Intelligent Lawn Care System (ILCS) Product Specifications

Intelligent Lawn Care System (ILCS)

Product Specifications

CS411W (Spring 2003)

Old Dominion University

By: Kenneth Belkofer

Christopher Garrett

Justin Haffey

Herbert Piland

Suwena Tham

Cort Tompkins

The information in this manual is for information purposes only and is subject to change without notice.

ILCS Corp. makes no warranty of any kind with regards to the information contained in this manual, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. ILCS Corp. shall not be liable for errors contained herein nor for incidental or consequential damages from the furnishing of this information.

No part of this manual may be copied, reproduced, recorded, transmitted or translated without the express written permission of ILCS Corp.

1 LIMITED WARRANTY

ILCS Corp. warrants to the owner that each ILCS is free from defects in material and workmanship and agrees to repair or replace under this warranty any defective device as follows from the original date of purchase.

2 YEARS Parts and 1 YEAR Labor – when used for household purposes.

1 YEAR Parts and 6 MONTHS Labor – when used for commercial purposes.

This warranty is transferable. The warranty does not cover damage or liability caused by improper handling, improper maintenance, or the use of the ILCS in a way other than that specifically recommended by ILCS Corp. for this system. Additionally, this warranty does not cover annual or periodic maintenance other than the six month post installation operational check. This warranty does not cover predelivery setup or normal adjustments explained in the user’s manual except for the six-month post installation operational check.

THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC RIGHTS, AND YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS, WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

NO CLAIMS FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES WILL BE ALLOWED AND THERE ARE NO OTHER EXPRESS WARRANTIES EXCEPT THOSE EXPRESSLY STIPULATED HEREIN.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATIONS OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

ILCS Corp’s., policy is to continuously improve its products. Therefore, ILCS Corp. reserves the right to change, modify, or discontinue models, designs, specifications, and accessories of all products at any time without notice or obligation to any purchaser.

ILCS Corp. shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential, or other damage alleged in connection with the furnishing or use of its product.

The software which accompanies this product is the property of ILCS Corp. The software is licensed for use, not sold.

ILCS Corp., nor any of the companies listed in this document assume no liability resulting from the use of this specification.

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 LIMITED WARRANTY 3

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

3 INTRODUCTION 7

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION 7

SOLUTION 7

Processor 9

User Interface 9

Sensors 10

Chemical Tank(s) 11

Knowledge-Based Database 11

Historical Database 12

Decision Maker 12

User Settings 13

User Interface Software 13

Technical Interface 13

Driver 13

4 HARDWARE 14

SPRINKLER INTERFACE 14

PROCESSOR 14

USER INTERFACE 16

Touchpad 16

LED 16

SENSORS 17

Rain Sensor 17

Anemometer 18

Moisture Sensor 18

pH Sensor 18

Nitrogen (N) Sensor 19

Phosphate (P) Sensor 19

Potassium (K) Sensor 20

CHEMICAL TANK(S) 20

5 SOFTWARE 21

DATABASE OVERVIEW 21

KNOWLEDGE-BASED DATABASE 22

HISTORICAL DATABASE 22

DECISION MAKER 23

USER SETTINGS 23

USER INTERFACE SOFTWARE 24

TECHNICAL INTERFACE 24

DRIVER 24

LYNX Board Specifications 25

Driver Modifications 25

6 INSTALLATION 26

7 PARTS LIST 27

8 TO THE CUSTOMERS 29

9 REFERENCES 31

10 INDEX 34

3 INTRODUCTION

PROBLEM 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.

SOLUTION

The Intelligent Lawn Care System (ILCS) is designed and developed to reduce or eliminate these problems. The ILCS functions to:

· Analyze the conditions of the lawn soil on a daily basis,

· Obtain the environmental conditions on a daily basis,

· Determine when water and fertilizers are required,

· Calculate the minimum water and fertilizer requirements, and

· Control the activation times of the lawn’s sprinkling system and fertilizer additives

to maintain a strong, healthy, and attractive residential lawn.

The hardware components of the ILCS consist of:

· Sprinkler interface

· Processor

· User interface

· Sensors

· Chemical tank(s)

The software components of the ILCS consist of:

· Knowledge-based database

· Historical database

· Decision maker

· User settings

· User interface software

· Technical interface

· Driver

Sprinkler Interface

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 will be mounted on a single board computer. 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:

· Green (All clear), signaling that the system is operating normally.

· Blue (Notice), signaling that the system is about to begin an activity.

· Orange (Caution), signaling that the system has identified a situation that may develop into a problem.

· Red (Warning), signaling that the system is experiencing difficulties that are halting its operations.

The VFD is a simple text display. The buttons available on the user interface will allow for user input and/or control. Basic control operations like on and off, and delay functions will be incorporated into the user interface.

Sensors

The environmental sensors of the ILCS consist of a rain sensor, and anemometer (or 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 will be used to determine if water and/or the chemicals[1] are needed.

The soil sensors consist of a moisture sensor, a pH sensor, and individual sensors to measure Nitrogen[2], Phosphate[3], and Potassium[4]. 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, Phosphate, and Potassium 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[5], and base material[6] 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[7], and digital electronic flowmeters[8] 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.

Knowledge-Based Database

The function of the knowledge-based database of the ILCS 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[9], 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.

Historical Database

The historical database of the ILCS serves 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.

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.

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.

User Interface Software

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 allow the user to have some basic control over the ILCS.

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.

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.

4 HARDWARE

SPRINKLER INTERFACE

The sprinkler interface for the ILCS is a multi-RS232 serial port board. Optional sprinkler interface boards that are also compatible and suitable for achieving the purpose (provide an interface to all the hardware components) of the system are listed in the Parts List section of this document.

· Vendor: LYNX

· Part Number: 1154

· Price: $239.95

· Features:

1. Automated computer control of sprinklers, garage doors, HVAC systems, thermostats, sump pumps, audio components and more

2. Works with X10 security systems and X10 motion sensors

3. Features 8 DPDT relays, 8 digital inputs, and 4 analog 8-bit inputs for expanded control

4. Control outputs & read inputs using RS232 or X10

5. Programmable timer capabilities for each relay

6. LED status indicators for inputs, relays and activity

PROCESSOR

· Vendor: package2you.com

· Part number: 30-1017

· Price: $12.00

· Description: Intel Pentium 200MHz MMX CPU Processor (Socket 7)

The processor for the ILCS will be mounted on a single board computer: