U.S. patent application number 14/090281 was filed with the patent office on 2014-03-20 for irrigation system with et based seasonal watering adjustment.
This patent application is currently assigned to Hunter Industries, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Hunter Industries, Inc.. Invention is credited to Christopher M. Shearin, Peter J. Woytowitz.
Application Number | 20140081471 14/090281 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41609207 |
Filed Date | 2014-03-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140081471 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Woytowitz; Peter J. ; et
al. |
March 20, 2014 |
IRRIGATION SYSTEM WITH ET BASED SEASONAL WATERING ADJUSTMENT
Abstract
An ET based irrigation system includes a stand alone irrigation
controller with a seasonal adjust feature and a stand alone weather
station including at least one environmental sensor. The ET based
irrigation system further includes a stand alone ET unit
operatively connected to the irrigation controller and the weather
station. The ET unit includes programming configured to calculate
an estimated ET value using a signal from the environmental sensor
and to automatically modify a watering schedule of the irrigation
controller through the seasonal adjust feature based on the
estimated ET value to thereby conserve water while maintaining
plant health.
Inventors: |
Woytowitz; Peter J.; (San
Diego, CA) ; Shearin; Christopher M.; (Murrieta,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hunter Industries, Inc. |
San Marcos |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Hunter Industries, Inc.
San Marcos
CA
|
Family ID: |
41609207 |
Appl. No.: |
14/090281 |
Filed: |
November 26, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13153270 |
Jun 3, 2011 |
8600569 |
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14090281 |
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12181894 |
Jul 29, 2008 |
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13153270 |
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13011301 |
Jan 21, 2011 |
8548632 |
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12181894 |
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12176936 |
Jul 21, 2008 |
7877168 |
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13011301 |
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10985425 |
Nov 9, 2004 |
7853363 |
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12176936 |
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11288831 |
Nov 29, 2005 |
7412303 |
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10985425 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
700/284 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01G 25/16 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
700/284 |
International
Class: |
A01G 25/16 20060101
A01G025/16 |
Claims
1. An irrigation system comprising: a stand alone irrigation
controller comprising a first plurality of user inputs that enable
a user to enter a watering schedule including a run time and to
manually adjust a percentage adjustment value of a percentage
adjustment feature, a computer processor operatively connected to
the plurality of user inputs, and a memory connected to the
computer processor, wherein programming stored in the memory
implements said percentage adjustment feature to change the run
time of the watering schedule by the percentage adjustment value; a
stand alone weather station including at least one environmental
sensor; and a stand alone control unit comprising a memory storing
programming that calculates an irrigation value using a signal from
the at least one environmental sensor and communicates an
irrigation adjustment value responsive to the irrigation value to
the computer processor of the stand alone irrigation controller to
automatically modify said percentage adjustment value.
2. The irrigation system of claim 1 wherein the at least one
environmental sensor comprises a solar radiation sensor configured
to detect solar radiation and a temperature sensor configured to
detect temperature.
3. The irrigation system of claim 2 wherein the irrigation value is
calculated based at least in part on the solar radiation, the
temperature, and at least one constant.
4. The irrigation system of claim 3 wherein the at least one
constant is selected to simulate local environmental conditions of
the irrigation site.
5. The irrigation system of claim 1 wherein the stand alone weather
station further comprises a rain sensor configured to detect a rain
event.
6. The irrigation system of claim 5 wherein the stand alone control
unit communicates an automatic irrigation shut down to the computer
processor of the stand alone irrigation controller based at least
in part on the rain event.
7. The irrigation system of claim 3 wherein the temperature sensor
is further configured to detect a freeze condition and the stand
alone control unit communicates an automatic irrigation shut down
to the computer processor of the stand alone irrigation controller
based at least in part on the freeze condition.
8. The irrigation system of claim 1 wherein the irrigation value is
calculated based at least in part on the signal from the at least
one environmental sensor and a reference point.
9. The irrigation system of claim 8 wherein the reference point
comprises a maximum expected irrigation setting calculated based on
constants selected to simulate local conditions of an irrigation
site.
10. The irrigation system of claim 9 wherein the stand alone
control unit further comprises a second plurality of user inputs
that enable the user to change the reference point.
11. An irrigation system comprising: a plurality of user inputs
that enable a user to enter a watering schedule including a run
time and to manually adjust a percentage adjustment value of a
percentage adjustment feature; a computer processor operatively
connected to the plurality of user inputs; a memory connected to
the computer processor to store the watering schedule; at least one
environmental sensor configured to generate a signal representative
of an environmental condition, the computer processor configured to
calculate an irrigation value based at least in part on the signal
from the at least one environmental sensor and determine an
irrigation adjustment value responsive to the irrigation value; and
programming stored in the memory to implement said percentage
adjustment feature to increase or decrease the run time of the
watering schedule by the percentage adjustment value, the
programming automatically increasing or decreasing said percentage
adjustment value based on the irrigation adjustment value.
12. The irrigation system of claim 11 wherein the signal from the
at least one environmental sensor comprises at least one of
temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind, and rain.
13. The irrigation system of claim 12 wherein the irrigation value
is calculated based at least in part on the signal from the at
least one environmental sensor and one or more constants
representative of a geographical region associated with an
irrigation site.
14. The irrigation system of claim 11 wherein the percentage
adjustment value comprises a scaling factor.
15. The irrigation system of claim 11 wherein the at least one
environmental sensor is located at an irrigation site.
16. A method of controlling a plurality of valves on an irrigation
site, the method comprising: accepting inputs from a user that
enable the user to enter a watering schedule including a run time,
and to manually adjust a percentage adjustment value of a
percentage adjustment feature configured to change said watering
schedule by said percentage adjustment value; receiving a signal
representative of a current environmental condition on an
irrigation site; determining an irrigation adjustment value based
on the signal; implementing said percentage adjustment feature to
increase or decrease the run time of the watering schedule by the
percentage adjustment value; and automatically increasing or
decreasing said percentage adjustment value based on the irrigation
adjustment value.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the signal comprises a solar
radiation signal from a solar radiation sensor located on the
irrigation site and temperature signal from a temperature sensor
located on the irrigation site.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the irrigation adjustment value
is further based on one or more constants configured to approximate
local environmental conditions of the irrigation site.
