Systems, methods, and apparatuses for adaptive irrigation zone control using pressure, time, flow, and predicted behavior
An adaptive hydraulic control system controls irrigation system zones using predicted valve behavior, measured pressure, recovery time, and measured flow. A pressure sensor can measure a pressure in a water line and a flow meter can measure a flow rate in the water line. The adaptive hydraulic control system monitors the pressure and the flow rate, and determines when the pressure and the flow rate are above and below target operational thresholds. When the pressure is determined to be below a minimum target threshold or the flow rate is determined to be above a maximum target threshold, the adaptive hydraulic control system identifies one or more valves in an opened position of the plurality of valves that when closed would cause the pressure and the flow rate to return within the target operational thresholds. The adaptive hydraulic control system provides instructions to change a position of the one or more identified valves.
1. A hydraulic control system comprising:
a pressure sensor to measure a pressure in a water line;
a flow meter to measure a flow rate in the water line;
a plurality of valves to control water flow; and
a processing unit in communication with the pressure sensor, the flow meter, and the plurality of valves, wherein the processing unit is to:
monitor the pressure and the flow rate;
determine when the pressure is above and below a minimum target threshold and when the flow rate is above and below a maximum target threshold;
when the pressure is determined to be above the minimum target threshold and the flow rate is determined to be below the maximum target threshold, identify one or more valves in a closed position of the plurality of valves that when opened would maintain the pressure above the minimum target threshold and the flow rate below the maximum target threshold;
when the pressure is determined to be below the minimum target threshold or the flow rate is determined to be above the maximum target threshold, identify one or more valves in an opened position of the plurality of valves that when closed would cause one or more of the pressure to be increased above the minimum target threshold and the flow rate to be reduced below the maximum target threshold;
provide instructions to change a position of the one or more identified valves; and
determine recovery times associated with one or more of the plurality of valves, wherein a recovery time comprises time to stabilize one or more of the pressure and the flow rate in the water line,
wherein the one or more identified valves comprise a first valve and a second valve, and wherein the processing unit provides the instructions to the first valve and delays providing the instructions to the second valve until after a recovery time associated with the first valve.
2. The hydraulic control system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further to:
cause the recovery times of one or more of the plurality of valves to be stored on a memory device; and
associate the recovery times to pressure measurements.
3. The hydraulic control system of claim 2 , wherein the processing unit is further to determine, based on the stored recovery times, a predicted recovery time of a first valve based on a slope of pressure measurements.
4. The hydraulic control system of claim 3 , wherein to determine the predicted recovery time of the first valve when the current pressure measurement differs from the pressure measurements associated with the stored recovery times, the processing unit is further to extrapolate the predicted recovery time at the current pressure using the stored recovery times.
5. The hydraulic control system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further to:
compare a predicted pressure and flow rate change to a measured pressure and flow rate change after a valve positional change of the one or more identified valves, the comparison to determine an effectiveness of the change in position of the one or more identified valves, wherein the effectiveness is based on a difference between the predicted pressure and flow rate change and the measured pressure and flow rate change; and
rank the effectiveness of the valve positional change of the one or more identified valves and previous valve positional changes,
wherein the processing unit identifies future valve positional changes to maintain the pressure and flow rate within the minimum target threshold and maximum target threshold by determining which combination of valves has the highest ranked effectiveness for a desired pressure and flow rate change.
6. A method for controlling a hydraulic system, the method comprising:
monitoring a pressure in a water line via a pressure sensor, and a flow rate in a water line via a flow meter;
determining when one or more of the pressure and the flow rate are outside of a target operational range;
when one or more of the pressure and the flow rate are determined to be outside of the target operational range, identifying one or more valves that are associated with a predicted pressure and flow rate change sufficient to return the pressure and the flow rate to within the target operational range;
providing instructions to change a position of the one or more identified valves; and
creating a profile for each of the one or more valves based on the monitored pressure and flow rate during operation,
wherein each profile comprises a recovery time, wherein the recovery time comprises a function dependent on at least one of a current pressure and flow rate measurement.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein each profile comprises an individual flow rate of a valve associated with the profile.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein each profile comprises a combined flow rate of a combination of valves including a valve associated with the profile.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein each profile comprises a change in pressure caused by a combination of valves opening, the combination of valves comprising a valve associated with the profile.
10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
comparing the predicted pressure and flow rate change to a measured pressure and flow rate after the position of the one or more identified valves has changed to a new position to determine an effectiveness of the new position of the one or more identified valves, wherein the effectiveness is based on a difference between the predicted pressure and flow rate change and the measured pressure and flow rate; and
ranking the effectiveness of the new position of the one or more identified valves in relation to previous valve positions,
wherein identifying future valve changes to maintain the pressure and flow rate within the target operational range is performed by determining which combination of valve positions has the highest ranked effectiveness for a desired pressure and flow rate change.
11. A hydraulic control system comprising:
a memory to store predicted pressure changes and predicted flow rate changes for valve positional changes of a hydraulic system; and
a processing unit to:
receive a pressure measurement for a water line of a hydraulic system from a pressure sensor, and a flow rate measurement for the water line of the hydraulic system from a flow meter;
compare the pressure measurement and the flow rate measurement to a target operational range;
correlate pressure changes and flow rate changes with a plurality of valves of the hydraulic system;
identify, when the pressure measurement and the flow rate measurement are outside of the target operational range, one or more valves of the plurality of valves correlated with predicted pressure changes and predicted flow rate changes sufficient to return the pressure measurement and the flow rate measurement to within the target operational range;
provide instructions to change a position of the one or more identified valves;
compare a time to stabilize the hydraulic system after a valve changes position to a time limit; and
generate an error message for the valve if the time to stabilize is greater than the time limit.
12. The hydraulic control system of claim 11 , wherein the processing unit is further to cause the processing unit to perform operations to generate a set of valve control rules based on pressure changes and flow rate changes measured during operation.
13. The hydraulic control system of claim 12 , wherein the valve control rules vary based on a current combination of valves in use.
14. The hydraulic control system of claim 11 , wherein the processing unit is further to request that the hydraulic system receive water from an additional water source when the pressure measurement and the flow rate measurement are outside of the target operational range.
15. The hydraulic control system of claim 11 , wherein identifying the one or more valves includes calculating a predicted flow rate for a valve at a current pressure measurement based on a prior flow rate measurement for the valve at a prior pressure measurement.