their assembly and operation, the first sprinkler computer 120 and the second. An example is shown in which a splitter 125 is provided for splitting water between a sprinkler computer 122, and a first water pipe 110 and a second water pipe 112. It should also be appreciated that the splitter 125 may have the ability to interface with the gateway 40 in some embodiments. Therefore, wired or wireless control of any number of irrigation pipes may be possible.

In an exemplary embodiment, one or more sprinklers (eg, first sprinkler 130 and second sprinkler 132) may receive water from the first water pipe 110 and the second water pipe 112, respectively. The first water pipe 110 may be selectively filled to provide water for spraying from the first sprinkler 130 under the control of the first watering computer 120. Similarly, the second water pipe 112 may be selectively filled to provide water for spraying from the second sprinkler 132 under the control of the second watering computer 122. When the first water pipe 110 is filled, the first sprinkler 130 is provided with pressurized water distributed through the first sprinkler 130, and the second sprinkler 132 is provided with the operation of the second sprinkler computer 122. Depending on the water, water may be provided as well. The first sprinkler 130 and the second sprinkler 132 can typically be components that do not provide any local intelligence. Instead, the first sprinkler 130 and the second sprinkler 132 can be controlled to turn the watering function on and off only through the operation of the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122, respectively. possible. However, the first sprinkler 130 and the second sprinkler 132 can optionally have intelligent components and / or control modes provided within them.

One or more sensors (eg, first sensor 140 and second sensor 142) are also within the compartment serviced by the sprinkler to detect or sense the state in the vicinity of the corresponding sensor. It can be provided in various places. The first sensor 140 and the second sensor 142 may correspond to each one of the first sprinkler 130 and the second sprinkler 132, respectively, and the application on the user terminal 50 may be the first sensor 140 or Information received from each one of the second sensors 142 can be commanded to the first sprinkler computer 120 or the second sprinkler computer 122 based on this information, if necessary. It may be configured to take note of such correspondence so that it can be associated with each other.

In some examples, some of the deployed components may include a local power supply (P / S) 150 for the corresponding one of the deployed components. The P / S 150 of each component may be a battery or a battery pack. Of the deployed components, each powered component has a processing circuit for controlling each individual component, and the deployed component is via a first wireless link (or). Alternatively, it may also include a communication circuit (C / C) 160 that includes an antenna to allow communication with the gateway 40 (via a wired connection). The robot rover 15 may also be an example of the deployed components, and therefore the robot rover 15 may also include P / S 150 and C / C 160. However, it should be understood that the various power and communication circuit components may have different scale, structural and structural features.

The first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 may each further include a valve 170, which separates the water source 100 from the first water pipe 110 and / or the second water pipe 122, respectively. , The water source 100 can be operably coupled to the first water pipe 110 and / or the second water pipe 122, respectively. The valve 170 is accessible based on instructions received through the gateway 40 or stored schedule information stored through the C / C 160 of the first watering computer 120 or the second watering computer 122, or otherwise. It can be operated based on the schedule information. The first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 may provide convenience for the operation of the system 10. This is because the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 manually instruct the operation of the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 by programming the schedule in the user terminal 50 or by manually instructing the operation of the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122. By doing so, it can be controlled from any place and / or at any time via the application on the user terminal 50. However, in some cases, this app may be used to program the sprinkler computer 120 for the automatic operation of the valve 170 based on the sensor data received from the first sensor 140 or the second sensor 142. Can also be used.

In an exemplary embodiment, the C / C 160 may include a processing circuit 210, as shown in FIG. The processing circuit 210 may be configured to perform data processing, execution of control functions, and / or other processing and management services according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 210 may be embodied as a chip or chipset. In other words, the processing circuit 210 may include one or more physical packages (eg, chips) containing materials, components and / or wiring on a structural assembly (eg, baseboard). This structural assembly may provide physical strength, size maintenance, and / or limitation of electrical interaction to the component circuits contained therein. Thus, the processing circuit 210 may optionally be configured to implement embodiments of the invention on a single chip or as a single "system on chip". Thus, in some cases, a chip or chipset may constitute a means for performing one or more operations to provide the functionality described herein.