19. The method of claim 18 further comprising determining an
estimated irrigation value based on the signal and the one or more
constants.
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising determining the
irrigation adjustment value based at least in part on the estimated
irrigation value.
Description
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS
[0001] Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic
priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed
with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference
under 37 CFR 1.57.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to residential and commercial
irrigation systems, and more particularly to irrigation controllers
that use evapotranspiration (ET) data in calculating and executing
watering schedules.
[0003] Electronic irrigation controllers have long been used on
residential and commercial sites to water turf and landscaping.
They typically comprise a plastic housing that encloses circuitry
including a processor that executes a watering program. Watering
schedules are typically manually entered or selected by a user with
pushbutton and/or rotary controls while observing an LCD display.
The processor turns a plurality of solenoid actuated valves ON and
OFF with solid state switches in accordance with the watering
schedules that are carried out by the watering program. The valves
deliver water to sprinklers connected by subterranean pipes.
[0004] There is presently a large demand for conventional
irrigation controllers that are easy for users to set up in terms
of entering and modifying the watering schedules. One example is
the ProC.RTM. irrigation controller commercially available from
Hunter Industries, Inc., the assignee of the subject application.
The user simply enters the start times for a selected watering
schedule, assigns a station to one or more schedules, and sets each
station to run a predetermined number of minutes to meet the
irrigation needs of the site. The problem with conventional
irrigation controllers is that they are often set up to provide the
maximum amount of irrigation required for the hottest and driest
season, and then either left that way for the whole year, or in
some cases the watering schedules are modified once or twice per
year by the user. The result is that large amounts of water are
wasted. Water is a precious natural resource and there is an
increasing need to conserve the same.
[0005] In one type of prior art irrigation controller the run
cycles times for individual stations can be increased or decreased
by pushing "more" and "less" watering buttons. Another conventional
irrigation controller of the type that is used in the commercial
market typically includes a seasonal adjustment feature. This
feature is typically a simple global adjustment implemented by the
user that adjusts the overall watering as a percentage of the
originally scheduled cycle times. It is common for the seasonal
adjustment to vary between a range of about ten percent to about
one hundred and fifty percent of the scheduled watering. This is
the simplest and most common overall watering adjustment that users
of irrigation controllers can effectuate. Users can move the amount
of adjustment down to ten to thirty percent in the winter,
depending on their local requirements. They may run the system at
fifty percent during the spring or fall seasons, and then at one
hundred percent for the summer. The ability to seasonally adjust up
to one hundred and fifty percent of the scheduled watering
accommodates the occasional heat wave when turf and landscaping
require significantly increased watering. The seasonal adjustment
feature does not produce the optimum watering schedules because it
does not take into consideration all of the ET factors such as soil
type, 15 plant type, slope, temperature, humidity, solar radiation,
wind speed, etc. Instead, the seasonal adjustment feature simply
adjusts the watering schedules globally to run a longer or shorter
period of time based on the existing watering program. When the
seasonal adjustment feature is re-set on a regular basis a
substantial amount of water is conserved and while still providing
adequate irrigation in a variety of weather conditions. The problem
is that most users forget about the seasonal adjustment feature and
do not re-set it on a regular basis, so a considerable amount of
water is still wasted, or turf and landscaping die.
[0006] In the past, irrigation controllers used with turf and
landscaping have used ET data to calculate watering schedules based
on actual weather conditions. Irrigation controllers that utilize
ET data are quite cumbersome to set up and use, and require
knowledge of horticulture that is lacking with most end users. The
typical ET based irrigation controller requires the user to enter
the following types of information: soil type, soil infiltration
rates, sprinkler precipitation rate, plant type, slope percentage,
root zone depth, and plant maturity. The controller then receives
information, either directly or indirectly, from a weather station
that monitors weather conditions such as: amount of rainfall,
humidity, hours of available sunlight, amount of solar radiation,
temperature, and wind speed. The typical ET based irrigation
controller then automatically calculates an appropriate watering
schedule that may change daily based on the weather conditions and
individual plant requirements. These changes typically include the
number of minutes each irrigation station operates, the number of
times it operates per day (cycles), and the number of days 5
between watering. All of these factors are important in achieving
the optimum watering schedules for maximum water conservation while
maintaining the health of turf and landscaping.
[0007] While conventional ET based irrigation controllers help to
conserve water and maintain plant health over a wide range of
weather conditions they are complex and their set up is
intimidating to many users. They typically require a locally
mounted weather station having a complement of environmental
sensors. Such locally mounted weather stations are complex,
expensive and require frequent maintenance. Instead of receiving
data from a locally mounted weather station, home owners and
property owners can arrange for their ET based irrigation
controllers to receive weather data collected by a private company
on a daily basis and transmitted to the end user wirelessly, via
phone lines or over an Internet connection. This reduces the user's
up-front costs, and maintenance challenges, but requires an ongoing
subscription expense for the life of the ET based irrigation
controller. In addition, the user must still have a substantial
understanding of horticulture to set up the ET based irrigation
controller. For these reasons, most ET based irrigation controllers
are set up by irrigation professionals for a fee. These same
irrigation professionals must be called back to the property when
changes need to be made, because the set up procedures are complex
and not intuitive to most users. These challenges are limiting the
sale and use of ET based irrigation controllers to a very small
minority of irrigation sites. This impairs water conservation
efforts that would otherwise occur if ET based irrigation
controllers were easier to set up and adjust.
SUMMARY
[0008] The system of the present invention may take the form of
stand alone irrigation controller connected to a stand alone unit
that is connectable to a specially configured stand alone weather
station. Alternatively, the system may take the form of a stand
alone irrigation controller with a removable ET module that is
connectable to a specially configured stand alone weather station.
In yet another embodiment, the system may take the form of a stand
alone irrigation controller with all the components mounted in a
single box-like housing that is connectable to a specially
configured stand alone weather station.
