WO2010051652A1 - Wireless irrigation automation and control system - Google Patents

Abstract

A wireless irrigation automation and control system and method which operate, individually and remotely, automated irrigation equipment which includes pumps, fertigation devices and electrovalves which are distributed over the entire surface to be irrigated; in addition, this system is able to perform, in a simultaneous and centralized manner, at a low cost and with a high degree of flexibility, the following operations: issue irrigation commands; measure, by means of sensors, factors of a varying nature which affect the productivity of the plants and the irrigation quality; record irrigation data; record data captured by the sensors; record external data; monitor the processes; and generate alarm signals in the event of anomalous events.

Description

 WIRELESS AUTOMATION AND IRRIGATION CONTROL SYSTEM

TECHNICAL SECTOR OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a System and a wireless Procedure for automation and control of technified irrigation that has been designed and constructed to be applied on any plantation of fruit trees, vegetables, gardens or the like, which possess technified irrigation equipment. The central objective of

System and Procedure is that wirelessly and centrally, manages and controls, individually, each of the elements that activate and deactivate irrigation; also capture sensor data from multiple incident factors in

Ia productivity of the plants and irrigation quality, distributed in the irrigated area; and record all the information that is generated from both processes.

In addition, it allows to register any other external information related to the productivity of the plants and factors that affect it, allowing in a single repository to process and relate all the data of the production process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

At present, technical irrigation for large plantations presents serious difficulties, since it suffers from the mechanisms necessary to be properly managed, which will be described in the following paragraphs.

The profitability of the fruit business depends on the productivity and quality of the fruit that is obtained, so that the maximum rigor in the planning and execution of all agricultural tasks must be sought; among them one of the most important is irrigation and fertilization; and subsequently check that they have actually been executed according to plan.

The handling of the information is of vital importance, because it is the only way to make the decisions in a timely manner and because it allows to subsequently analyze the causes that produced the achievements or failures obtained. Keep all

The information under the same system, to visualize and relate it to each other, is of first necessity. At present there is no solution in the national or foreign market that can satisfy these requirements.

The technified irrigation is made up of pumps that extract the water from a source (well, tranque, channel), Ia propel a pipe that forms a water network, which by means of electrically operated valves, allow to supply the irrigation lines in a sectorized way that have the drippers or micro sprinklers that are finally the ones who deliver the water to the plants. Normally and immediately at the entrance of the pump, a fertirrigador equipment is inserted, whose function is to feed one or more nutrients to the water network, which will be delivered to the plants.

The electrically operated valves, also called solenoid valves, are connected with an electric wire to a controller that is programmed to indicate when they should be opened or closed. From that same controller, the starting and stopping order of the (or) pumps involved with said valves is given. The fertirrigator is usually programmed in another control center or operated manually.

Irrigation is sized considering factors such as the surface and species to be planted; soil characteristics; The evapotransplration and temperatures of the area in the various seasons of the year; The planting density; and other related. Based on this, the maximum amount of water is determined per unit of time that needs to be delivered to the plants when they are in full production. Then, the irrigation system, number of pumps, fertirrigators, sector size, number and location of solenoid valves, number and type of irrigation emitters (drippers or micro sprinklers), diameters and layout of the network of electrical pipes and cables are designed .

The sectors in which the area to be irrigated is divided are established in order to optimize the use of resources such as pumps and fertirrigators; For example, given that the cultivated sectors will not be irrigated 24 hours a day, but perhaps a maximum of 3 hours per day, then up to 8 sectors can be irrigated using the same pumps for all of them. The pumps are installed inside an irrigation booth, close to the water source, where the fertirrigator and the controllers with which the irrigation and fertilization are programmed are also installed. Considering that the drippers are very small holes, to prevent them from clogging up, the water extracted from the source immediately passes through a system of filters. To clean the filters there is a backwash process that passes the water in the reverse direction, which is automatically activated for a time and with a frequency determined by different criteria depending on the models and manufacturers of the aforementioned filters. A frequent configuration for fruit crops such as avocado and citrus is that there are one or two pumps, located in an irrigation booth, for every 25 hectares that make up an irrigation garden. The surface is divided into 5 sectors each with 15 valves. Thus a field with 500 hectares of plantation will have: - 20 Irrigation systems, each with its irrigation booth and its controller for programming

- 30 bombs

- 20 fertirrigators, each with its controller for programming - 100 irrigation sectors - 1,500 valves

The irrigation booths, where the controllers for programming irrigation and fertilization are located, are far from the offices where the agronomist who defines how you want to water is located and also far from each other.

The controllers that are commonly used, are very basic equipment, which fundamentally allow programming the opening time of a series of solenoid valves, and the closing time of these. They are similar to garden irrigation controllers.

They can store a limited number (6 to 12) of irrigation programs. They can be deprogrammed due to lack of electrical energy. In general they do not have the capacity to detect or report any anomalies. They have no ability to record information.

The person responsible for irrigation, based on multiple variables, such as evapotranspiration, ambient temperature, soil texture, planted species, wind, and others, defines how much and when to irrigate and fertilize. The more flexibility you have to implement the irrigation operationally, the person in charge can more easily find the way to achieve optimal irrigation.

For a avocado plantation, for example, it can be defined for a given week, which is desired to water every day of the week, 3 hours a day, starting at 11 am. To materialize it, this irrigation must be programmed in the controller, which does not present major difficulties. However, the matter becomes more complicated if it is defined that you want to water based on pulses instead of long times, for example water 8 minutes from 10 hours, then 12 minutes from 11 hours, and so successively until completing 8 pulses during all days of the week, with the exception of the Sunday day that a long watering of 4 hours from 13 hours is desired. Programming this type of irrigation already presents greater difficulties.

