Irrigation controller and associated methods
An irrigation controller is disclosed. The irrigation controller may utilize an estimated replenishment point level time to determine when to water at least one watering zone within a property. The estimated replenishment point time is a time when the estimated in-soil water level will reach or extend below a replenishment point level within the at least one watering zone. The replenishment point level may be based, for example, on plant type.
1. An irrigation controller comprising:
a valve communications component in electronic communication with a processor, wherein the valve communications component is configured to generate electric signals to control one or more irrigation valves, each of the one or more irrigation valves being associable with at least one watering zone of one or more watering zones of a property;
an in-soil water capacity component configured to calculate an estimated in-soil water capacity for the at least one watering zone;
an in-soil water level component configured to calculate an estimated in-soil water level for the at least one watering zone;
a replenishment point component configured to calculate a replenishment point level for the at least one watering zone;
a forecast evapotranspiration component configured to, based at least in part on forecast weather data, calculate or receive forecast evapotranspiration data for the at least one watering zone;
a replenishment point time component configured to, based at least in part on the forecast evapotranspiration data, calculate an estimated replenishment point time when the estimated in-soil water level will reach or extend below the replenishment point level within the at least one watering zone;
a watering schedule component configured to formulate a watering schedule in which electric signals are scheduled to be sent to open the one or more irrigation valves associated with the at least one watering zone within a prior permissible watering period immediately before an impermissible watering period and within a permissible watering period immediately after the impermissible watering period in response to determining that the estimated replenishment point time is within the impermissible watering period.
2. The irrigation controller of claim 1 , further comprising a watering time compression component configured to proportionally reduce an actual watering time for each watering zone of the one or more watering zones in response to determining that a total desired watering time for all of the one or more watering zones exceeds a total permissible watering time within a temporal period.
3. The irrigation controller of claim 1 , further comprising a start watering time adjustment component configured to move a start time for watering away from a user-requested start time based on an analysis of permissible and impermissible watering periods.
4. The irrigation controller of claim 1 , further comprising an adjustment of in-soil water level component configured to adjust the estimated in-soil water level when historical weather data is inconsistent with the forecast weather data.
5. The irrigation controller of claim 1 , further comprising an adjustment of in-soil water level component configured to alter the estimated in-soil water level for a point in time based at least in part on the forecast evapotranspiration data for a period of time preceding the point in time to an altered estimated in-soil water level for the point in time based at least in part on differences between the forecast evapotranspiration data for the period of time and historical evapotranspiration data for the period of time.
6. The irrigation controller of claim 1 , further comprising a catch cup component configured to receive one or more measurement values representing a quantity of water captured by each of one or more catch cups positioned within the at least one watering zone during a test watering period and to automatically adjust the watering schedule, without additional human intervention beyond inputting the one or more measurement values, based on the one or more measurement values.
7. The irrigation controller of claim 1 , wherein the in-soil water capacity component is configured to calculate the estimated in-soil water capacity for the at least one watering zone based at least in part on user input specifying a soil type for the at least one watering zone.
8. A method for irrigating a property having one or more watering zones, the method comprising:
at one or more processors associated with an irrigation controller for irrigating the property, calculating an estimated in-soil water capacity for at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, calculating an estimated in-soil water level for the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, calculating a replenishment point level for the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, based at least in part on forecast weather data, calculating or receiving forecast evapotranspiration data for the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, based at least in part on the forecast evapotranspiration data, calculating an estimated replenishment point time when the estimated in-soil water level will reach or extend below the replenishment point level within the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, formulating a watering schedule in which electric signals are scheduled to be sent to open one or more irrigation valves associated with the at least one of the one or more watering zones within a prior permissible watering period immediately before an impermissible watering period and within a permissible watering period immediately after the impermissible watering period in response to determining that the estimated replenishment point time is within the impermissible watering period.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising operating a sprinkling system for the property in accordance with the watering schedule.
10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, at the one or more processors, proportionally reducing an actual watering time for each watering zone of the one or more watering zones in response to determining that a total desired watering time for all of the one or more watering zones exceeds a total permissible watering time within a temporal period.
11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising moving a start time for watering away from a user-requested start time based on an analysis of permissible and impermissible watering periods.
12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising adjusting the estimated in-soil water level when historical weather data is inconsistent with the forecast weather data.
13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising altering the estimated in-soil water level for a point in time based at least in part on the forecast evapotranspiration data for a period of time preceding the point in time to an altered estimated in-soil water level for the point in time based at least in part on differences between the forecast evapotranspiration data for the period of time and historical evapotranspiration data for the period of time.
14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising receiving one or more measurement values representing a quantity of water captured by each of the at least one or more catch cups positioned within one of the one or more watering zones during a test watering period and automatically adjusting the watering schedule, without additional human intervention beyond inputting the one or more measurement values, based on the one or more measurement values.
15. A computer program product for irrigating a property having one or more watering zones, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable medium; and
computer program code, encoded on the non-transitory computer readable medium, configured to cause one or more processors to perform the steps of:
at the one or more processors associated with an irrigation controller for irrigating the property, calculating an estimated in-soil water capacity for at least one of the one or more watering zones of the property;
at the one or more processors, calculating an estimated in-soil water level for the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, calculating a replenishment point level for the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, based at least in part on forecast weather data, calculating or receiving forecast evapotranspiration data for the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, based at least in part on the forecast evapotranspiration data, calculating an estimated replenishment point time when the estimated in-soil water level will reach or extend below the replenishment point level within the at least one of the one or more watering zones;
at the one or more processors, formulating a watering schedule in which electric signals are scheduled to be sent to open one or more irrigation valves associated with the at least one of the one or more watering zones within a prior permissible watering period immediately before an impermissible watering period and within a permissible watering period immediately after the impermissible watering period in response to determining that the estimated replenishment point time is within the impermissible watering period.
16. The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising a step of operating a sprinkling system for the property in accordance with the watering schedule.
17. The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising the step of proportionally reducing an actual watering time for each watering zone of the one or more watering zones in response to determining that a total desired watering time for all of the one or more watering zones exceeds a total permissible watering time within a temporal period.
18. The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising a step of moving a start time for watering away from a user-requested start time based on an analysis of permissible and impermissible watering periods.
19. The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising a step of adjusting the estimated in-soil water level when historical weather data is inconsistent with the forecast weather data.
20. The computer program product of claim 15 , further comprising a step of altering an estimated in-soil water level for a point in time based at least in part on the forecast evapotranspiration data for a period of time preceding the point in time to an altered estimated in-soil water level for the point in time based at least in part on differences between the forecast evapotranspiration data for the period of time and historical evapotranspiration data for the period of time.