[0009] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention an
irrigation system includes a stand alone irrigation controller with
a seasonal adjust feature and a specially configured stand alone
weather station including at least one environmental sensor. The
irrigation system further includes a stand alone unit operatively
connected to the irrigation controller and the weather station. The
stand alone unit includes programming configured to calculate a
seasonal adjustment value using a signal from the environmental
sensor and to automatically modify a watering schedule of the
irrigation controller through the seasonal adjust feature based on
the calculated seasonal adjustment value to thereby conserve water
while maintaining plant health.
[0010] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention
an ET based irrigation system includes an interface that enables a
user to select and/or enter a watering schedule and a memory for
storing the watering schedule. The system further includes at least
one sensor for generating a signal representative of an
environmental condition. A processor is included in the system that
is capable of calculating an estimated ET value based at least in
part on the signal from the sensor. The system further includes a
program executable by the processor to enable the processor to
generate commands for selectively turning a plurality of valves ON
and OFF in accordance with the watering schedule. The program
includes a seasonal adjust feature that provides the capability for
automatically modifying the watering schedule based on the
estimated ET value to thereby conserve water while maintaining
plant health.
[0011] The present invention also provides a unique method of
controlling a plurality of valves on an irrigation site using a
calculated seasonal adjustment value. The method includes the step
of calculating the seasonal adjustment value based in part on a
signal from an environmental sensor. The method further includes
the step of automatically modifying a watering schedule based on
the calculated seasonal adjustment value using a seasonal adjust
algorithm to thereby conserve water while maintaining the health of
plants on the irrigation site. Optionally, the method of present
invention may further include the step of inputting an overall
watering adjustment and automatically modifying the watering
schedule through the seasonal adjust algorithm based on an
estimated ET value as increased or decreased by the inputted
overall watering adjustment.
[0012] The present invention also provides a weather station for
use with an irrigation controller. The weather station includes a
housing that supports a rain sensor, a solar radiation sensor and a
temperature sensor. A micro-controller is also supported by the
housing and is connected to the sensors. A communications interface
permits communications between the micro-controller and an
irrigation controller. Firmware is executable by the
micro-controller for periodically sampling the output of the
sensors and providing representative sensor data to the irrigation
controller.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an irrigation system
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the stand alone
irrigation controller of the system of FIG. 1 with its front door
open to reveal its removable face pack.
[0015] FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the back panel of
the stand alone irrigation controller of FIG. 2 illustrating one
base module and one station module plugged into their respective
receptacles in the back panel.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the electronic portion of the
stand alone irrigation controller of FIG. 2.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating further details of
the electronic portion of the stand alone irrigation controller of
FIG. 2 that resides in the face pack of the controller.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating further details of
the electronic portion of the stand alone irrigation controller of
FIG. 2 that resides in the base module.
[0019] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating further details of
the electronic portion of the stand alone irrigation controller of
FIG. 2 that resides in each of the station modules.
[0020] FIGS. 8A-8W are detailed flow diagrams illustrating the
operation of the stand alone irrigation controller of FIG. 2.
[0021] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the stand alone ET unit of
the system of FIG. 1.
[0022] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the electronic portion of the
stand alone ET unit of FIG. 9.
[0023] FIGS. 11A-11D are flow diagrams illustrating the operation
of the stand alone ET unit of FIG. 9.
[0024] FIG. 12A is an enlarged vertical cross-section of the stand
alone weather station of the system of FIG. 1.
[0025] FIG. 12B is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the
spring biased arm of the stand alone weather station of FIG.
12A.
[0026] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the electronic
portion of the stand alone weather station of FIG. 12.
[0027] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the
stand alone weather station of FIG. 12.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] The entire disclosures of the following U.S. patents and
U.S. patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference: U.S.
Pat. No. 5,097,861 granted Mar. 24, 1992 of Hopkins et al. entitled
IRRIGATION METHOD AND CONTROL SYSTEM; U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,611
granted Aug. 22, 1995 of Peter J. Woytowitz, et al. entitled LAWN
AND GARDEN IRRIGATION CONTROLLER; U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,678 granted
Nov. 3, 1998 of Richard E. Hunter et al. entitled SELF-CLEANING
IRRIGATION REGULATOR VALVE APPARATUS; U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,621
granted Jul. 11, 2000 also of Peter J. Woytowitz et al. entitled
PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR RAPID REPROGRAMMING OF IRRIGATION
CONTROLLERS; U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,630 granted Apr. 13, 2004 also of
Peter J. Woytowitz entitled EXPANDABLE IRRIGATION CONTROLLER WITH
OPTIONAL HIGH-DENSITY STATION MODULE; U.S. Pat. No. 6,842,667
granted Jan. 11, 2005 of Beutler et al. entitled POSITIVE STATION
MODULE LOCKING MECHANISM FOR EXPANDABLE IRRIGATION CONTROLLER; U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/883,283 filed Jun. 30, 2004 also of
Peter J. Woytowitz entitled HYBRID MODULAR/DECODER IRRIGATION
CONTROLLER, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,115 granted Jun. 27, 2007;
pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/985,425 filed Nov. 9,
2004 also of Peter J. Woytowitz et al. and entitled
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION UNIT CONNECTABLE TO IRRIGATION CONTROLLER;
pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/288,831 filed Nov. 29,
2005 of LaMonte D. Porter et al. and entitled EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
UNIT FOR RE-PROGRAMMING AN IRRIGATION CONTROLLER; U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 111045,527 filed Jan. 28, 2005 also of Peter
J. Woytowitz entitled DISTRIBUTED ARCHITECTURE IRRIGATION
CONTROLLER, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,991 granted Jul. 17, 2007; U.S.
Pat. No. 7,289,886 of Peter J. Woytowitz granted Oct. 30, 2007
entitled MODULAR IRRIGATION CONTROLLER WITH SEPARATE FIELD VALVE
LINE WIRING TERMINALS; U.S. Pat. No. 7,225,058 of LaMonte D. Porter
granted May 29, 2007 entitled MODULAR IRRIGATION CONTROLLER WITH
INDIRECTLY POWERED STATION MODULES; pending U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 11/458,551 filed Jul. 19, 2006 of LaMonte D. Porter et al.
entitled IRRIGATION CONTROLLER WITH INTERCHANGEABLE CONTROL PANEL;
and pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/042,301 filed Mar.