If you want to water more accurately, looking for greater comfort for the plant and thus achieve better productivity of the plant, the programming becomes more complex. If we add that the programming function must be performed in an unfriendly, very limited device that is far from the place where decisions are made, then the problem is exacerbated.

Moreover, if what is sought is the greater comfort of the plant, due to significant changes in climatic conditions, the planned irrigation must necessarily be changed. With the mechanisms currently available, this is hardly done, since the complexity of operation would increase substantially.

The person in charge of defining the irrigation presumes that it is really irrigated according to what he has established, however there are multiple factors that can distort it. A first factor is that the person in charge of programming the irrigation does not do it correctly, which is difficult to detect. A second factor is that the programmed irrigation has not been carried out or has been carried out only partially by power cut. Similar factors occur in the fertilization process.

Since the irrigation programmers do not have the capacity to record the actual irrigation, the person in charge of irrigation of each of the systems keeps a manual record of the watering and fertilizing. Obviously, such information does not have a high degree of reliability.

The registration of the irrigation and fertilization data is of the utmost importance, since it allows the productivity of the plantation to be analyzed later, in relation to the aforementioned data, climatic and agronomic factors. As noted above, the productivity of plants depends not only on irrigation and fertilization, but also on weather conditions, such as falling rain, wind, solar radiation, temperatures at different times of the day and throughout The season, the humidity, among others. Having all this information is vital to program irrigation and fertilization, as well as to subsequently perform an analysis of these and their relationship with productivity.

At present, Meteorological Stations are commercialized that measure and record these factors, at a reasonable cost. However, said data cannot be seen in an integrated way with the information related to irrigation and fertilization, since they are provided with proprietary and specific software.

In order to have greater precision and control elements of all the factors affecting the productivity of the plants, various sensors are used that allow measuring, for example, the soil moisture at different depths, the temperature of the leaves, the dilation and contraction of the trunk of the trees (dendrometers), among others.

Normally, these sensors are commercialized with a device that records the readings that are made, with a certain periodicity (for example every 1 hour). In general, these devices do not have the capacity to transmit this information to a central computer, except for those of high cost. Even less to integrate this data with information related to irrigation. Reviewing the state of the art in the Operation and Control of Irrigation, it can be concluded that the elements and devices currently available in the market, satisfy the basic needs of operation, however, because they are provided by multiple suppliers, their integration is practically nil. On the other hand, due to the traditional delay with which agriculture incorporates technology, automation and control systems so used in other industries such as manufacturing or mining have not been developed for example.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the invention is to build an automation and control system for all the devices involved in technical irrigation. This will facilitate its operation and record all the information concerning the process in addition to designing and building an information system that integrates data related to irrigation, weather conditions, sensors and all other information that could be useful to achieve efficient agronomic management, oriented to obtain an optimum profitability in the plantations and with a total traceability of the executed one.

As described above, the current irrigation systems, in its infrastructure are composed of pumps, solenoid valves and fertirrigators as commandable devices. The pumps and solenoid valves are commanded by the irrigation controller or programmer and the fertirrigators are commanded by a second independent programmer.

Given the important restrictions presented by these programmers, in the present invention it was decided to dispense with them in the design of the proposed solution.

Therefore, another object of the invention is to build an automation system that commands only pumps, fertirrigators and solenoid valves. Pumps and fertirrigadores are easily attainable, since both elements are located in the irrigation booth, very close to each other. The solenoid valves, on the other hand, are distributed over the entire surface of the plantation, which represents a major problem. These solenoid valves, commanded by the programmer, in general they receive 24-volt power supply to activate the device that opens them, and they are closed by the action of a spring when they stop receiving energy. Taking advantage of the possibility of obtaining energy from the solenoid valve, it is defined as another object of the present invention to build an electronic device that, powered by that energy, could act to open and close each solenoid valve. This device should also be connected to a central computer in which it is programmed and from which the irrigation is commanded, based on individual opening and closing orders for each of them. This configuration allows total independence to act on each valve individually, either manually or automatically. Current systems have normally been constructed in such a way that several valves are grouped as garlands that are in unison open or closed, which offers little flexibility to make different risks in the areas of influence of each valve, if required.

To communicate these devices with the central computer, the invention included in them a high frequency radio that does not produce interference with other signals such as cell phones and other FM radios. In addition, a communication protocol was designed and constructed between the radios and of these with the central computer with which high flexibility was achieved and, in the absence of direct communication between a radio and the central computer, achieving communication using intermediate radios that perform the function of message relays.

Since the sensors for measuring humidity, temperature, trunk thickness, and other related as tensiometer data, it is required that they be distributed throughout the planted surface, as well as the valves are distributed, it is defined as another object of the invention, the incorporation to the devices that open and close valves, the ability to connect sensors.

Some of the sensors have also been included whose specific objective is to control the quality of irrigation, among these are: water pressure in different points; flow measurement at the outlet of the pumps; amount of water delivered by drippers or micro sprinklers; and others of similar nature.

The device manages the frequency at which the measurement is made and transmits to the central computer the value measured with which immediate information is known. When the data is received in the central computer, if it is outside the normal ranges, the information system will immediately give the necessary alarms.

Another object of the present invention is to build an information system that manages in an integrated manner all the data generated in the irrigation and fertilization process, those captured by the sensors and those coming from the meteorological station. Thus, in a single application, the incident data on plant productivity can be observed and related.

