TITLE:
Development of a Portable Electro-Mechanical Educational Model for Variable Rate Center Pivot Irrigation Technology
AUTHORS:
Young J. Han, Ahmad Khalilian, Jose Payero, Nicholas Rogers
KEYWORDS:
Irrigation, Center Pivot Irrigation, Electro-Mechanical Model, Sensors, Control, Variable Rate Irrigation
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.8 No.4,
April
21,
2016
ABSTRACT: Center pivot
irrigation systems usually apply a relatively uniform amount of water to fields
that are often inherently variable, which could lead to significant waste of water
and energy. To address this issue, our team is now developing an Intelligent Center
Pivot (ICP) by integrating sensor-based irrigation scheduling with variable rate
irrigation technology. However, before this technology can be applied in commercial
production, it is necessary to educate growers about its practicality and potential
benefits. The objective of this study was to develop a portable tabletop intelligent
center pivot model (ICPDemo) to demonstrate and promote adoption of the ICP technology.
This paper describes an ICPDemo constructed in 2014, including the design specifications,
electro-mechanical design, control strategy, and performance. The ICPDemo has performed
according to design specifications and is successfully being used to demonstrate
the benefits and effectiveness of ICP technology for irrigation scheduling.