In an exemplary embodiment, processing circuit 210 may include one or more instances of processor 212 and memory 214 that may communicate with device interface 220 or otherwise control device interface 220. .. Therefore, the processing circuit 210 may serve as a circuit chip (eg, an integrated circuit chip) configured to perform the operations described herein (eg, by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software). It may be embodied. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 210 is an internal electronic component of the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122, the first sensor 140 and the second sensor 142, and / or the robot rover 15. Can communicate with and enable external communication with other components.

The device interface 220 may include one or more interface mechanisms to allow communication with other devices via the gateway 40. In some cases, the device interface 220 may be any means, because the device interface 220 is capable of sending and receiving messages through the gateway 40. For example, a device or circuit embodied in either hardware configured to receive data from and / or send data to gateway 40, or a combination of hardware and software. It may be. In some exemplary embodiments, the device interface 220 may provide an interface for communication with components of the system 10 or communication with the outside of the system 10 via the gateway 40. When the C / C 160 is for a sensor, the device interface 220 obtains sensor data for communication to another device (eg, a sprinkler computer), such as a temperature sensor, pH sensor, etc. Further interface with light sensors, moisture sensors and / or similar) may be made. On the other hand, if the C / C 160 is for a sprinkler computer, the device interface 220 interfaces with other on-board components (eg, a user interface including lights and main buttons as described below). May be provided.

Processor 212 can be embodied in several different ways. For example, the processor 212 may include, for example, a microprocessor or other processing element, a coprocessor, a controller, or various other computing or processing devices (eg, an application specific integrated circuit) as various processing means. , FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or an integrated circuit such as the same). In an exemplary embodiment, processor 212 may be configured to execute instructions stored in memory 214 or otherwise accessible to processor 212. Therefore, the processor 212 can perform the operation according to the embodiment of the present invention regardless of whether it is configured by hardware or a combination of hardware and software (for example, the embodiment of the processing circuit 210). Represents an entity (physically embodied in a circuit), while being configured accordingly. Thus, for example, if the processor 212 is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA or similar, the processor 212 may be specially configured hardware for performing the operations described herein. Alternatively, as another example, if the processor 212 is embodied as an executor of software instructions, the instructions may specifically configure the processor 212 to perform the operations described herein. ..

In an exemplary embodiment, the processor 212 (or processing circuit 210) may be embodied as a C / C 160, may include a C / C 160, or may otherwise control the C / C 160. Therefore, in some embodiments, the processor 212 (or processing circuit 210) takes on the corresponding function in response to the execution of instructions or algorithms that appropriately configure the processor 212 (or processing circuit 210). Is said to cause each of the actions described in relation to the C / C160 (and the corresponding distributed components with which the C / C160 is associated). As an example, the C / C 160 of the sensor detects environmental parameters (eg, sensor data) and over the first wireless link to the gateway 40 (and finally to the app on the user terminal 50). Alternatively, it may be configured to report sensor data (to storage in the cloud via network 60). In some cases, the sensor C / C160 can be a traditional set of sensor data (eg, the magnitude of previous sensor measurements) and a current set of sensor data (eg, the magnitude of the latest sensor measurements). ) Can be configured to determine the difference. The amount of this difference can then be used to determine if the sensor reports the current set of sensor data. If this difference is small (eg, less than the threshold amount), the sensor does not have to report a new value. However, if this difference is large enough (eg, greater than the threshold amount), the sensor may report a new value. Therefore, the C / C 160 of the sensor may be configured to perform battery saving techniques in connection with reporting sensor data. The sensor C / C160 reports sensor data on a given schedule or in response to a given activity or event (or determines whether it should be reported based on the criteria discussed above. It can also be configured to do). In the event of a trigger event (eg, temporal or action-based trigger), the sensor C / C160 should make a decision on the current sensor data and report this sensor data. Can be judged.

The C / C 160 of the watering computer may be configured to control the operation of the valve 170 based on schedule information locally stored in the memory 214 of the C / C 160. The watering computer C / C160 may also allow changes to schedules, other programming actions, and / or execution of real-time control over the position of the valve 170. Thus, for example, an operator may be allowed to remotely monitor the current valve 170 position and / or program settings and make changes to either. In some embodiments, the watering computer C / C160 may be programmed to supply water when sensor data is received that falls within or exceeds a range or threshold. Thus, for example, if the sensor data indicates that the soil moisture is below a given threshold, the sprinkler computer may be configured to open the valve 170 to supply water to the sprinkler.

