US 12,439,866 B2Granted

Smart irrigation system

AssigneeRealmfive, Inc.

InventorsBrant Burkey, Dan Pickerill, Tim Adkins, Mateusz Mittek, Steve R. Tippery

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A self-monitoring and self-controlling smart irrigation system is provided. The smart irrigation system may include a plurality of tower control units, which tower control units include one or more processors, one or more memory units, and communication circuitry. The tower control units may be configured to determine one or more operational conditions of the smart irrigation system, to communicate to other tower control units the operational conditions, and to make adjustments based on the operational conditions. The tower control units may be configured for expedient and efficient replacement and maintenance in that they may be readily detachable from the smart irrigation system.

Claims23

Dependent claims

An irrigation system comprising:

a pipeline including a plurality of pipe spans;
a plurality of drive towers;
and
a plurality of tower control units, wherein a particular tower control unit is disposed on a particular drive tower of the plurality of drive towers, wherein the particular drive tower is mechanically coupled to a first pipe span and a second pipe span of the plurality of pipe spans, wherein the particular tower control unit comprises:
one or more processors;
one or more memory units;
and
communication circuitry configured to transceive one or more signals between the particular tower control unit and one or more additional tower control units,
wherein at least some of the tower control units include one or more sensor units, wherein the one or more sensor units comprise one or more non-contact sensor units wherein the one or more non-contact sensor units comprise at least one of a radar sensor unit, a lidar sensor unit, an acoustic sensor unit, an optical sensor unit, or a hyperspectral sensor unit, wherein the one or more non-contact sensors are configured to measure a location of an object and further configured to determine a collision condition of one or more pipe spans based on the measured location of the object, wherein the one or more non-contact sensors are housed within a removable enclosure, wherein the removable enclosure includes at least one of a radome or an optical window to allow transmission of signals into and out of the enclosure, wherein the removable enclosure is configured to be reversibly coupled to the drive tower to facilitate replacement or maintenance of the sensor unit, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
determine one or more operational conditions of at least one of one or more drive towers or one or more pipe spans, wherein the one or more operational conditions comprise a collision condition of one or more pipe spans and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a collision condition of the one or more pipe spans based on the measured location of the object;
determine one or more collision adjustments based on the determined collision condition;
and
transmit the one or more collision adjustments to one or more drive systems to adjust the movement of the drive towers to mitigate the collision condition.

10 more elements

A tower control unit for an irrigation system comprising:

an enclosure, wherein the enclosure comprises:
one or more sensor units configured to measure one or more signals indicative of one or more operational conditions, wherein the one or more sensor units comprise one or more non-contact sensor units, wherein the one or more non-contact sensor units comprise at least one of a radar sensor unit, a lidar sensor unit, an acoustic sensor unit, an optical sensor unit, or a hyperspectral sensor unit, wherein the one or more non-contact sensors are configured to measure a location of an object to determine a collision condition of one or more pipe spans with the object, wherein the one or more non-contact sensors are housed within a removable enclosure, wherein the removable enclosure includes at least one of a radome or an optical window to allow transmission of signals into and out of the enclosure, wherein the removable enclosure is configured to be reversibly coupled to the drive tower to facilitate replacement or maintenance of the sensor unit;
one or more processors configured to:
determine one or more operational conditions of at least one of one or more drive towers or one or more pipe spans, wherein the one or more operational conditions comprise a collision condition of one or more pipe spans and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a collision condition of the one or more pipe spans based on the measured location of the object;
determine one or more collision adjustments based on the determined collision condition;
and
transmit the one or more collision adjustments to one or more drive systems to adjust the movement of the drive towers to mitigate the collision condition;
communication circuitry configured to transmit at least one of a notification or a control signal based on the one or more operational conditions;
and
a base, wherein the base is configured for being mechanically coupled to a portion of an irrigation system, wherein the base is configured to reversibly coupling the enclosure to the base.

7 more elements

A tower control unit for an irrigation system comprising:

an enclosure, wherein the enclosure comprises:
one or more sensor units configured to measure one or more signals indicative of one or more operational conditions, wherein the one or more sensor units comprise one or more non-contact sensor units, wherein the one or more non-contact sensor units comprise at least one of a radar sensor unit, a lidar sensor unit, an acoustic sensor unit, an optical sensor unit, or a hyperspectral sensor unit, wherein the one or more non-contact sensors are configured to measure a location of an object to determine a collision condition of one or more pipe spans with the object, wherein the one or more non-contact sensors are housed within a removable enclosure, wherein the removable enclosure includes at least one of a radome or an optical window to allow transmission of signals into and out of the enclosure, wherein the removable enclosure is configured to be reversibly coupled to the drive tower to facilitate replacement or maintenance of the sensor unit;
one or more processors configured to:
determine one or more operational conditions of at least one of one or more drive towers or one or more pipe spans, wherein the one or more operational conditions comprise a collision condition of one or more pipe spans and wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a collision condition of the one or more pipe spans based on the measured location of the object;
determine one or more collision adjustments based on the determined collision condition;
and
transmit the one or more collision adjustments to one or more drive systems to adjust the movement of the drive towers to mitigate the collision condition;
communication circuitry configured to transmit at least one of a notification or a control signal based on the one or more operational conditions;
and
base, wherein the base is configured for being mechanically coupled to a portion of an irrigation system, wherein the base is configured to reversibly coupling the enclosure to the base, wherein at least one of the enclosure or base include one or more indicator lights.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/830,085Filed 25 Mar 2020 · us provisional application
Priority: 25 Mar 2019
Published: US 2020/0305366 A11 Oct 2020
Granted: 14 Oct 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification11 codes

A01G 25/16
Watering gardens, fields, sports grounds or the like: control of watering
A01G 25/092
Watering arrangements making use of movable installations on wheels or the like: movable around a pivot centre
A01G 25/167
Control of watering: control by humidity of the soil itself or of devices simulating soil or of the atmosphere; Soil humidity sensors
B60K 31/0008
Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an…:…