Background external to the system can also be incorporated into it to be visualized: result of foliar analysis; quantity, color and size of the fruits during their development; production in each season; chemical analysis of the soil; historization; or other related.

The automation and control system of the present invention, is operated from a computer, called Commander Node, allows wirelessly, simultaneously and centrally, with low cost and high flexibility, to order watering. Through sensors it allows to measure factors of various kinds that affect the productivity of the plants. Registers irrigation data and other relevant variables, captured by specific sensors and related exogenous data. From operating parameters entered by the user, it allows generating alarms in case of anomalies. It facilitates the review of the information captured through a series of reports of multivariable individual or consolidated variables; and most importantly, it allows analyzing and relating in the same system, all the information captured from the process and the relevant environmental and biological variables.

The equipment that the system can command are: pumps, fertirrigadores, solenoid valves and any other electrical or electronic drive equipment. On each of them an actuator is installed that operates, according to the instructions that are sent from the commander.

On the pumps there are only 2 possible actions: start or stop, as in the case of solenoid valves. On the fertirrigadores the performances are more complex but it is not more than a sequence of opening and closing valves, and operating small pumps to dose the nutrients, according to a recipe defined by the agronomist.

From the above it follows that the required actuator, in its basic function, requires only the ability to open and close (start and stop), when it receives from the commander the corresponding instruction.

The actuator obviously has the ability to communicate with the commander, to receive their operating instructions and inform them of their results.

For its operation, the actuator, which is an electronic device, requires electrical power. In the places where the pumps and fertirrigators are located, it is always available, since they are very close to the electricity grid. In the solenoid valves, distributed throughout the plantation surface, where the conventional electric network does not arrive, the invention considered taking advantage of the energy available in the same solenoid valve to act on it. This fact is very relevant within the invention, since it avoids alternative power supplies such as batteries or photovoltaic cells, which are unsafe and have high operational and investment costs.

Once the basic invention was defined, which solves the problem of being able to easily and technically actuate the irrigation equipment, it was sought to strengthen it with other capacities. It was determined as another object of the invention, capturing and transmitting sensor data to the commander (humidity, ambient temperature, leaf temperature, trunk thickness, pressure, flow, and other relevant) was very desirable, since such information is very much interest for the person in charge of the administration and control of the property. As previously noted, the actuator is an electronic device with capabilities to: communicate with the commander, open and close solenoid valves, start and stop pumps and capture sensor data to transmit to the computer.

For such purposes in its design it was included:

- Microprocessor - UHF Radio

- Analog doors

- Digital doors

- Relays

As a mechanical design consideration, the actuator is encapsulated within a sealed plastic box to work outdoors; and it is fed by the electrical energy available to operate the solenoid valves (between 18 and 30 volts a.c).

For the radio communication between the actuator and the commander, an Ad-Hoc communications protocol was designed and constructed for the invention. A relevant feature of this design is that the protocol allows any actuator installed on the premises to be used as a message repeater. This allows the network to be enhanced and to take advantage of this intercommunication to resolve situations in which direct communication of a particular actuator with the commander is not possible, using intermediate actuators as support. The actuator microprocessor, in addition to handling the communications protocol, has an application to make the most of the analog and digital doors available. Through the analog gates it acquires data from the sensors; and it operates the irrigation equipment through its digital outputs, equipped with auxiliary relays that allow it to handle more power.

In the command node, based on a computer, several applications were built and among the most important characteristics of these we can highlight:

- Communication with the actuators via a UHF radio connected to an RS-232 or USB serial port of the PC. - The operation of irrigation equipment, pumps, fertirrigators and solenoid valves; through the actuators.

- Define and execute irrigation programs in a friendly computing environment. - Program the frequency of reading data from the sensors.

- Manage a database with all the irrigation information and sensors.

- Alarm system for possible abnormalities.

- Capture and storage of weather station data. - Generation of automatic backup of the captured data, in a computer of another geographical location.

- Generation of reports of measured variables and the operation of the process; on screen, exportable to other analysis or print programs.

- User administration and its privileges over the system. - Traceability and Historization

Through this invention, from the commander who manages the actuators or from any computer connected to it, it is possible to make irrigation programs and execute them with precision, individually administering each of the solenoid valves of the property. In the command node, the historical risks can be reviewed, plotted in parallel with the ambient temperature, soil moisture and trunk thickness, for example.

If, while an irrigation is running, some pipe is broken, the water pressure will be altered, which will be detected by the sensors and informed to the existing application in the commander. This and other anomalies detected by the sensors can suspend the irrigation programs automatically, depending on the action defined. The alarm system will notify with a message on the computer, a message to cell phone or email and / or the buzz of a cicada in the guard's gate, according to the action defined for each exception situation. Prior to the invention all this was not feasible. A large number of solenoid valves, 1,000 or more, are administered in medium and large plantations. In them there are usually several planted species, with soils of varied structural characteristics, with different slopes, with different sun exposure, with plants of different levels of development, and many others of different relevance. To this is added the variability of climatic factors, temperature, wind, relative humidity, and other incidents, all of which configure very varied and dynamic scenarios in which without tools it is impossible to program and operate adequate and efficient irrigation. If the irrigation is not adequate, the productivity of the plant and the quality of the fruits will be far from optimal and therefore the profitability of the project can be seriously punished.

In addition to substantially improving the quality and efficiency of irrigation, the invention decreases significant personnel costs, especially for those who program and execute irrigation, who many times a day must travel long distances to reach the irrigation booths from where the operation is commanded. .

