mcsSprinklers is an integrated commercial / residential irrigation control package that uses readily-available personal computer resources to optimally irrigate an installation. It takes advantage of internet technology to obtain current environmental conditions as well as forecast data from which projected rainfall and evaporation is determined. It uses the Rain8 family of valve controllers to provide control via the existing powerline, wired to the PC, or wireless. It also supports integration with Homeseer and xAP to augment the family of valves (via Homeseer Virtual Devices and xap Schema) that can be controlled and further integration with other aspects of automation.
Irrigation control can be based upon calculated waterfall/evaporation, measured soil moisture, or three forms of periodic timed control. Mixtures of these modes can be used as well. Normal watering periods can be altered based upon current conditions such as wind speed, day-of-week, forecasted rainfall, and several other criteria to assure that water is applied only when needed and only when allowed by local regulations.
As well as the sophisticated automated modes of operation, it allows for several forms of manual intervention. Handheld remote control can be used to roam the irrigation zones and selectively turn on/off valves for head flow adjustments. Voice can be used to control zones and the current irrigation status can be vocally delivered with a voice request. Browser access from any internet location can also be used to manually control, observe status, or alter setup parameters.
mcsSprinklers maintains a record of all control actions taken from which utilizations reports can be generated. It continually calculates soil moisture content based upon current environmental conditions and this combined with forecasted precipitation and sunlight is used to provide projections of future watering cycles.
Sprinkler valves are wired to automated valves such as the Rain8 modules in the same manner as valves are wired to traditional timed-controllers. This allows existing installations to be upgraded with a simple replacement of the old controller with automated valves. Control via the powerline or RF wireless yields minimum-effort solutions to retrofit of existing installations.
Irrigation control can be based upon calculated waterfall/evaporation, measured soil moisture, or three forms of periodic timed control. Mixtures of these modes can be used as well. Normal watering periods can be altered based upon current conditions such as wind speed, day-of-week, forecasted rainfall, and several other criteria to assure that water is applied only when needed and only when allowed by local regulations.
As well as the sophisticated automated modes of operation, it allows for several forms of manual intervention. Handheld remote control can be used to roam the irrigation zones and selectively turn on/off valves for head flow adjustments. Voice can be used to control zones and the current irrigation status can be vocally delivered with a voice request. Browser access from any internet location can also be used to manually control, observe status, or alter setup parameters.
mcsSprinklers maintains a record of all control actions taken from which utilizations reports can be generated. It continually calculates soil moisture content based upon current environmental conditions and this combined with forecasted precipitation and sunlight is used to provide projections of future watering cycles.
Sprinkler valves are wired to automated valves such as the Rain8 modules in the same manner as valves are wired to traditional timed-controllers. This allows existing installations to be upgraded with a simple replacement of the old controller with automated valves. Control via the powerline or RF wireless yields minimum-effort solutions to retrofit of existing installations.
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