4, 2008 of Peter J. Woytowitz et al. entitled IRRIGATION CONTROLLER
WITH SELECTABLE WATERING RESTRICTIONS. The aforementioned U.S.
patents and applications are all assigned to Hunter Industries,
Inc., the assignee of the subject application.
[0029] The present invention addresses the hesitancy or inability
of users to learn the horticultural factors required to set up a
conventional ET based irrigation controller. The irrigation system
of the present invention has a familiar manner of entering,
selecting and modifying its watering schedules, and either built-in
or add-on capability to automatically modify its watering schedules
based on ET data in order to conserve water and effectively
irrigate vegetation throughout the year as weather conditions vary.
The user friendly irrigation system of the present invention is
capable of achieving, for example, eighty-five percent of the
maximum amount of water that can theoretically be conserved on a
given irrigation site, but is still able to be used by most
non-professionals. Therefore, a large percentage of users of the
irrigation system of the present invention will have a much more
beneficial environmental impact than a near perfect solution
provided by complex prior art ET based irrigation controllers that
might at best be adopted a small percentage of users. Even within
the small percentage of users that adopt the full ET device, many
of them may not be set up correctly because of the complexities of
ET, and may therefore operate inefficiently.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention, an irrigation system 10 comprises a stand alone
irrigation controller 12 connected via cable 14 to a stand alone ET
unit 16 that is in turn connected via cable 18 to a stand alone
weather station 20. The controller 12 and ET unit 16 would
typically be mounted in a garage or other protected location,
although they can have a waterproof construction that allows them
to be mounted out of doors. The weather station 20 is typically
mounted on an exterior wall, gutter, post or fence near the garage.
The cables 14 and 18 typically include copper wires so that power
can be supplied to the ET 16 unit and the weather station 20 from
the irrigation controller 12. Data and commands are sent on other
copper wires in the cables. Fiber optic cables can also be utilized
for sending data and commands. The controller 12, ET unit 16 and
weather station 20 may exchange data and commands via wireless
communication links 22 and 24. A transformer 25 that plugs into a
standard household 110 volt AC duplex outlet supplies twenty-four
volt AC power to the stand alone irrigation controller 12. In its
preferred form, the irrigation system 10 employs a hard wired
communication link 14 between the stand alone irrigation controller
12 and the stand alone ET unit 16 that are normally mounted
adjacent one another, such as on a garage wall, and a wireless
communication link 24 between the stand alone ET unit 16 and the
stand alone weather station 20.
[0031] Referring to FIG. 2, the stand alone irrigation controller
12 may be the Pro-C modular irrigation controller commercially
available from Hunter Industries, Inc. The irrigation controller 12
includes a wall-mountable plastic housing structure in the form of
a generally box-shaped front door 26 hinged along one vertical edge
to a generally box-shaped back panel 28 (FIG. 3). A generally
rectangular face pack 30 (FIG. 2) is removably mounted over the
back panel 28 and is normally concealed by the front door 26 when
not being accessed for programming. The face pack 30 has an
interface in the form of a plurality of manually actuable controls
including a rotary knob switch 31 and push button switches 32a-32g
as well as slide switch 34 which serves as a sensor by-pass switch.
Watering schedules consisting of various run and cycle times can be
entered by the user by manipulating the rotary knob switch 31 and
selected ones of the push button switches 32a-32g in conjunction
with observing numbers, words and/or graphic symbols indicated on a
liquid crystal display (LCD) 36. Push buttons 32c and 32d are used
to increase or decrease the seasonal adjust value. The watering
schedules can be a complicated set of run time and cycle
algorithms, or a portion thereof, such as a simple five minute
cycle for a single station. Alternatively, existing preprogrammed
watering schedules can be selected, such as selected zones every
other day. Any or sub-combination of manually actuable input
devices such as rotary switches, dials, push buttons, slide
switches, rocker switches, toggle switches, membrane switches,
track balls, conventional screens, touch screens, etc. may be used
to provide an interface that enables a user to select and/or enter
a watering schedule. Still another alternative involves uploading
watering schedules through the SMART PORT (Trademark) feature of
the irrigation controller 12, more details of which are set forth
in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,621.
[0032] The face pack 30 (FIG. 2) encloses and supports a printed
circuit board (not illustrated) with a processor for executing and
implementing a stored watering program. An electrical connection is
made between the face pack 30 and the components in the back panel
28 through a detachable ribbon cable including a plurality of
conductors 38a-g (FIG. 4). The circuitry inside the face pack can
be powered by a battery to allow a person to remove the face pack
30, un-plug the ribbon cable, and walk around the lawn, garden area
or golf course while entering watering schedules or altering
pre-existing watering schedules.
[0033] A processor 40 (FIG. 5) is mounted on the printed circuit
board inside the face pack 30. A watering program stored in a
memory 42 is executable by the processor 40 to enable the processor
to generate commands for selectively turning a plurality of
solenoid actuated irrigation valves (not illustrated) ON and OFF in
accordance with the selected or entered watering schedule. An
example of such an irrigation valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
5,996,608 granted Dec. 7, 1999 of Richard E. Hunter et al. entitled
DIAPHRAGM VALVE WITH FILTER SCREEN AND MOVEABLE WIPER ELEMENT, the
entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Said patent is also assigned to Hunter Industries, Inc. Typically
the solenoid actuated valves are mounted in subterranean plastic
boxes (not illustrated) on the irrigated site.
[0034] The processor 40 communicates with removable modules 44 and
46a-c (FIG. 3) each containing a circuit that includes a plurality
of solid state switches, such as triacs. These switches turn
twenty-four volt AC current ON and OFF to open and close
corresponding solenoid actuated valves via connected to dedicated
field valve wires and a common return line to screw terminals 48 on
the modules 44 and 46a-c.