The C / C 160 of the robot rover 15 may be configured to control the movement and movement of the robot rover 15. Further, the C / C 160 of the robot rover 15 allows the gateway 40 to allow user access to changes in the operation schedule of the robot rover 15 and / or in real time for various operations of the robot rover 15. It may be possible to perform control. In an exemplary embodiment, the app on the user terminal 50 may be used to adjust the watering and mowing schedules and / or avoid collisions. Additional or alternative, if the operator makes changes to the schedule or performs real-time control of one or more components, the app on user terminal 50 will see the proposed changes to the schedule or It may provide a warning to indicate that there may be a problem with the current operation, or it may prevent such changes from occurring. Thus, for example, if the robot rover 15 is mowing within an area where the sensor indicates a low soil moisture value that would normally trigger the valve opening of the valve 170 through programming a watering computer. Warnings may be provided to indicate that the robot rover 15 should change its behavior or that the opening of the valve 170 may be delayed.

In an exemplary embodiment, the deployed electronic component (eg, a component having a P / S 150) may further include a reset button 230 provided in its secure portion. In some cases, the reset button 230 may be provided in or near the battery compartment of the corresponding device. The reset button 230 may be used to insert reset conditions that can trigger different functions through programming the processing circuit 210 for the corresponding different situations and / or methods of operation. For example, a short press of the reset button 230 may put the corresponding device into pairing mode. Once in pairing mode, the device may be discoverable by the gateway 40 and / or other device during a given period of time. The app on the user terminal 50 may be used to detect a device in pairing mode, and once detected, the app deploys the device (eg, first network, i.e., deployed). It may be used to pair with another device (of the component network). As a result, the gateway 40 and the corresponding device C / C 160 may be able to communicate with each other continuously, event-driven, or on a schedule basis via a first wireless link. Thus, for example, the first sensor 140 may be configured to provide sensor data (eg, via a gateway 40) to the first watering computer 120. In some cases, the first sensor 140 may be paired with the first watering computer 120 via a setup procedure and then communicate on a schedule-based or activity-based / event-driven basis. In some cases, a simple replacement or insertion of the battery for power-on can be an additional or alternative way to enter pairing mode.

In some cases, a long press of the reset button 230 (eg, pressing the reset button 230 for more than 5 seconds) can result in the device returning to factory settings. In that way, the contents of the memory 214 may be erased or reset to the initial settings or the initial state. Other features may be provided further or as alternatives. In addition, some devices may have additional buttons or operable members. For example, the first watering computer 120 may have a main button on the housing of the first watering computer 120, as described in more detail below.

Communication between the gateway 40 and the sensor or sprinkler computer can occur for pairing purposes and to facilitate operational activity, and the system 10 is ultimately configured for that operational activity. Thus, for example, the operator may use the app on the user terminal 50 to connect to the gateway 40, interact with the deployed components, and / or program the deployed components. One or more control consoles or interface screens may be provided that provide the option of. In some cases, the initial setup of the system may be facilitated by putting the individual deployed components into pairing mode (sequentially or simultaneously). As a result, the deployed components can be discovered via the first wireless link and added to the first network. Once added to the first network, the deployed components are considered resources of the first network that can interact / program and / or do the same. obtain. The deployed components can then be paired with each other and configured for individual and / or collaborative functional performance.

In an exemplary embodiment, the first watering computer 120 may be paired with a second watering computer 122, a robot rover 15 and / or a first sensor 140. When the first watering computer 120 is paired with the first sensor 140 and connected to the first sensor 140, the operator can select an instruction or scheduling option for intelligent irrigation. It may have options provided (eg, via an app). Therefore, the first watering computer 120 may be commanded with respect to a particular stimulus that may be received from the first sensor 140 to trigger the valve opening of the valve 170. Further, the first watering computer 120 causes the first watering computer 120 to "ping" or so to the first sensor in order to initiate communication for receiving the sensor data. A schedule or list of event triggers (eg, in memory 214) that would otherwise attempt to communicate with the first sensor may be provided. Based on the sensor data received (eg, whether a certain threshold parameter was reached or not), the valve 170 can be opened.

