US 12,439,866 B2
Smart irrigation system
Brant Burkey, Denton, NE (US); Dan Pickerill, Milford, NE (US); Tim Adkins, Plattsmouth, NE (US); Mateusz Mittek, Lincoln, NE (US); and Steve R. Tippery, Gretna, NE (US)
Assigned to REALMFIVE, Inc., Lincoln, NE (US)
Filed by REALMFIVE, Inc., Lincoln, NE (US)
Filed on Mar. 25, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/830,085.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/823,325, filed on Mar. 25, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2020/0305366 A1, Oct. 1, 2020
Int. Cl. A01G 25/16 (2006.01); A01G 25/09 (2006.01); B60K 31/00 (2006.01)
CPC A01G 25/16 (2013.01) [A01G 25/092 (2013.01); B60K 31/0008 (2013.01); B60Y 2200/40 (2013.01); B60Y 2400/302 (2013.01); B60Y 2400/307 (2013.01); B60Y 2400/3086 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. 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.