It also allows significant savings in water, energy and supplies, since it allows efficient use of them and avoids waste produced by broken pipes and other anomalies. Without considering the decrease in costs attributable to the system, adequate and precise irrigation allows significant improvements in productivity. An increase of 5 to 7% in higher production allows the installation of the invention to be fully financed. These productive improvements are possible as a result of better planning, execution and control of irrigation, in addition to the important contribution that means for the producer all the information for decision making that is captured through sensors distributed in the field and that is consolidated in the system.

It is also a high value contribution for the agronomist because he will finally be able to easily verify if his management plan was carried out according to what he planned. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1: Aerial photo of the property in which the invention is applied, showing the location of the command node (in the field offices); an actuator node with a repeater function in communications, located on the top of a hill 2.2 kilometers from the command node; and the area of the garden where it is applied

The invention at a distance of 1.8 kilometers from the hill with the repeater.

Figure 2: Aerial photo of the garden in which the invention is applied, showing the network of irrigation pipes; Ia location of the 2 pumps and the fertirrigador; and the 39 solenoid valves that, when opened, deliver the water to the drip lines that water and fertilize the plants.

Figure 3: Aerial photo of the garden in which the invention is applied showing the actuator nodes that were installed for the operation of the Wireless System for Automation and Control of Irrigation Technified. In detail you can see the actuator nodes in the 2 pumps, the fertirrigador, each of the 39 solenoid valves and 3 actuator nodes for sensors in 4 control trees.

Figure 4: Schematic diagram of the electronic circuit with which the actuator node was designed.

Figure 5: Upper layer of the printed circuit (Layer) of the actuator node, in which the connections are presented on the upper face of the plate (Component Side) of the printed circuit.

Figure 6: Lower layer of the printed circuit (Layer) of the actuator node, in which the connections are presented on the lower face of the plate (Welding Side) of the printed circuit. Figure 7: Perforations layer of the printed circuit (Layer) of the actuator node, in which the perforations that cross the printed circuit board are presented. The different figures indicate the diameter of the perforation depending on the component that is installed there.

Figure 8: Signaling layer (silkscreen) of the printed circuit (Layer) of the actuator node. It shows the shape and physical space of each of the electronic components that are installed as well as the polarity of the polarized elements.

Figure 9: Photo of a real Actuator Node in which its different components can be appreciated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The Invention in its main objective is the construction of an Automation and Control System and Procedure that allows wireless, simultaneously and centrally, with low cost and high flexibility: to order watering; through sensors measure factors of various kinds that affect plant productivity and irrigation quality; record irrigation data; record data captured by the sensors; record exogenous data; Control processes and generate alarms in case of anomalies.

The System of the present invention is constituted by the following elements: A) .- A Commander Node that commands multiple actuator nodes.

Resident in a PC equipped with: radio modem, large disk capacity to store the database; ability to manage events and alarms; and capacity for Internet connection.

B) .- Multiple Actuator Nodes, electronic component devices that include a microprocessor with analog and digital doors, ram and rom memory, power source, a UHF radio, relays and other complementary. It is encapsulated in a sealed plastic box to work in

The weather. Figures 4 to 8 show the schematic diagram of the electronic circuit of the actuator node and the different layers of the printed circuit, Figure 9 a photo of said node.

Design Features of the Actuator Node:

- Very low power consumption

- Low production cost

- Easy to install and repair - Easily replaceable - Little singularity, all the same but with the ability to do multiple different tasks according to the instruction you receive

- Configuration of the functionality at run time

- Reliable and Safe to work outdoors - Cooperate with each other to reach great distances or overcome communication obstacles.

The UHF radios used in the invention for the actuator nodes, are provided with a microprocessor that analyzes the messages it receives from other radios, in order to transfer to the microprocessor of the device only the messages that are addressed to it, the rest of the messages They are discarded. Through this feature it is possible to prevent the device's microprocessor from dealing with messages that are not its business.

The microprocessor or microcontroller selected to include in the actuator nodes of the invention is low cost but high performance. The manufacturer is reliable and its supply is guaranteed for many years. Integra CPU, Ram, Rom, EEprom, analog and digital communications ports. There is a wide range of development environments available, which facilitates the development of applications. It can operate without problems in the required environmental conditions. It is low energy consumption and even has sleep mode. It has a timer (watch dog timer), which allows you to reset the program in case of problems. It has an I2C and SPI interface, which makes it compatible with a wide range of other electronic devices.

The firmware that is recorded in the actuator node was specially designed and built for this invention and among its main features are:

• Modular design.

• Programmed in C and Assembler languages.

• Efficient use of hardware interrupts that the microcontroller has.

• Comprehensive check of the integrity of the messages received. • Behavior controlled by text messages, according to proprietary protocol.

• Ability to act as a repeater of messages addressed to other nodes. • Management of input / output ports, definable utility at runtime.

• Management of the functionality provided by the UHF radio modem.

• Ability to operate equipment with electrical or electronic control.

• Ability to acquire data from analog and digital sensors. C) .- A Communications and Messaging Network that allows the commander node, through its radio modem, and actuator nodes, through its UHF radio all cooperatively, to transmit messages to each other, messages with the instructions to be executed and the result of these, all based on a communications protocol built specifically for this invention. The Procedure of the present invention that allows to operate and control automatically remotely and wirelessly, technified irrigation equipment is defined by the following steps:

A), - Program the Irrigation, based on multiple static variables such as species and variety of the planted fruit, distance between plants and row (density) of planting, soil characteristics, volume of water per unit of time delivered by drippers or micro sprinklers to the plants; and dynamic variables such as room temperature, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, fruit or flower state; the person in charge of irrigation of the area in question establishes the Irrigation Program. The Commander Node facilitates the reception of the data that make up the

Irrigation Program that is established for weekly, biweekly, monthly or arbitrary terms. The data is validated individually and comprehensively to detect possible inconsistencies.

B) .- Generate Irrigation Table, from the Irrigation Program, the Commander Node generates the Irrigation Table that establishes the start time and time of duration of this one, in individual form for each: exit of the fertirrigadores, solenoid valves and pumps associated to them.

C), - Review Irrigation Tables, the Procedure continuously reviews the Irrigation Tables in order that when appropriate, the Commanding Node generates the Irrigation Execution Order.

D) .- Order Execution of Irrigation, the Command Node when generating the Order of Execution of Irrigation, through the communications network, command in a timely manner and individually to each of the actuating nodes, to activate the irrigation elements: pumps, fertirrigators outlets and solenoid valves. Once the corresponding duration time has elapsed or the volume of water required, both options available, the command node will command the actuator node to deactivate the irrigation element.

For any instruction received by the actuator node, it sends a message to the command node indicating the result obtained. During the period of duration, individually for each irrigation instruction, the command node, each parameterizable for a small period of time, controls that the instruction is in execution. If the command node detects any anomaly, it immediately generates an event or alarm that in the Irrigation Program, the administrator defined parametrically. E) .- Register the Irrigation Information, the Commander Node records in detail all the irrigation actions that it instructed and the result of said instruction. If any anomaly was detected, it is also registered.

F) .- Program Sensor Reading, in the area of planting and distributed with various criteria established by the administrator, associated with an actuator node, sensors are connected that allow measuring multiple factors, among others: water pH, pressure in pipes, trunk thickness, ambient temperature, leaf temperature, soil temperature, rain, soil moisture at various depths. According to the type of sensor and the periodicity of readings that it is desired, the person in charge of irrigation of the area in question establishes the Sensor Reading Program. The Commander Node facilitates the reception of the data that make up the

Sensor Reading Program that is established for weekly, biweekly, monthly, arbitrary or indefinite terms. The data is validated individually and comprehensively to detect possible inconsistencies.

From the Sensor Reading Program, the command node generates the Sensor Reading Table and so on very similar steps to those described for irrigation with the difference that instead of activating and deactivating irrigation elements, the actuator node by instruction received from the command node, activates a sensor, which reads the measurement result and transmits it to the command node who stores it as historical information. If the command node detects anomalies in the data received from the sensors, being out of normal ranges for example, it generates an alarm event with the characteristics that the administrator set parametrically. G) .- Alarms Subsystem, this subsystem receives the alarm signals generating various forms of notification to those who are established in a parameterized way: cell phone call, mail to administrator, snapshot in booth of nocheros, or others that the administrator has defined. In general, all alarms are generated by the Commander Node, however, some actuator nodes can act autonomously to communicate, for example, that they are not receiving instructions.

H) .- Reprogram the Irrigation, the System for measurements obtained by the sensors, mainly soil moisture and tensiometers, if they detect differences against the patterns established for the Irrigation Program, they automatically suggest a reprogramming of the irrigation Ia that is informed to the administrator . Parametrically it is defined if the reprogramming must be authorized by the administrator or practiced automatically. The administrator on his own initiative, can at any time reprogram an irrigation.

I) .- Manage via Internet, from any PC connected to the computer where the Commander Node resides, according to the privileges of the user who connects, can do all kinds of actions such as: view irrigation data, schedule, reschedule or suspend irrigation.

J) .- Backup Subsystem, the Commander Node, automatically, each parameterized time intervals, through the Internet, backs up the information from the database in a pre-set PC that ideally should be located in a different place from the commander node. In case of damage to the Commander Node or in the event that it has been subject to theft or loss, all functions of the Commander Node can be performed from the backup PC. The Backup Subsystem is constantly verifying its interaction with the Commander Node in order to alert those corresponding to the alarm that the administrator has defined for such circumstance in the event that the communication has been interrupted.

K) .- Integrity Review Subsystem, the Commander Node, automatically, each parameterized time intervals, through the communications network, makes a sweep over each of the actuating nodes verifying its availability and that all its components are operational It also verifies that all sensors connected to said node are operational. In case of detecting anomalies, it generates the corresponding alarms to correct the problem. L) .- Generate Groups, the solenoid valves are commanded and acted on an individual basis, however in order to facilitate the work of the irrigation manager, the latter can establish through the procedure, Electrovalve Groups on all of which will act on it shape. These groups are virtual and dynamic, which the administrator can modify with complete freedom to water for example following the path of the sun that changes according to the seasons of the year. Even to optimize irrigation, the administrator can simultaneously put a solenoid valve in more than one group, which will be operated at different times.

M) .- Defaults (Default), the procedure has an infinite number of parameters for, among others, establishing sensor reading frequencies, actions before alarms, colors with which objects and sectors are represented. irrigation. To facilitate the data entry job to the administrator, all parameters are defined with a default value. If a client redefines the default value of a parameter, that new value remains by default for all instances in which the parameter is used on the client. As an example, Figure 1 shows an agricultural company that owns a plot of 800 hectares planted, where the invention was applied in a Clemenule mandarin orchard called TamSaui of 40.55 hectares. The plantation dates from 1998 and considers technified irrigation, with 2Lt / Hr drippers, which includes 2 pumps, one of 75Hp and the other of 40Hp, a 3-injector and 39 solenoid fertirrigador. The garden is divided into 4 irrigation sectors, called A, B,

C and D, approximately 10 Ha each. Sectors A and B are irrigated only with the 75Hp pump, but to irrigate sectors C and D, the two pumps must be used together, since these are at a higher height, on the side of a hill.