[0035] In FIG. 3, the modules 44 and 46a are shown installed in
side-by-side fashion in station module receptacles formed in the
back panel 28. The module 44 serves as a base module that can turn
a master valve ON and OFF in addition to a plurality of separate
station valves. Each module includes an outer generally rectangular
plastic housing with a slot at its forward end. A small printed 25
circuit board (not illustrated) within the module housing supports
the station module circuit that includes conductive traces that
lead to the screw terminals 48 and to V-shaped spring-type
electrical contacts (not illustrated) that are accessible via the
slot in the forward end of the module housing. These V-shaped
electrical contacts register with corresponding flat electrical
contacts on the underside of a relatively large printed circuit
board 49 (FIG. 4) mounted inside the back panel 28 when the module
44 is slid into its corresponding receptacle. The relatively large
printed circuit board 49 is referred to as a "back plane." The base
module 44 and station modules 46a-c and the back plane 49 are thus
electrically and mechanically connected in releasable fashion
through a so-called "card edge" connection scheme when the base
module 44 and station modules 46a-c are inserted or plugged into
their respective receptacles.
[0036] An elongate locking bar 50 (FIG. 3) can be manually slid up
and down in FIG. 4 between locked and unlocked positions to secure
and un-secure the modules 44 and 46a-c after they have been fully
inserted into their respective receptacles. Opposing raised
projections 52 formed on the locking bar 50 facilitate sliding the
locking bar 50 with a thumb. A pointer 54 extends from one of the
raised projections 52 and serves as a position indicator that
aligns with LOCKED and UNLOCKED indicia (not illustrated) molded
into the upper surface of another plastic support structure 56
mounted inside back panel 28.
[0037] The receptacles for the modules such as 44 and 46a-c are
partially defined by vertical walls 58 (FIG. 3) formed on the back
panel 28. Vertical walls 60 also formed on the back panel 28 to
provide support to the modules 44 and 46a-c. An auxiliary terminal
strip provides additional screw terminals 62 for connecting remote
sensors and accessories. The term "receptacles" should be broadly
construed as defined in one or more of the patents and pending
applications incorporated by reference above.
[0038] FIGS. 4 and 5 are block diagrams of the electronic portion
of the stand alone irrigation controller 12. The electronic
components are mounted on printed circuit boards contained within
the face pack 30, back panel 28, base module 44 and station modules
46a-c. The processor 40 (FIG. 4) is mounted on the printed circuit
board inside the face pack 30 and executes the watering program
stored in the memory 42. By way of example, the processor 40 may be
a Samsung S3F8289 processor that executes a program stored in the
separate memory 42 which can be an industry standard designation
Serial EEPROM 93AA6A non-volatile memory device. Alternatively, the
processor 40 and memory 42 may be provided in the form of a
micro-computer with on-chip memory. The manually actuable controls
31, 32a-32g and 34 and the LCD display 36 of the face pack 30 are
connected to the processor 40. The processor 40 sends drive signals
through buffer 64 and back plane 49 to the base module 44. By way
of example the buffer 64 may be an industry standard designation
74HC125 device. The processor 40 sends data signals to the modules
46a-c through buffer 66. The buffer 66 may be an H-bridge buffer
including industry standard 2N3904/3906 discrete bipolar
transistors.
[0039] The processor 40 (FIG. 4) controls the base module 44 and
the station modules 46a-c in accordance with one or more watering
schedules. Serial or multiplexed communication is enabled via the
back plane 49 to the base module 44 and to each of the output
modules 46a-c. Suitable synchronous serial data and asynchronous
serial data station module circuits are disclosed in the
aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,721,630. The location of each module
in terms of which receptacle it is plugged into is sensed using
resistors on the back plane 49 and a comparator 68 (FIG. 5) which
may be an industry standard LM393 device. The face pack 30 receives
twenty-four volt AC power from the transformer 25 through the back
plane 49 and regulates the same via a power supply circuit 70 (FIG.
5). The power supply circuit 70 includes a National Semiconductor
LM7906 voltage regulator, a Microchip Technology MCP101-450 power
supervisor, and a Samsung KA431 voltage regulator. A lithium
battery 72 such as an industry standard CR2032 battery is included
in the power supply circuit 70 and provides backup power to the
micro controller to maintain the internal clock in the event of a
power failure. The face pack ribbon cable 38a-g (FIG. 4) that
connects the face pack 30 and the back plane 49 can be
disconnected, and a nine volt battery (FIG. 5) then supplies power
to the face pack 30. This allows a user to remove the face 30 pack
from the back panel 28 and enter or modify watering schedules as he
or she walks around the irrigation site.
[0040] The modules 44 and 46a-c have contacts 74 (FIG. 4) on the
top sides of their outer plastic housings. When the modules are
first plugged into their receptacles, only a communication path is
established with the processor 40 via the back plane 49. At this
time the locking bar 50 (FIG. 3) is in its UNLOCKED position.
Thereafter, when the locking bar is slid to its LOCKED position
finger-like contacts 76 (FIG. 4) on the underside of the locking
bar 50 register with the contacts 74 on the tops of the modules 44
and 46a-c to supply twenty-four volt AC power to the modules that
is switched ON and OFF to the valves that are connected to the
modules. The finger-like contacts 76 are connected to a common
conductor 78 carried by the locking bar 50. When the locking bar 50
is slid to its LOCKED position projections and tabs that extend
from the locking bar 50 and the modules are aligned to prevent
withdrawal of the modules. See the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No.
7,225,058 for further details.
[0041] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating details of the
electronic circuit of the base module 44. The base module circuit
includes transistor drivers 80 and triacs 82 for switching the
twenty-four volt AC signal ON and OFF to different solenoid
actuated valves. By way of example, the transistor drivers 80 may
be industry standard 2N4403 transistors and the triacs may be ST
Microelectronics (Trademark) T410 triacs. The twenty-four volt AC
signal is supplied to the triacs 82 via contact 74 and line 83. The
twenty-four volt AC signal from each of the triacs 82 is routed
through an inductor/MOV network 84 for surge suppression to four
field valve lines 86a-d, each of which can be connected to a
corresponding solenoid actuated valve. The valves are each
connected to a valve common return line 88. The twenty-four volt AC
signal is also supplied to a rectifier/filter circuit 90. The
unregulated DC signal from the rectifier/filter circuit 90 is
supplied to a National Semiconductor LM7905 voltage regulator 92
which supplies five volt DC power to the face pack 30 via a
conductor 38c (FIG. 4) in the ribbon cable.
[0042] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating details of the
electronic circuit in each of the station modules 46a-c. The
station module circuit includes a microcontroller such as the
Microchip (Trademark) PIC 12C508 processor 94. The station module
circuit further includes triacs 96 for switching the twenty-four
volt AC signal ON and OFF to three different solenoid actuated
valves. The twenty-four volt AC signal is supplied to the triacs 96
via contact 74 and line 98. The twenty-four volt AC signal from
each of the triacs 94 is routed through an inductor/MOV network 98
including Epcos Inc. S10K35 MOV's for surge suppression to three
field valve lines 100a-c, each of which can be connected to a
corresponding solenoid actuated valve. The valves are each
connected to the valve common return line 88. The twenty-four volt
AC signal is also supplied to a rectifier/filter circuit 90. The
unregulated DC signal from the rectifier/filter circuit 102 is
supplied to a National Semiconductor LM7905 voltage regulator 104
which supplies five volt DC power to 30 the microcontroller through
a conductor (not illustrated).
[0043] FIGS. 8A-8W are detailed flow diagrams illustrating the
operation of the stand alone irrigation controller 12 of FIG. 2.
Those skilled in the art of designing and programming irrigation
controllers for residential and commercial applications will
readily understand the logical flow and algorithms that permit the
processor 40 to execute the watering program stored in the memory
42. This watering program enables the processor 40 to generate
commands for selectively turning the plurality of valves ON and OFF
in accordance with the selected or entered watering schedules. The
watering program includes a seasonal adjustment feature that
provides the capability for automatically modifying the watering
schedules to thereby conserve water while maintaining plant health.
By actuating one of the push buttons 32c or 32d the user can
increase or decrease the run types for all stations by a selected
scaling factor, such as ten percent, to account for seasonal
variations in temperature and rainfall.
[0044] Referring to FIG. 9, the stand alone ET unit 16 includes a
rectangular outer plastic housing 106 enclosing a printed circuit
board (not illustrated) which supports the electronic circuit of
the ET unit 16 that is illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 10.
A microcontroller 108 such as a Microchip PIC18F65J90 processor
executes firmware programming stored in a memory 110 such as an
industry standard 93AA66A EEPROM memory. The microcontroller 108
can receive DC power from a lithium battery 112 such as an industry
standard CR2032 battery, which allows accurate time keeping in the
event of a power failure. Insulating strip 113 (FIG. 9) must be
manually pulled out to establish an operative connection of the
battery 112. External power for the ET unit 16 is supplied from the
transformer 25 (FIG. 1) via the cable 14. The twenty-four volt AC
power from the transformer 25 is supplied to a rectifier/filter
circuit 114 (FIG. 10) which supplies twenty-four volt DC power to a
power regulation circuit 116 which may be an ST Microelectronics
L78M24CDT-TR regulator. Power from the power regulation circuit 116
is fed to a microcontroller power regulator 118 which may be a
Microchip MCP 1702T-25021/CB regulator. Power from the power
regulation circuit 116 is also fed to a wired or wireless sensor
communications device 120 that may include, by way of example, an
industry standard MMBTA92 for the signal transmitter and an
industry standard LM393 comparator for the receiver.
[0045] The microcontroller 108 (FIG. 10) interfaces with the
SmartPort (Trademark) connector of the irrigation controller 12
with a combination interface/optocoupler 122 which may be provided
by an industry standard 4N26S device. The microcontroller 108
interfaces with the weather station illustrated in FIG. 12. An LCD
display 126 is mounted in the housing 106. Three manually actuable
controls in the form of push buttons 128a-c (FIG. 9) are mounted in
the housing 106 for enabling the user to make selections when
setting up and modifying the operation of the ET unit 16 in
conjunction with information indicated on the display 126 which is
facilitated by column and row indicia 130 and 132, respectively,
affixed to the housing 106 adjacent the horizontal and vertical
margins of the display 126. Row indicia 132 include, from top to
bottom, AM, PM, 24 hr, START and END which are printed, painted,
molded or otherwise applied to the outer plastic housing such as by
a sticker. Column indicia 130 are illustrated diagrammatically as
A-E in FIG. 9 due to space constraints in the drawing. A-E
correspond, respectively, to TIME, TYPE, REGION, NO WATER and WATER
+/- with associated icons which are printed, painted, molded or
otherwise applied to the outer plastic housing 106 such as by a
sticker.
[0046] FIGS. 11A-11D are flow diagrams illustrating the operation
of the stand alone ET unit 16. A watering schedule typically
includes inputted parameters such as start times, run times and
days to water. The ET unit 16 can automatically set the seasonal
adjustment of the irrigation controller 12 to reduce watering time,
or increase watering times, depending on the weather conditions at
the time. The ET unit 16 utilizes actual ET data as its basis for
making the modifications to the watering schedules implemented by
the irrigation controller 12. However, to simplify the system and
reduce the costs, some of the ET parameters may be pre-programmed
into the ET unit 16 as constants. These constants may be selected
from a group of geographical areas to approximately assimilate the
local conditions and estimate a maximum ET value. Other climatic
factors are monitored on a daily 25 basis and are the variables.
The variables may include one or more pieces of environmental data
such as temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind, and rain. In
the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the measured
variables are temperature and solar radiation. The variables and
any constants are used by the processor 108 to calculate an
estimated ET value. This estimated ET value is then used by the ET
unit 16 to automatically set the seasonal adjustment feature of the
irrigation controller 12. The weather station 20 can also include a
sensor that indicates a rain event. A rain event does not effect
calculation of an estimated ET value. However, it does shut of the
irrigation during, and for a period of time following, the rain
event as a further conservation measure.
[0047] The user can modify the run and cycle times for individual
stations in the usual manner in the irrigation controller 12. As an
example, if one station is watering too much, but all of the other
stations are watering the correct amount, the user can easily
reduce the run time of that particular station and balance the
system out. Then the ET unit 16 continues modifying the watering
schedules executed by the irrigation controller 12 on a global
basis as a percentage of run time, based on the calculated
estimated ET value. Irrigation controllers can be used to control
landscape lighting and other non-irrigation devices such as
decorative water fountains. The controller 12 may have features in
it such that the ET unit 16 only modifies the watering schedules of
the irrigation controller 12.
[0048] One of the difficulties with conventional weather-based
controllers is attributable to the difficulty of fine-tuning the
weather data being received. The environmental sensors may not
always be able to be placed in an optimum location on the
irrigation site. As an example, a solar radiation sensor may be
placed in an area that receives late afternoon shade. This will
result in the calculation of an abnormally low estimated ET value.
The entire irrigation site may receive too little water and the
plant material may become stressed from too little water if the
watering schedules are based on an abnormally low estimated ET. If
a conventional ET based irrigation controller receives input from
such an incorrectly located solar radiation sensor, the user can
attempt to compensate by increasing the run times for each zone by
modifying precipitation rates to compensate for the error. This is
cumbersome and makes it difficult and frustrating for the user to
adjust a conventional ET based irrigation controller for optimum
watering.
[0049] An advantage of the present invention is the ability to
globally modify the watering schedules of the stand alone
irrigation controller 12 to compensate for this type of condition.
If at any time the user realizes that the property is receiving too
little water, the user can simply manually change an overall
watering adjustment feature. The overall watering adjustment
feature is implemented as a simple plus or minus control via
actuation of an assigned pair of the push buttons 128a-c. This
changes the reference point of the ET calculation either up or
down. After this adjustment is made, the ET adjustment executed by
the ET unit 16 references the new setting and then compensates for
under watering that would otherwise occur. Likewise, if the overall
watering is too much for the irrigation site, the user can simply
adjust the overall watering adjustment feature down and create a
new lower reference for the automatic ET based adjustments. The
overall watering adjustment feature makes it easy for the user to
fine-tune the system to the particular requirements of the
irrigation site. The overall watering adjustment feature can be
indicated by showing "global adjustment," or "more/less, water
+/-," or similar naming conventions.
[0050] The overall watering adjustment feature of the ET unit 16
directly alters the station run times executed by the irrigation
controller 12. This adjustment modifies the estimated maximum
expected ET setting, which is a constant that is used in the
calculating the seasonal adjust value. When the user makes overall
watering adjustments by pressing plus or minus push buttons on the
ET unit 16, this directly affects the ET value that is used to
reset the seasonal adjustment in the host 15 controller 12. In
calculating the estimated ET, the microcontroller 108 in the ET
unit 16 uses only select data points as variables (temperature and
solar radiation) and uses other data points that may consist of
pre-programmed constants, and/or data entered by the user that
defines some one or more constants of the site. Estimated ET is
calculated using the Penman-Monteith formula, taking into account
geographical data for peak estimated summer ET.
[0051] Another feature provided by the ET 16 is an automatic shut
down feature for irrigation that overrides any scheduled run times.
There are several times when this is important. A rain sensor in
the weather station 20 can send signals to the ET unit representing
the occurrence of a rain event. The ET unit 10 will then signal the
irrigation controller 12 to shut down and suspend any watering,
regardless of any scheduled irrigation running or not running at
the time. As another example, during a freeze or near freeze
condition, irrigation may produce ice that can be dangerous to
people walking or vehicles diving by. Many cities therefore require
that irrigation be automatically turned off in the event of a
freeze condition. A temperature sensor in the weather station 20
can detect a freeze or near freeze condition and the ET unit 16
will signal the irrigation controller 12 to shut down, regardless
of any scheduled irrigation running or not running at the time.
[0052] The automatic shut down feature of the ET unit 10 is also
useful in geographic areas where watering agencies and
municipalities impose restrictions that limit the times when
irrigation can occur. The user is able to enter a no-water window
into the ET unit 16, which consists of the times when irrigation is
not allowed to take place. When a no-water window is entered by the
user, the ET unit 16 will signal the irrigation controller 12 to
shut down, regardless of any scheduled irrigation running or not
running at the time. The ET unit 16 will then allow the irrigation
controller 12 to return to its normal run mode after the selected
no-water window time has elapsed. The irrigation controller 12 may
have sensor input terminals, as in the case of the Pro-C irrigation
controller, which can be used to shut down all watering on receipt
of a shut down command from the ET unit 16.
[0053] FIG. 12A is an enlarged vertical cross-section of an
embodiment of the stand alone weather station 20 of the system of
FIG. 1. The compact and inexpensive weather station 20 measures
solar radiation, ambient air temperature, and detects a rain event.
The weather station 20 is a one-piece unit that readily attaches to
an exterior side of a building structure, a fence, or a rain
gutter. The weather station 20 can be hard wired to the ET unit 16
via cable 18, or the communications between the weather station 20
and the ET unit 16 may take place via wireless communications link
24. The basic construction of the weather station 20 is similar to
that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,109 granted May 27, 2003 to
Paul A. Klinefelter et al. entitled QUICK SHUT-OFF EXTENDED RANGE
HYDROSCOPIC RAIN SENSOR FOR IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, and U.S. Pat. No.
6,977,351 granted Dec. 20, 2005 to Peter J. Woytowitz entitled
MOISTURE ABSORPTIVE RAIN SENSOR WITH SEALED POSITION SENSING
ELEMENT FOR IRRIGATION WATERING PROGRAM INTERRUPT, the entire
disclosures of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Both of the aforementioned U.S. patents are assigned to Hunter
Industries, Inc.