When the first watering computer 120 is paired with the robot rover 15 and connected to the robot rover, the automatic schedule adjustment will at least ensure that mowing and watering are not done in the same area at the same time. Can be achieved in connection with doing. The app on the user terminal 50 may ensure that it is not possible to schedule reaping during the watering period (or vice versa). However, assuming that the operator can control the sprinkler computer and / or the robot rover 15 and start the operation, the application on the user terminal 50 will start the operation of the sprinkler computer or the robot rover 15. Any attempt to do so can be further prevented in real time when the other is operating in the same area.

When the first watering computer 120 is paired with the second watering computer 122 and connected to the second watering computer 122, the watering schedule or operation is adjusted to manage or prevent the pressurized situation. Can be done. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 are connected to the splitter 125, both the first water pipe 110 and the second water pipe 112 are connected. At the same time, the water pressure may be insufficient to fill it effectively. Thus, by allowing the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 to communicate with each other, one operation can be communicated to the other (eg, via the gateway 40), and as a result, The second watering computer 122 does not open its valve 170 while the first watering computer 120 is currently involved in the watering operation.

The deployed components of various exemplary embodiments can be adaptive to different conditions or situations. In addition, the adaptive properties of the deployed components may be provided as programmable features, in which case the operator uses the user terminal 50 to be a tunable parameter, relationship, or response. Specific adaptive behavior can be programmed. In the context of some examples, the programmable functionality is programmable via the gateway 40 (ie, from the app and / or user terminal 50 that is remote from the programmed component. ) Should be understood. In another example, the adaptive properties of the deployed components may be provided as a default feature. Therefore, the adaptive capabilities of the deployed components may be connection-dependent (eg, connection-dependent) or independent of the connection for remote programming (eg, if there is no connection). Alternatively, depending on the loss of connection, default programming exists or is provided.

In some embodiments, the battery power level is communicated to the gateway 40 and the signal strength value associated with communication with the sensor and / or sprinkler computer may also be determined at the gateway 40. This information (along with the sensor data) may be provided to the app on the user terminal 50 to warn the operator if the battery power is low or the signal strength is low. Battery replacement and / or sensor relocation can then be undertaken to improve the situation. As mentioned above, in some cases, the sensor may also trigger a report, adaptively depending on its surroundings. In an exemplary embodiment, the sprinkler computer may attempt to ping the sensor through the gateway 40 to trigger the reporting of sensor data. However, the sensor may be configured to determine the amount of change in the requested parameters (eg, via C / C160) before determining whether to respond to the ping. In some embodiments, a change of at least a certain amount or percentage (eg, 5%) may be required before the sensor reports sensor data via wireless transmission. Wireless transmission consumes more power than internal operation (eg, determining the amount of change and current sensor data), thus saving some transmission cycles when there is little data change. By doing so, the battery life can be substantially extended. If a ping is sent and no response is received, the previously received value may be replaced and communicated to the operator (eg, via the app).

The operator may wake up the sprinkler computer and / or sensor by sending a ping or wake-up message to either component via the app. Wake-up messages request specific data from such components in real time, or in such components, to see if the device is still responsive and active. It may be used to initiate an action in real time. In addition, in some cases, the operator may send a wake-up or setup signal to cause the corresponding device to transmit a beacon for at least a predetermined time (eg, 3 minutes). During this time, these devices may be deployed and the operator may check the app to see how much signal strength is detected by the gateway 40. Therefore, the operator places these devices in real time to ensure that the location where a device is currently located is a good location in terms of its ability to communicate with the gateway 40. be able to.

In some embodiments, one or more of the deployed components may further include a frost warning capability. In particular, it should be understood that freezing of water within the body of the sprinkler computer can be harmful to the valve 170, since the sprinkler computer typically has pressurized water in the vicinity of the valve 170. Thus, the C / C 160 of one or more components (particularly the sprinkler computer) may be configured to identify potential frost situations that could damage the sprinkler computer. In some embodiments, the sprinkler computer (and / or) when the temperature reaches a predetermined threshold interval from the freezing point (eg, 5 degrees Celsius or about 5.6 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit)). A warning may be issued (eg, through an app on the user terminal 50) to alert the operator that the sensor) should avoid damage. The predetermined threshold may be factory set or may be set by the operator. However, in each case, the ability to identify current temperature conditions and alert operators to possible frost events is such that the deployed components are adaptive to their surroundings and / or circumstances. To be, there is another example of how it can be configured (either by the operator program or by default).

