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SPECIFICATIONS
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Product Description
Current lawn care practices vary from one homeowner to another. There are numerous sources of lawn care publications to help the homeowner. But unfortunately, most provide differing (sometimes contradictory) directions. Most of the published instructions to achieve and maintain a quality residential lawn require intensive labor, tend to use excessive fresh water and fertilizer additives, and are often only marginally effective in maintaining an attractive lawn. The Intelligent Lawn Care System (ILCS) is designed and developed to reduce
or eliminate these problems. The ILCS functions to: THE INTELLIGENT LAWN CARE SYSTEM The hardware components of the ILCS consist of: The sprinkler interface functions to control both the sprinkler system (when it is turned on and off) and the chemical tank(s) (when the chemicals should be dispersed). It provides an interface with the ILCS processor, all the sensors, and with the pre-existing sprinkler system. ILCS is designed to be incorporated with any sprinkler system that is commercially available and installed at the residential home. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to have a sprinkler system installed. The sprinkler interface is linked to the ILCS processor and works by receiving signals from the processor, or transmitting signals to the processor. PROCESSOR The processor for the ILCS serves as the “computer” of the system. It contains the software system for the ILCS. The processor is Intel compatible and is equipped with a modem and serial ports. The processor controls and monitors the entire system. USER INTERFACE The user interface is a touchpad device that is mounted on a wall outside the
residential home. This user interface will allow the homeowner to program the
system to suit his own lawn. The interface utilizes a combination of a simple
vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) and a light emitting diode (LED) to display the
current status of the lawn system. The VFD is a typical display that is commonly
used in microwaves and videocassette recorders for easy readability. The four
LEDs on the user interface will alert the user of the different statuses that
the system is in: SENSORS The environmental sensors of the ILCS consist of a rain sensor, and wind sensor. These sensors function to obtain the environmental conditions in different time increments. The rain sensor will be polled by the system in increments of 5 minutes. The wind sensor will monitor the environmental conditions in increments of 30 minutes. This data is then transmitted to the ILCS processor to be stored in the database for further use. This data is used to determine if water and/or the chemicals are needed. The soil sensors consist of a moisture sensor, a pH sensor, and individual sensors to measure Nitrogen , Phosphorous , and Potash . These sensors work together to measure the amount of moisture in the soil, test the pH of the soil, and measure the amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potash in the soil. The moisture level in the soil will be obtained in interims of 30 minutes. The remaining data from the soil sensor will be collected in interims of 24 hours. This data is transmitted to the ILCS computer and is stored in the database. This data is utilized with the data gathered from the environmental sensors to determine if water and/or the chemicals are needed, and the ideal quantities of each. CHEMICAL TANK(S) The chemical tank(s) in the system contain fertilizer, acid material , and base material for the soil. Each chemical is stored in its own tank. These tank(s) serve to disperse their contents over the lawn when given the signal to. These tank(s) are equipped with electronic metering pumps , and digital electronic flowmeters that are installed in the main irrigation line. The ILCS processor controls the chemical tank(s) by transmitting signals to the sprinkler interface when the contents of the tank(s) are to be dispersed. These tanks are also equipped with level sensors that function to detect the level of the chemical contents in the tank(s). If the contents fall below a certain level, a signal will be sent to the ILCS processor to signal that the tank(s) need to be refilled. These tank(s) will reside aboveground. Professional personnel will be responsible for refilling the chemical tank(s.) Homeowners who opt to refill the tank(s) themselves will be equipped with the proper instructions to do so in the User Manual. DATABASE The function of the database of the ILCS product is to store two sets of data. The first set of data is the basic information about a particular lawn that would include information pertaining to the grass type, plant/shrubbery type, soil type, moisture level in the soil, amount of nutrients needed in the soil, and pH of the soil. Some of this data (like grass type, plant/shrubbery type, and soil type) will be entered into the database through the user interface. All other data is obtained from the environmental and soil sensors of the ILCS and transmitted to the database for storage. This data will be used as part of a decision-making algorithm that assists in maintaining the lawn. For lawns that are divided into different sections called zones , the layout of these zones will also be programmed into the database to facilitate the care of the lawn. The acid material and base material will be preprogrammed to disperse on certain cycles. The second set of data in the ILCS database is a set of “rules” that dictates the requirements of a strong, healthy, and attractive lawn. Examples of data representing the “rules” of the ILCS product include proper pH levels for a certain type of soil, proper moisture levels for a certain grass type, and how often fertilizer should be added to the lawn. This data, along with the first set of data mentioned above, will be used as part of a decision-making algorithm that assists in maintaining the lawn. USER INTERFACE The software user interface for the ILCS software will be a simple text-based interface that will allow the user to input the data that is required for ILCS to function optimally. Basic controls like on and off, and delay functions will also allow the user to have some basic control over the ILCS. DECISION MAKER The decision-making algorithms will be pre-programmed into the ILCS. These algorithms work with the two sets of data stored in the database to perform calculations and determine if the lawn is in a healthy state. An example of some of the calculations performed by the algorithm is, does the lawn need to be watered, when does it need to be watered, and the amount of water that should be dispensed in order for the lawn to have the correct moisture level, and the time required for the sprinkler system to run. These algorithms ensure that the lawn is always kept in its best condition. DRIVER Drivers will be provided for the ILCS hardware components such as the sensors, valves (for the chemical tanks), ILCS sprinkler interface, and the modem on the ILCS processor. These drivers function to provide the interface to all the hardware components. USER SETTINGS The user settings will allow the homeowner to set information such as the preferred watering time for the lawn, and the geographic location of the lawn. These settings are entered through the user interface of the system and provide the homeowner with control over his system. TECHNICAL INTERFACE The technical interface will provide the system with upgrading and repairing (through diagnostics) features. This will ensure that the system will always be utilizing the latest technology for producing optimum results. HISTORICAL DATABASE The historical database of the ILCS is an “extension” of the original database. The historical database functions to record historical data of the system such as, daily readings, daily actions taken by the system based on the readings, and the effectiveness of these actions. This database is to provide the system with a self-correcting feature to modify its actions (if the actions did not achieve the desired results for the lawn). This will ensure that the goals of the system, which is to provide a healthy, strong, and attractive lawn, is achieved. CONCLUSION These hardware and software components along with electronically controlled values, piping, and miscellaneous wiring connections form the Intelligent Lawn Care System. Upon installation, vital information of soil type, grass and/or plant type, and geographic location will be programmed into the database using the user interface. Based on this information, the decision maker will then determine which set of “rules” is suitable for the particular lawn conditions that have been provided. The ILCS will then operate based on the “rules” and the data collected through the sensors. The sprinkler interface controls when the sprinkler system will water the lawn and when the tank(s) will disperse their contents. The metering device on the tank(s) help to determine the amount of chemicals pumped out of the tanks. To better illustrate how ILCS works, assume that the system is installed in a residential lawn and is fully functional. The database will contain “rules” with information like how much water will be needed to keep a particular type of grass healthy. Assuming that the lawn is planted with carpet grass, the decision maker will perform calculations using the stored information and the data gathered from the sensors to calculate if there is enough moisture in the soil to maintain a healthy lawn. If there isn’t, the ILCS processor will send a signal to the sprinkler interface for the sprinkler system to start. The sprinkler system will then provide water for a certain amount of time and use chemicals from the tank(s) as specified by the computer software. The Intelligent Lawn Care System is an automated system with minimal user actions that efficiently uses the maximum amount of water and chemical additives to effectively maintain an attractive home residential lawn. Production Specifications Production Specifications can be downloaded here. |
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