[0054] The weather station 20 (FIG. 12A) includes an outer
injection molded plastic housing 134 that encloses a pair of
moisture absorbing members in the form of a larger stack 136 of
moisture absorbing hygroscopic discs and a smaller stack 138 of
moisture absorbing hygroscopic discs. These discs are typically
made of untreated wood fibers pressed together into a material that
resembles cardboard in appearance. One suitable commercially
available hygroscopic material is Kraft Press Board which is made
from cellulose pulp.
[0055] The stacks 136 and 138 (FIG. 12A) of hygroscopic discs are
supported on a common pivot arm 140 for vertical reciprocal motion
relative to a vertical shaft 142 that extends through the arm 140.
A coil spring 144 surrounds the shaft 142 and normally pushes the
stack 136 upwardly against stop 146. A torsion spring 147 (FIG.
12B) associated with the pivot axis of the arm 140 lifts the arm
140 and the stack 138 upward to a fixed stop (not illustrated).
When rain water enters the housing 134 (FIG. 12A) via aperture 150
and funnel 152 the hygroscopic discs of the stacks 136 10 and 138
absorb water and swell, pushing the arm 140 downwardly. A magnet
154 is mounted on one end of the arm 140. A stationary linear Hall
effect sensor 156 mounted on a vertically mounted printed circuit
board 158 generates a signal representative of the position of the
magnet 154 that is proportional to the amount of rain water that
has entered the weather station 20. The Hall effect sensor 156 may
be provided by part number A1395SEHLT-T manufactured by Alegro. The
small stack 138 absorbs water quickly via funnel 148 so that a rain
event will be quickly detected. The large stack 136 dries out
slowly so that the rain interrupt signal from the weather station
20 will not be terminated too quickly as the hydroscopic discs dry
out. A solar radiation sensor 160 is mounted on one end of the
printed circuit board 158 and receives solar radiation through a
clear plastic dome 162 snap fit over the uppermost part of the
housing 134. The solar radiation sensor 160 may be an industry
standard PDB-C131 photo diode with low current leakage.
[0056] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating the electronic
circuit of the stand alone weather station 20 that is mounted on
the printed circuit board 158. The solar radiation sensor 160 which
may comprise a PDB-C131 photodiode that is connected to a Microchip
MCP6001T-1/LT transimpedance amplifier 164 that is in turn
connected to a Microchip PIC-16F684-1/SL microcontroller 166. A
Microchip MCP9700T-E/LT temperature sensor 168 with an AID
interface is also connected to the microcontroller 166. The micro
controller 166 also receives the output signal from the Hall effect
sensor 156. The Hall effect sensor 156 may comprise a Microchip
A1395SEHLT-T Hall effect sensor and interface circuit. The
communications interface 170 between the microcontroller 166 and
the ET unit 16 may be a hard wire interface, or more preferably, a
wireless interface that may comprise a Microchip Technology
RFPIC675 transmitter and a Maxim MAX1473 receiver. The transmitter
sends signals representative of actual components of ET data across
the irrigation site to the ET unit 16. Power for the hard wired
weather station 20 is derived from the communications link to the
ET unit 16 and is fed to an input conditioner 172 which feeds a
Microchip MCP1702T-3002E/CB power regulator 174. The power
regulator 174 supplies three volt DC power to the microcontroller
166. Power for a wireless weather station is supplied by a
dedicated battery (not illustrated) installed within the weather
station.
[0057] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the
stand alone weather station 20 of FIG. 12. Firmware executed by the
micro controller 166 allows the weather station 20 to perform the
logical operations illustrated in the flow diagram. These include
periodic sampling of the outputs from the solar radiation sensor
162, temperature sensor 168 and Hall effect sensor 156, averaging
readings, and responding to requests for sensor data that are
periodically transmitted by the ET unit 16.
[0058] In conclusion, the ET unit 16 of the present invention
utilizes the watering program set up procedures that the users are
already accustomed to. Start times, station run times, and
days-to-water are manually entered into the irrigation controller
12. The user also selects from one of a group of geographical
regions in the ET unit 16. The ET unit 16 then automatically takes
over setting of the seasonal adjustment feature of the irrigation
controller 12 on a regular basis. Instead of a user changing that
feature several times per year, the ET unit 16 sets that seasonal
adjustment daily depending on current weather conditions gathered
on site. Furthermore, the ET unit 16 shuts down any scheduled
watering by the irrigation controller 12 in response to a rain
event or a freeze event, and when there is a scheduled no-water
window. Cost savings are achieved since only a small number of the
weather parameters need to be measured. These variables are then
used with preprogrammed constants to calculate an estimated ET
value. This approach allows for cost savings since the stand alone
weather station 20 need not have more than a solar radiation
sensor, a temperature sensor and a rain sensor.
[0059] The present invention also provides a unique method of
controlling a plurality of valves on an irrigation site. The method
includes the steps of selecting and/or creating a watering
schedule, storing the watering schedule and generating a signal
representative of an environmental condition on an irrigation site.
The method also includes the steps of calculating an estimated ET
value based at least in part on the signal and selectively turning
a plurality of valves located on the irrigation site ON and OFF in
accordance with the watering schedule. Importantly, the method
includes the further step of automatically modifying the watering
schedule based on the estimated ET value using a seasonal adjust
algorithm to thereby conserve water while maintaining the health of
plants on the irrigation site. Optionally, the method of present
invention may further include the step of inputting an overall
watering adjustment and automatically modifying the watering
schedule through the seasonal adjust algorithm based on the
estimated ET value as increased or decreased by the inputted
overall watering adjustment.
[0060] While an embodiment of an irrigation system comprising a
stand alone ET unit connected to stand alone irrigation controller
and linked to a separate stand alone weather station has been
described in detail, persons skilled in the art will appreciate
that the present invention can be modified in arrangement and
detail. The features and functionality described could be provided
by combining the irrigation controller and the ET unit into a
single integrated unit in which case a single microcontroller would
replace the microcontrollers 40 and 108. Alternatively, the ET unit
could be packaged in an ET module designed for removable insertion
into a receptacle in a stand alone irrigation controller.
Therefore, the protection afforded the subject invention should
only be limited in accordance with the scope of the following
claims.
* * * * *