In the administrative offices of the company, located in the same field at a distance of approximately 4 kilometers from the selected garden, the commander node was installed with its radio modem. Given the distance between the location of the command node and the garden, with the presence of hills nearby, an actuator node was installed on the top of one of these hills, whose only function is to facilitate communications between the office and the garden, serving Repeater in the communications network.

In Figure 2, an aerial view of the garden is shown, where you can see the water feeder, near which the irrigation booth is located in which the pumps (drawn in blue) and the fertirrigador equipment ( white rectangle with 2 green dots). In the figure you can also see the main matrices of the irrigation pipe (painted with blue lines) and on these the solenoid valves (painted as green circles).

Figure 3 shows the actuator nodes that were installed, one for each of the pumps and one for the fertirrigator. Also, in each solenoid valve an actuator node was installed to control them independently. In each of the irrigation sectors, and close to a solenoid valve, a control tree was identified (figure 3 painted as yellow buckets). They installed sensors for leaf temperature, room temperature and syndrome. Likewise, humidity sensors (at 30, 60 and 90 centimeters deep), tensiometer at 60 cm depth, and a rain gauge to measure the volume of water dripped by a dropper were installed near the control tree.

An actuator node controls a group of 2 or 3 of the indicated sensors, by

So 3 actuator nodes were needed around each of the witness trees in each of the 4 sectors. In total for the management of all irrigation elements and all sensors, 3 + 12 + 39 = 54 actuator nodes were installed.

The actuator nodes for their operation require electrical energy that they obtain from the solenoid valves (approx. 24 volts) or from any other source available nearby.

In the command node, consisting of a PC connected to the Internet and equipped with a UHF radio modem, the application called HydraSuccess was installed. This application that has an extensive menu of services, allows:

• Define in the system all administrative data of the farm. (Corporate name, address, data of the owner (s), data of the administrator, and other relevant).

• Define in the system the division into orchards and sectors existing in the farm.

• Load the different relevant locations into the system, geo-referenced. (Offices, irrigation booths, location of each solenoid valve or sensor, and any other element that needs to be located).

• Load the relevant data of the irrigation equipment into the system. (Pumps, solenoid valves and fertirrigators). • Load the relevant data of the installed sensors into the system. (Thermometers, dendrometers, rain gauges, humidity sensors, flow meters, and others operated by the system)

• Associate the irrigation equipment with the actuators that control them. • Associate the sensors with the actuators that acquire them.

• Periodically survey the operating status of the irrigation equipment and periodically capture the measurements of the installed sensors.

• Store in a relational database, all the information entered by the user, as well as that obtained from the actuators and from other sources. All the information available for all types of immediate or future analysis.

• Set up groups of irrigation equipment and sensors, forming groups that facilitate the preparation of irrigation programs. • Generate irrigation programs for the groups of equipment and sensors already defined, specifying the equipment involved, departure time, duration of the program (in minutes and / or in m3) and the periodicity with which its execution will be repeated.

• Control the execution of the irrigation programs generated through an operation screen that shows the status of the programs and the details related to the planned and the already executed.

• Generate reports with information on the variables measured using terrain sensors, which can be displayed on the screen, printed on paper or exported. • Define and control the exception situations and generate alarms for detected anomalies. The user can define in the system both the situations that generate the alarms, as well as the actions that will be carried out to communicate these situations, (information on screen, sounds, email or SMS to cell phone). Meteorological station of the client was connected to the commander node, which at the configurable frequency, captures all the data of climatic factors That this one measures. Among them: ambient temperature, relative humidity, rain fall, wind speed and direction, solar radiation and evapotranspiration.

Also in the command node and using the Irrigation Programs menu, the administrator programmed the weekly irrigation he wanted to achieve an optimal condition of the plants. For which I took into account soil characteristics, plant development and climatic conditions, since there is no supporting data provided by this system. These programs individually specify for each solenoid valve, the start time of the irrigation and the amount of water that must be replenished to the ground. It also scheduled the doses of fertilizers that will be added with the irrigation.

The command node constantly reviews the Irrigation Programs already entered into the system, to determine if it is time to start any of them. When it detects that it must start an irrigation, it generates the Irrigation Table, which contains the detail that indicates at what moment each solenoid valve, pump and injector of the fertirrigador must open and close.

Next, the command node continuously checks the Irrigation Table and when appropriate, gives the order to each actuator node to open or close the solenoid valves, pumps or injectors of the fertirrigator.

To manage the status of irrigation equipment and sensor measurements, a Periodic Survey of equipment status and sensor values was installed in the command node. This program, which operates as a service of the Operating System, requires that for each surveyable equipment or sensor the measurement periodicity, the normality ranges and the action or alarm to be executed in case of detecting any abnormality be defined. All this information is stored in the database, in a table of equipment states and sensor variables. This Periodic Survey program operates by generating messages to the field actuators, whom you consult about the status of the controlled equipment or the values measured by the sensors connected to them. The alarm subsystem analyzes the values received and from them evaluates and determines whether or not the generation of any alarm related to those values corresponds. At present, with the Irrigation Control and Automation System operating routinely, the administrator can, from the command node or any networked PC to it, view all the information of the really executed risks, the historical values delivered by the sensors or the historical data of the meteorological station, all this in a single application that allows to review the values stored in the database of the system, either in a table or graph format, according to what the administrator requires.