Another example of the adaptability of deployed components is related to the inability to connect to the first network or the loss of connection to the first network. For example, the watering schedule may be maintained in the cloud, on the user terminal 50 or elsewhere, but in some cases the watering schedule (or at least a portion thereof) may be stored locally in the watering computer. For example, the memory 214 may be configured to record at least the watering schedule information immediately before it is used. Therefore, power is lost at the gateway 40 or another system component, thereby making the connection impossible, and the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122, respectively, at least immediately before each of them. Information indicating the watering schedule can be stored. Thus, for example, at 1300 the first watering computer 120 opens the valve 170 and at 1305 the valve closes, while at the second watering computer 122 the second watering computer 122 opens the valve 170 at 1305. Valve, and at 1318, if the valve is closed, if the connection to the watering schedule cannot be achieved, or if the connection is lost, each of the first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 , Will continue watering according to the schedule previously provided.

The first watering computer 120 and the second watering computer 122 can take different physical forms, but exemplary structures for embodying the watering computer are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The watering computer may include a housing body 200 that houses a valve assembly 210 (including a valve 170) and a battery pack 220 (eg, P / S 150). The battery pack 220 may be provided in the battery compartment accessible through the battery compartment door 230. The valve assembly 210 may include a faucet adapter 212 configured to interface with a tap or faucet of a pressurized water system (eg, water source 100) and provide an input port for the valve assembly 210. The output port of the valve assembly 210 may include a hose adapter 214, which hose adapter 214 may include a quick coupler that can be easily connected to the hose / easily removed from the hole, or as a quick coupler. It may be embodied. The housing body 200 may be coupled to the cover plate 240, which cover plate 240 may be a single plate or may be composed of a plurality of plates. In an exemplary embodiment, the cover plate 240 may include a single main button 250, which single main button 250 is the only physical associated with the user interface of the watering computer. It may be an operable member embodied in. Another physical part of the user interface local to the watering computer can be a light assembly 260 that may include one or more LEDs.

The main button 250 may have at least two functions (possibly only two functions). In this regard, the main button 250 manually shifts the valve assembly 210 so that the valve 170 alternates between opening and closing (ie, changing from its current state to the opposite state). , And / or can be manipulated to trigger the display of status information via the light assembly 260. In an exemplary embodiment, when the valve 170 is closed, pressing the main button 250 causes the light assembly 260 to be in the current time (eg, 20 seconds) of the watering computer. It will indicate the condition. After a predetermined time has elapsed, the sprinkler computer may turn off the light assembly 260 and the valve 170 may remain closed. If the main button 250 is pressed twice before a predetermined time has elapsed, the valve 170 may be opened. In some embodiments, the valve 170 may remain open for the same amount of time that the operator defined for valve opening through the app the last time the app was used. Therefore, even with manual operation, the time that the valve 170 remains open is adaptive as long as the valve opening time is based on the programmed settings used when the operator interacted with the app immediately before. is there.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the sensor 300 according to an exemplary embodiment. The sensor 300 may include a base 310 that can be inserted into the ground. The base 310 can be tapered to easily pierce the ground for placement in the ground. However, in some embodiments, the base 310 may also contain a sensor portion that contacts the ground to detect temperature, pH, moisture, and / or the like. The base 310 may support the head 320, and inside the head 320, a battery compartment may be provided to support a battery pack that powers the sensor 300. The head section 320 may also accommodate communication and / or processing equipment (eg, C / C 160 and any antenna and / or similar). In some cases, the head section 320 may also accommodate a light sensor or other sensing device.

Therefore, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented using devices such as the devices depicted in FIGS. 1-7. Therefore, the system of the exemplary embodiment is such that a sensor device having one or more sensors located on a block of land and a sensor device located in this section and selectively watering this section. It may include a sprinkler configured and a gateway configured to provide communication with the sensor device and the sprinkler. The gateway may provide an interface between the first network and the second network. The first network may include at least watering equipment and sensor equipment. The operator may be allowed to wirelessly communicate with the gateway over a second network. At least one component of the sprinkler or sensor device can be an adaptive component.

