Rubicon Research Pty Ltd

The University of Melbourne

Sumith Choy

David John Aughton

Michael Peter Kearney

Dongryeol Ryu

Andrew William Western

Michael William Cantoni

Iven Michiel Yvonne Mareels

Peter Maxwell Dower

A method of spatially deriving soil moisture at a selected location within an irrigation district to be irrigated. The method includes using system identification techniques to produce an algorithm for evapotranspiration based on a predetermined selection from the following measured parameters: solar radiation spectrum, wind speed, temperature, humidity, crop factor, soil type, barometric pressure, irrigation historical data, and energy measurement from solar panels at each of a plurality of representative locations; calibrating the algorithm by direct measurement of the moisture in the soil at each of the representative locations by respective soil moisture sensors; and using measured parameters of rainfall, soil type, irrigation historical data and crop factor with the algorithm to derive or interpolate soil moisture at the selected location within the irrigation district.

Method and system for water distribution and soil moisture determination

The invention provides a method of demand management for fluid networks. The method includes the steps of providing a computer controlled fluid network for delivery of fluid to at least one customer (), maintaining a real time database () within the computer controlled fluid network of predetermined parameters, requesting a flow rate and time of delivery of said fluid from the fluid network through a user interface () to a customer (), determining, using predetermined parameters from the real time database (), the availability () of providing delivery of fluid from the fluid network to the customer () based on hydraulic capacity of the fluid network, and, if the hydraulic capacity is available, calculating parameters () using the real time database () to deliver fluid to the customer () through the computer controlled fluid network.

Demand management system for fluid networks

A method of demand management and control of fluid pipe networks including providing a computer controlled fluid network for delivery of fluid through a plurality of valves, maintaining a real time database of predetermined parameters including flow schedules and valve capabilities, requesting a flow rate and time of delivery of said fluid to at least one of said plurality of valves, determining availability of providing delivery and flow rate of fluid to the at least one of said plurality of valves based on hydraulic capacity of the fluid network, and calculating parameters using the database to deliver fluid to the at least one of said plurality of valves, whereby each of the plurality of valves is monitored and adjustably controlled to provide the flow rate and delivery through the at least one of said plurality of valves and manage the pressure head within said fluid pipe network between predetermined limits.

Method of demand management and control of fluid pipe networks

A method of delivery of fluid through a computer controlled fluid network, the network including; regulators to control the flow of fluid to deliver a predetermined amount thereof to at least one customer; a first control system for opening and closing the regulators, which collects data based on timed measurements of fluid levels upstream and downstream of respective regulators and the opening positions of respective regulators, using data analysis to provide models for prediction of fluid levels between regulators; a second control system that is a supervisory layer interacting with the first control system to provide adjustments to the controlling of the regulators based on constraint and future flow load; and a third control system interacting with the first and second control systems, which processes fluid delivery requests from the at least one customer to provide a flow load delivery schedule based on the hydraulic capacity of the network.

Growing community of inventors

Brunswick East, Australia

Sumith Choy