System and method for fluid flow measurement and control
AssigneeHot Socket, LLC
InventorsThomas Anthony O'Dell, Paul Christopher Dorsey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
System and method for controlling an irrigation system using feedback from flow meters installed in an irrigation system are described. The system and method allows for automatic detection of the number of flow meters and their relation to controls valves attached to an irrigation system and for precise and reliable fluid flow measurements. Typical water flows for the system are learned and then compared to current water flows to detect water leaks (i.e., high water flow), malfunctioning control valves and/or low water flow and subsequently trigger electronic alerts to the user when system malfunctions are detected.
Claims16
An apparatus for use in a water irrigation system, comprising:
- an irrigation controller configured to control N control valves and Y flow meters when the Y flow meters are coupled to the N control valves, wherein N is an integer greater than 2 and Y is an integer less than or equal to N, and
- wherein the controller is configured to activate each of the N control valves one at a time and to determine, for each of the activated N control valves, a particular Y flow meter that detects a non-zero fluid flow to thereby identify the Y flow meters coupled to the N control valves, and
- wherein the controller is configured to determine a stable water flow based on a first plurality of fluid flow measurements from the one of the Y flow meters coupled to the activated control valve.
A system, comprising:
- N control valves;
- Y flow meters coupled to the N control valves, wherein each of the N control valves is coupled to only one of the Y flow meters and Y is less than or equal to N;
- and
- a controller coupled to the N control valves and Y flow meters, the controller configured to:
- activate each of the N control valves one at a time and to determine, for each of the activated N control valves, the one of the Y flow meters that detects a non-zero fluid flow to thereby identify the one of the Y flow meters that is coupled to each of the N control valves;
- after the one of the Y flow meters coupled to each of the N control valves has been identified, for each of the N control valves, activate the control valve and sense a first plurality of fluid flow measurements from the one of the Y flow meters coupled to the activated control valve, and determine a reference typical fluid flow through the activated control valve based on the first plurality of fluid flow measurements;
- and
- after the reference typical fluid flow for each of the N control valves has been determined, activate one at a time each of the N control valves and sense a second plurality of fluid flow measurements from the one of the Y flow meters coupled to the activated control valve, and determine an average fluid flow through the activated control valve based on the second plurality of fluid flow measurements, compare the average fluid flow and the reference typical fluid flow for the activated control valve, and generate alerts based on the comparison of the average fluid flow and the reference typical fluid flow,
- wherein the first plurality of fluid flow measurements include a minimum value and a maximum value, and wherein controller is further configured, in determining the reference fluid flow, to calculate a flow stability parameter based on the minimum value, maximum value, and an average based on the first plurality of fluid flow measurements and to set a value of the reference typical fluid flow only if the flow stability parameter is less than a threshold value.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.