Pressure-compensated seed controller for hose reel irrigators
1991
Coates, W. | Azouggagh, M. | Jordan, K.
A commercial hose reel irrigator was tested to evaluate performance without control and then with the existing mechanical controller. Water application depth was found to be a function of nozzle pressure and travel velocity, and varied with the distance between the nozzle and the take-up reel. An electronic controller was developed to reduce the variation in the depth of applied water. This controller sensed hose travel velocity and pressure at the reel, which was used to calculate nozzle pressure. A constant application depth was provided, based on sprinkler travel velocity and pressure, by regulating the flow of water through the turbine. A 19% coefficient of variation in travel velocity was determined for the mechanical controller while the coefficient of variation for the travel velocity using the electronic controller was 4.3 and 5.7% when supply pressure was constant. A coefficient of variation of 9% was observed in a test using a varying supply pressure. Additional benefits provided by the electronic controller, beyond improved application uniformity, was the ability for the operator to key in any desired application depth and then to be able to monitor system performance on a readout device. This was possible because the electronic controller included an embedded microprocessor which could be programmed in BASIC.
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]