This invention describes an automated irrigation system that uses computer algorithms to decide how much water to apply. It calculates the soil's water capacity and ideal moisture range, then compares current soil moisture to that range to determine irrigation needs. However, the only remaining part of the invention is a business method where a vendor installs this system at their own cost and the customer pays a portion of the water savings achieved.
Why it matters: Filed in 2013, the underlying client-server architecture and data processing for this system are now much more cost-effective to implement thanks to the maturation of cloud computing. Additionally, the availability of cheaper, more reliable IoT-enabled soil moisture sensors makes the physical data collection more feasible.
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