If the administrator observes that one or more parameters have changed their value with respect to what he had considered at the time he established the Irrigation Programs, he can immediately review and edit the programs already created, to adapt them to this new scenario. Even, the administrator can establish automatic changes to the irrigation programs, if alterations are detected in certain parameters measured by the system. For example, if the soil moisture caused by a rain rose over a certain threshold, irrigation is not carried out and the warning messages that were defined parametrically are generated.

Each time the command node detects an anomaly; for example, that the water pressure is outside the established ranges, that the humidity is exaggerated or that a solenoid valve could not be opened, or another cause and from what has been specified in the alarm subsystem, the system generates the corresponding alarm and executes specified actions, among which are: messages on screen, sounds, sending of email or SMS to the person in charge of irrigation or the activation of a cicada or siren in the nightstand's house. It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that several other variations in the invention disclosed are feasible without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention such as: adding an option to control that during the time the filters are backwashing, If the fertilization function is active, it is deactivated so as not to lose high-cost inputs; add the feasibility of operating other sensors that in this presentation have not been indicated; in the Procedure enable additional functions or mathematical models that allow more efficient administration.

Claims

1.- Wireless automation and control system to remotely operate technified irrigation equipment that includes pumps, fertirrigators and electrovalves distributed the latter over the entire surface to be irrigated and from which the water is fed to the lines of drippers or micro sprinklers that are the final elements of the pipe network that deliver the water to the plants; In addition, it allows capturing measurements of various sensors distributed in the plantation area applied to the environment, soil and plants, as well as sensors applied to the pipe network, CHARACTERIZED because it comprises: a.- a Commander Node, which commands multiple actuator nodes, resident in a PC equipped with: radio modem, large disk capacity to store the irrigation database, data captured by sensors, weather station data and manually fed agronomic data; It has the capacity to manage events and alarms; and capacity for Internet connection; said Commander Node commands the execution of the irrigation instructing each actuator node to act at the moment that corresponds to it from a list of Irrigation instructions that establishes the start time and the duration of this, individually for each exit of the fertirrigadores, solenoid valve and pumps associated to them, through the communications network; The Commander Node also commands the execution of the measurement and the transmission of the reading obtained, instructing each actuator node to act at the corresponding moment, from a list of data capture instructions by sensors that establish the time of start of data capture and measurement frequency, individually for each of the sensors installed in the planting area; through the communications network; the Commander Node is able to detect the actuator node that commands each of the elements that manage the irrigation and each of the sensors installed in the plantation area; b.- Actuator nodes, which are electronic component devices that include a microprocessor with analog and digital doors, ram memory and rom, power source, a UHF radio, relays and connectors, and is encapsulated in a sealed plastic box to work outdoors; Multiple Actuator Nodes are located next to each irrigation component they manage; the Actuating Nodes, through their digital doors fitted with relays, act as switches on pumps, fertirrigators and solenoid valves; through its analog doors they activate and capture sensor measurements applied to the environment, the ground and the plants; Additionally, they can activate and deactivate alarm elements, activate and capture sensor measurements to analyze water pressure at various points of the pipe network, flow meter, amount of water delivered, measure pH, electrical conductivity, temperature and other characteristics that may influence the irrigation or its quality; all this commanded by instructions that it receives, through the communications network, from the Commander node; c- a Wireless Communications and Messaging Network that allows the command node, through its radio modem, and the actuator nodes, through its UHF radio; all cooperatively, transmit to each other, messages with the instructions to be executed and the result of these, all based on a communications protocol built specifically for this invention; said UHF radios, used in the invention, are provided with a microprocessor that analyzes the messages it receives from other radios in order to transfer to the microprocessor of the node only the messages that are addressed to it, and the rest of the messages are discarded; in this way it is possible to prevent the node's microprocessor from dealing with messages that are not its business; when direct communication of a command node with an actuator is not possible, other actuator nodes can be used as repeaters, in order to enhance the network and take advantage of the intercommunication; The Commander Node, the Actuating Nodes and the Wireless Network of Communications and Messaging that allow wireless, simultaneously and centrally and high flexibility: give order to water; through sensors measure factors of various kinds that affect plant productivity and irrigation quality; record irrigation data; record captured data by the sensors; record exogenous data; control the processes; and generate alarms in case of anomalies. 2.- The Wireless Automation and Control System for remotely operating technified irrigation equipment, according to Claim 1, CHARACTERIZED because said actuator nodes use, for their own operation, electrical energy available in the solenoid valve. 3.- A procedure for automation and control of technified irrigation equipment, operated remotely, CHARACTERIZED because said technified irrigation equipment comprises a Commander Node, Actuator Nodes, a communications and messaging network that operates cooperatively, transmitting wireless messages between the actuator nodes and the UHF radio and that performs the following process: a.- Program the Irrigation, the multiple static variables are configured as species and variety of the planted fruit, distance between plants and planting density, soil characteristics, water volume per unit of time that droppers or micro sprinklers deliver to plants; and dynamic variables such as room temperature, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, fruit state or flower are entered; with these data a Irrigation Program is established; the commanding node, provides the data that make up the Irrigation Program which can be modified on a weekly, biweekly, monthly or arbitrary basis; the data is validated individually and comprehensively to detect possible inconsistencies of these; In addition, alarm activation criteria (anomalies) are established; b.- Generate Irrigation Table, from the Irrigation Program, the Commander Node generates the Irrigation Table that establishes the start time and the duration of this, individually for each: output of the fertirrigators, electrovalves and pumps associated with them; c- Review Irrigation Tables, the Irrigation Tables are continually reviewed in order that when appropriate the Commanding Node generates the Irrigation Execution Order; d.