Soil irrigation is a very important aspect of agriculture, as it reduces the risk of crop loss (frost and drought resistance). Irrigation also enhances the regularity and quality of production, two important factors in agriculture. Over the years, irrigation systems have evolved, since this task requires a great deal of time and resources. In 1949, Frank Zybach registered his patent for the Central Irrigation Pivot, a system now used all over the world, which at the time revolutionized agriculture in the United States.
This central system is an automatic watering system that rotates the towers around the central pivot. This pivot also serves as a well for the water supply. The system has greatly evolved since its creation. In particular, the system rotates automatically thanks to wheels installed under the towers, and irrigation is possible over the whole field, despite its rectangular size.
The issue
Valley Irrigation, a Valmont Industries company, turned to us to automate the Center Pivot irrigation pivots they sell around the world. With labor shortages and the time required to operate an irrigation pivot an irritant for farmers, Valley Irrigation wanted to improve their offering.
Lacking expertise in electronics and data transmission, Valley Irrigation commissioned us to develop a remote-control system to enable farmers to continuously monitor their machines. We had to develop a long-range solution, since irrigation pivots can be very long.
The solution
After several analyses, meetings and tests with the customer, our team opted for Powerline Communications (PLC) technology, as it worked much better than RF (radio frequency) technologies. As well as having a number of advantages, PLC is more efficient and has better noise immunity than RS485-type communication. Nor do they require optical range, as is the case with radio-frequency (RF) systems. By using irrigation equipment power cables for communication, RMDS Innovation enables farmers to reduce installation and maintenance costs.
As a first automation, the main system was installed on the central pivot and sensors were installed on each tower to relay information. A Wi-Fi system was also installed on the main system to enable remote monitoring. Initially, the Pivot’s status was monitored to enable farmers to react in the event of an error message.
The results
Automation of the central pivot has enabled Valley Irrigation to offer farmers an optimum solution for remote monitoring, since we have also developed a management platform. This platform can be accessed remotely on a computer, or controlled directly on the central pivot.
Over the years, other additions have been made to improve the pivot’s performance, making the machine much more automatic and solving other problems. To learn more about these additions, please refer to the second article.
Rational Minds (RMDS Innovation)
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