The system may further include a robot rover that is also adaptively configured. In an exemplary embodiment, the sprinkler may include a sprinkler computer that includes a valve assembly. The sprinkler computer is operably coupled to the water source and the water pipe so that the valve assembly can be operated by the sprinkler computer to alternate between coupling the water source with the water pipe and separating the water source from the water pipe. Can be done. In some embodiments, the sensor device may include a sensor paired with the sprinkler computer via a gateway to communicate sensor data to the sprinkler computer. In some cases, the sprinkler computer may be more adaptive with programmable features that allow the operator to program certain adaptive behaviors as adjustable parameters, relationships, or responses. In an exemplary embodiment, the sprinkler computer responds to temperature by receiving temperature data and providing a warning to the operator depending on whether the temperature data is within a predetermined amount from the freezing point. Can be configured adaptively. In some embodiments, the sprinkler computer is adaptively configured to respond to the sensor data by operating the valve assembly based on the indication that the sensor data corresponds to a trigger selected by the operator. You may. In an exemplary embodiment, the sprinkler computer may be adaptively configured to respond to a loss of connection to a gateway or sensor by using a previously programmed sprinkler schedule. In some cases, the sprinkler computer may be more adaptive to the default features, just as the sprinkler computer uses default parameters, relationships, or responses depending on the lack of communication from the gateway. In some embodiments, the sprinkler computer may be configured to use the previous sensor data parameters in response to not receiving a response to the sensor data request from the sensor. In an exemplary embodiment, the sprinkler computer may be configured to erase memory and restore default settings depending on reset conditions. In some cases, the sprinkler computer may be configured to enter pairing mode depending on the reset conditions. In some examples, the sensor may be configured to adaptively report sensor data to the gateway. In an exemplary embodiment, the sensor may be configured to adaptively report sensor data to the gateway by determining whether the current measurement differs significantly from the previous measurement by more than a threshold amount. The current measurement may be sent to the gateway only if the current measurement differs significantly from the previous measurement by more than the threshold amount. In some embodiments, the second network includes a user terminal and the operator may provide the watering computer via the user terminal with a watering schedule or parameters for initiating watering based on sensor data. In some cases, the second network may include a home access point that can wirelessly connect to the gateway, and the first wireless link used on the first network may be used on the second network. It may be different from the wireless link of 2. In an exemplary embodiment, the operator may be able to receive battery status information or signal strength information associated with the sprinkler or sensor device. In some cases, the sprinkler computer may include a main button and a light assembly, which is manually operated to display status through the light assembly or to activate the valve assembly. It may be possible. In some embodiments, the operator may be able to interface with the sprinkler and sensor device via a gateway to pair the device of the sprinkler with the corresponding device of the sensor device. In an exemplary embodiment, the operator may be able to interface with sprinklers, robot rover, and sensor devices via gateways to coordinate sprinkling and mowing schedules. In some cases, when one of the sprinkler and robot rover is operated through the gateway and the other of the sprinkler and robot rover is operating in the same area, the operator Can be notified via the gateway.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention described herein are those skilled in the art to which these inventions belong, with the benefit of the teachings presented in the aforementioned description and associated drawings. Let's do it. Accordingly, the invention should not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, and modifications and other embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the appended claims. I want you to understand. Further, the above description and associated drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments in the context of certain exemplary combinations of elements and / or functions, whereas different combinations of elements and / or functions are attached. It should be understood that alternative embodiments may be provided without departing from the scope of the claims. In this regard, for example, combinations of elements and / or functions that differ from those expressly described above are also intended to be stated as part of the appended claims. Where benefits, benefits or solutions to problems are described herein, such benefits, benefits and / or solutions are applicable to some exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that it is not always applicable to all exemplary embodiments. Accordingly, any advantage, benefit or solution described herein is essential, required or essential for all embodiments or for what is claimed herein. Should not be considered. Although certain terms are used herein, they are used only in a general and descriptive sense and are not used for limited purposes.

Claims (1)

A sensor device (30) with one or more sensors (140, 142, 300) located on a block of land.
A sprinkler device (20) arranged in the compartment and configured to selectively supply water to the compartment.
A system (10) comprising a sensor device (30) and a gateway (40) configured to provide communication with the sprinkler device (20).
The gateway (40) includes a first network including at least the sprinkler device (20) and the sensor device (30), and a second network that allows an operator to wirelessly communicate with the gateway (40). Interface with
At least one component of the sprinkler device (20) and the sensor device (30) can be remotely programmed by the application of the operator's user terminal (50) to adapt to various conditions or situations. , Or a component that follows the program by default,
One or more of the deployed components further have frost warning capability, system (10).

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