Valve control systems and methods

1 . A sprayer control system for applying an agricultural product, the system comprising:

a plurality of smart nozzles for mounting along a boom, wherein each of the smart nozzles includes an electronic control unit (ECU), a control valve, and one or more spray nozzles; and

a master node in communication with the ECUs, the master node and ECUs comprising a processing system for regulating the supply of the agricultural product to the plurality of smart nozzles, the processing system comprising:

processing circuitry; and memory, including instructions, which when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations including operations to:

receive a plurality of valve control inputs for a respective control valve of a respective smart nozzle associated with the ECU, wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a processing delay time or a boom yaw measurement;

dynamically determine an actuation time for the respective control valve based on the plurality of valve control inputs, wherein the dynamic determination of the actuation time includes a dynamic determination of a phase offset for actuating the respective control valve;

wherein the phase offset is dynamically determined using one or more of the processing delay time or the boom yaw measurement; and

actuate the respective control valve using the dynamically determined actuation time.

2 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic determination of the actuation time further includes a dynamic determination of one or more of a base frequency for actuating the respective control valve.

3 . The control system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a duty cycle for the respective control valve and a speed value associated with the respective smart nozzle; and

wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to dynamically generate the base frequency using one or more of the duty cycle and the speed value.

4 . The sprayer control system of claim 3 , wherein the processing system receives an optimization input, wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to adjust the base frequency based on the optimization input.

5 . The sprayer control system of claim 4 , wherein the optimization input includes a skip input specifying a maximum skip value threshold, wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to:

calculate a skip value indicative of a skip in coverage of the agricultural product; and

adjust the base frequency based on the calculated skip value and the maximum skip value threshold.

6 . The sprayer control system of claim 4 , wherein the optimization input includes a coverage input specifying a maximum skip coverage threshold, wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to:

calculate a coverage value indicative of an area of double coverage of the agricultural product; and

adjust the base frequency based on the calculated coverage value and the maximum skip coverage threshold.

7 . The sprayer control system of claim 4 , wherein adjusting the base frequency includes selecting the base frequency from a set of specified frequencies, the selected base frequency being the lowest frequency of the set of specified frequencies for which one or more of a calculated skip value and calculated coverage value does not exceed a threshold value.

8 . The sprayer control system of claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to calculate one or more of a calculated skip value and calculated coverage value based on a nozzle spray width, a nozzle speed, the duty cycle, and the base frequency.

9 . The sprayer control system of claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to change the base frequency so that a higher frequency and a lower frequency are related by a multiple of two.

10 . The sprayer control system of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to determine the base frequency based on a duty cycle by selecting the base frequency from a set of specified frequencies, each of the specified frequencies corresponding to a particular duty cycle or duty cycle range.

11 . The sprayer control system of claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry further performs operations to change the base frequency to a higher frequency when duty cycle is changed to a lower duty cycle and change the base frequency to a lower frequency when the duty cycle is changed to a higher duty cycle.

12 . The control system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a duty cycle for the respective control valve and a first speed value; and

wherein the dynamic determination of the base frequency includes dynamically determining the base frequency using one or more of the duty cycle and the first speed value;

wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a total number of valves, a second speed value, a set distance, a processing delay time, a nozzle mounting location, a boom yaw measurement, and a nozzle open time; wherein the second speed value and the first speed value are the same or different values; and

wherein the dynamic determination of the phase offset includes dynamically determining the phase offset using one or more of the total number of valves, the second speed value, the set distance, the processing delay time, the nozzle mounting location, the boom yaw measurement, and the nozzle open time.

13 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic determination of the phase offset includes determining one or more component phase offsets, the phase offset being based on the one or more component phase offsets.

14 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the processing system is further configured to determine a duty cycle for the respective control valve based on a speed value associated with the respective smart nozzle.

15 . The control system of claim 14 , wherein the duty cycle is an applied duty cycle based on a specified duty cycle.

16 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of smart nozzles includes a first set of one or more smart nozzles mounted at a first end of the boom and a second set of one or more smart nozzles mounted at a second, opposite end of the boom, wherein, during a common time, the first set of one or more smart nozzles is configured to operate at a first frequency and the second set of one or more smart nozzles is configured to at a second frequency different than the first frequency.

17 . The control system of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of smart nozzles includes a third set of one or more smart nozzles mounted at a middle location of the boom between the first and second sets of one or more smart nozzle, wherein, during the common time, the third set of one or more smart nozzles is configured to operate at a third frequency between the second frequency and the first frequency.