- Order Irrigation Execution, the Command Node generates an Irrigation Execution Order, sending the order through the communications network, at the time indicated by the Irrigation Table, individually to each of the actuating nodes , to activate the irrigation elements: pumps, fertirrigators outlets and solenoid valves; Once the corresponding duration has elapsed or the volume of water required has been achieved, the command node will command the actuator node to deactivate the irrigation element; For any instruction received by the actuator node, it sends a message to the command node indicating the result obtained; individually for each irrigation instruction and in parameterized time intervals, the command node controls that the instruction is in execution; if the commanding node receives any anomaly signal, it immediately generates an event or alarm that in the Irrigation Program, the administrator defined parametrically; e.- Register the Irrigation Information, the Commander Node records in detail all the irrigation actions that it instructed and the result of said instruction; if any anomaly was detected, it is also registered; f.- Detect Anomalies, the Commander Node permanently performs an analysis that the activities that must be carried out are being carried out normally, in case of detecting any anomaly it generates a call to an Alarm Subsystem and if feasible it restarts the activity; Similarly, of the data it receives from the actuator nodes with respect to the various sensors that capture information, if the Command Node detects that some sensor is not operating (data loss) or that the values it sends are outside the ranges of normality, also generates an invocation to the Alarm Subsystem; g.- Program Sensor Reading, they are installed in the plantation area, associated with an actuator node, sensors that allow to measure multiple factors, among others: water pH, pipe pressure, trunk thickness, ambient temperature, leaf temperature , soil temperature, rain, and soil moisture at various depths; with them and according to the type of sensor and Ia periodicity of readings that is desired from this, the Sensor Reading Program is established; the Commander Node receives the data that is included in the Sensor Reading Program for weekly, biweekly, monthly, arbitrary or indefinite terms; the data is validated individually and comprehensively to detect possible inconsistencies of these (normal ranges are established); From the Sensor Reading Program, the command node generates a Sensor Reading Table similar to that described for the Irrigation Program, with the difference that the actuator node when receiving an instruction from the command node activates a sensor , which reads the result of the measurement and transmits it to the command node, which stores it as historical information; If the command node detects anomalies in the data received from the sensors, it generates an alarm event. 4 - The procedure for automation and control of technified irrigation equipment, operated remotely, according to claim 3, CHARACTERIZED because the Alarm Subsystem, which is activated by detecting any anomaly in the irrigation program or sensor reading, generates various forms of notification to those who are established in a parametrized way: cell phone call, mail to administrator, hutbox in night stand, or others that the administrator has defined; In general, all alarms are generated by the Commander Node, however, some actuator nodes can act autonomously to communicate, for example, that they are not receiving instructions. 5. The automation and control procedure of technified irrigation equipment, operated remotely, according to claim 3, CHARACTERIZED because it can reprogram the irrigation, if differences in the measurements obtained by the sensors are detected, mainly soil moisture , against the patterns established for the Irrigation Program, they automatically suggest a reprogramming of the irrigation Ia that is informed to the administrator; The Reprogramming of Irrigation can also be carried out by results obtained from a mathematical model applied to the climatic, irrigation, soil, foliar analysis or other variables that affect Ia plant productivity; parametrically it is defined if the reprogramming must be authorized by the administrator or is practiced automatically; In addition, the administrator can at any time reprogram an irrigation. 6. The automation and control procedure of technified irrigation equipment, operated remotely, according to claim 3, CHARACTERIZED because it also has a Backup Subsystem; the Commander Node, automatically, each parameterized time intervals, through the Internet, backs up the information from the database on a predetermined computer (PC) that is ideally located in a different place from the commander node; in the case of damage to the Commander Node, or in the event that it has been subject to theft or loss, all functions of the Commander Node can be performed from the backup PC; The Backup Subsystem is constantly verifying its interaction with the Commander Node in order to alert those corresponding to the alarm that the administrator has defined for such circumstance in the event that the communication has been interrupted. 7 - The process of automation and control of technified irrigation equipment, operated remotely, according to claim 3, CHARACTERIZED because it has an Integrity Review Subsystem, the Commander Node allows to establish time intervals in which, through of the communications network and, automatically, scans each of the actuator nodes verifying its availability and that all its components are operational; also verifying that all sensors connected to said node are operational; in case of detecting anomalies, it generates the corresponding alarms to correct the problem. 8.- The automation and control procedure to wirelessly operate remote irrigation equipment technologically, according to claim 3, CHARACTERIZED because it has the facility to Generate Groups, the solenoid valves are commanded and operated individually, however with the in order to facilitate the work to the irrigation manager, he can establish through the procedure, groups of solenoid valves on all of which will act in the same way; These groups are virtual and dynamic, which the administrator can modify with complete freedom to water, for example, following the path of the sun that changes according to the seasons of the year; even, to optimize irrigation, the administrator can simultaneously put a solenoid valve in more than one group, which will be operated at different times. 9.- The automation and control procedure to wirelessly operate remote irrigation equipment technologically, in accordance with claim 3, CHARACTERIZED because it delivers Default Values, the procedure has an infinite number of parameters for, among others, establishing reading frequencies of the sensors, actions before alarms, colors with which objects and irrigation sectors are represented; to facilitate the data entry job to the administrator, all parameters are defined with a default value; If a client redefines the default value of a parameter, that new value remains by default for all instances in which the parameter is used in the client. 10. The automation and control procedure to wirelessly operate remote irrigation equipment technologically, according to claim 3, CHARACTERIZED because it allows to manage via Internet, from any PC connected to the computer in which the Commander Node resides, according to the privileges that the user has to connect, can view irrigation data, schedule, reschedule or suspend irrigation.