18 . A method for controlling a spray nozzle, comprising:

receiving, by a processing system associated with the spray nozzle, a plurality of valve control inputs for a respective control valve, wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a processing delay time or a boom yaw measurement;

dynamically determining, by the processing system, an actuation time for the spray nozzle based on the plurality of valve control inputs, wherein the dynamic determination of the actuation time includes a dynamic determination of a phase offset for actuating the respective control valve;

wherein the phase offset is dynamically determined using one or more of the processing delay time or the boom yaw measurement; and

sending, by the processing system, an actuation signal for the respective control valve associated with the spray nozzle based on the dynamically determined actuation time; and

actuating the respective control valve based on the actuation signal.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein dynamically determining the actuation time includes dynamically determining one or more of a base frequency for actuating the valve.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a duty cycle for the respective control valve and a speed value associated with the respective smart nozzle; and

wherein dynamically determining the actuation time includes dynamically determining the base frequency using one or more of the duty cycle and the speed value.

21 . The method of claim 20 , further including:

receiving a skip input specifying a maximum skip value threshold;

calculating a skip value indicative of a skip in coverage of a liquid agricultural product; and

adjusting the base frequency based on the calculated skip value and the maximum skip value threshold.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein adjusting the base frequency includes selecting the base frequency from a set of specified frequencies, the selected base frequency being the lowest frequency of the set of specified frequencies for which the calculated skip value does not exceed the maximum skip threshold value.

23 . The method of claim 21 , wherein calculating the skip value includes calculating the skip value based on a nozzle spray width, a nozzle speed, the duty cycle, and the base frequency.

24 . The method of claim 20 , further including:

receiving a coverage input specifying a maximum double coverage value threshold;

calculating a coverage value indicative of a double coverage of a liquid agricultural product; and

adjusting the base frequency based on the calculated coverage value and the maximum double coverage value threshold.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein adjusting the base frequency includes selecting the base frequency from a set of specified frequencies, the selected base frequency being the lowest frequency of the set of specified frequencies for which the calculated coverage value does not exceed the maximum double coverage value threshold.

26 . The method of claim 24 , wherein calculating the coverage value includes calculating the coverage value based on a nozzle spray width, a nozzle speed, the duty cycle, and the frequency.

27 . The method of claim 19 , wherein dynamically determining one or more of the base frequency and the phase offset includes dynamically determining the base frequency based on a duty cycle by selecting the base frequency from a set of specified frequencies, each of the specified frequencies corresponding to a particular duty cycle or duty cycle range.

28 . The method of claim 19 , wherein dynamically determining one or more of the base frequency and the phase offset includes changing the base frequency to a higher frequency when a duty cycle is changed to a lower duty cycle and change the base frequency to a lower frequency when the duty cycle is changed to a higher duty cycle.

29 . The method of claim 28 , wherein the base frequency is changed so that the higher frequency and the lower frequency are related by a multiple of two.

30 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a duty cycle for the respective control valve and a first speed value; and

wherein dynamically determining the actuation time includes dynamically determining the base frequency using one or more of the duty cycle and the first speed value;

wherein the plurality of valve control inputs includes one or more of a total number of valves, a second speed value, a set distance, a processing delay time, a nozzle mounting location, a boom yaw measurement, and a nozzle open time; wherein the second speed value and the first speed value are the same or different values; and

wherein dynamically determining the actuation time includes dynamically determining the phase offset using one or more of the total number of valves, the second speed value, the set distance, the processing delay time, the nozzle mounting location, the boom yaw measurement, and the nozzle open time.

31 . The method of claim 30 , further including performing the method of claim 30 by each of multiple spray nozzles associated with a boom of an agricultural machine.

32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein the plurality of spray nozzles includes a first set of one or more smart nozzles mounted at a first end of the boom and a second set of one or more smart nozzles mounted at a second, opposite end of the boom, wherein dynamically determining the base frequency includes, during a common time, determining a first frequency for the first set of one or more smart nozzles and a second frequency for the second set of one or more smart nozzles, the second frequency being different than the first frequency.

33 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the plurality of spray nozzles includes a third set of one or more smart nozzles mounted at a middle location of the boom between the first and second sets of one or more smart nozzles, wherein dynamically determining the base frequency includes, during the common time, determining a third frequency for the third set of one or more smart nozzles, the third frequency being between the second frequency and the first frequency.

34 . The method of claim 18 , wherein dynamically determining the phase offset includes determining one or more component phase offsets, the phase offset being based on the one or more component phase offsets.

35 . The method of claim 18 , further including determining a duty cycle for the spray nozzle based on a speed value associated with the spray nozzle.

36 . The method of claim 35 , wherein the duty cycle is an applied duty cycle based on a specified duty cycle.