A system for flushing a conduit having an inlet, an outlet, and at least one flow restricted outlet between said inlet and said outlet. There is a pump operative to periodically be turned on and off for pumping a liquid from a liquid source to the inlet, a pressure pulse being generated when the pump is turned on. A hydraulically actuated indexing valve has an inlet connected to the second outlet end of the conduit, the indexing valve including a valve element assembly indexable between a plurality of indexed positions in response to a plurality of pressure pulses, wherein in at least one of the indexed positions, return flow from the second outlet end of the conduit flows through the outlet of the valve to increase flow rate through the conduit.

A solenoid valve for irrigation systems may comprise a gardening tube, a plastic valve piece, a cover and a magnetic member. The gardening tube has a water inlet channel and a water outlet channel which are communicated, and a valve tube vertically extending from the gardening tube has a valve chamber. The valve piece is positioned in the valve chamber. A second connecting tube vertically protruding from the cover has a housing communicated with the valve chamber, and a solenoid coil and a metal ring are respectively disposed on the second connecting tube. The magnetic member has a magnet installed therein, and the magnet has a first magnetic surface and a second magnetic surface at two ends thereof.

The present invention provides a system for providing power, control and communications within an irrigation system having at least one span and a drive system for moving the span. According to a preferred embodiment, the present invention preferably includes a pivot panel which includes a pivot panel processor for receiving, controlling and initiating the transmission of power and control signals to a plurality of solid state tower boxes. According to a further preferred embodiment, a system in accordance with the present invention preferably further includes a power-line BUS electrically connected to the pivot panel processor and to a power-line carrier. According to a further preferred embodiment, the power-line carrier of the present invention preferably provides power and electrical control signals to a number of solid state tower boxes. According to a further preferred embodiment, the solid-state tower boxes preferably control power to motor elements within each tower box.

In some embodiments, devices, systems, and methods are provided herein useful to control the communication between irrigation system components. In some embodiments, an irrigation system comprises an irrigation system component comprising or connected to a satellite transceiver configured to transmit communications to one or more irrigation control devices and/or receive communications from the one or more irrigation control devices via one or more communication satellites, wherein the irrigation system component comprises at least one of a water emitter, a valve actuator, a valve, a decoder, a pump, a power control device, and a sensor.

Systems and method for coordinating movements of agricultural machines and irrigation systems on irrigated fields to avoid collisions and other interferences between the equipment may be implemented with a mobile irrigation system, a number of agricultural machines, and a processing system. The processing system receives and analyzes data from an irrigation schedule for the irrigation system and location data from the agricultural machines to detect possible interferences between the equipment and takes corrective action if likely interferences are detected.

A device and method of watering plants using a programmable bucket is described. In one version, the programmable bucket uses a reservoir for water, a pump, at least one minimum pressure valve, a control enclosure, a water level switch, a flow meter, a watering hose, and a cover with an opening adapted to facilitate filling of the reservoir with a funnel and a removable plug. In use, power to the control enclosure is turned on and the reservoir is filled with water, setting the calibrated amount of water. The watering hose is removed from a recycling adaptor, the pump is activated through use of pushbuttons on the control enclosure, water fills the watering hose, once it reaches a minimum pressure valve water exits the hose under pressure, a signal from flow meter changes a volume of water in reservoir.

An adaptive hydraulic control system controls irrigation system zones using predicted valve behavior, measured pressure, recovery time, and measured flow. A pressure sensor can measure a pressure in a water line and a flow meter can measure a flow rate in the water line. The adaptive hydraulic control system monitors the pressure and the flow rate, and determines when the pressure and the flow rate are above and below target operational thresholds. When the pressure is determined to be below a minimum target threshold or the flow rate is determined to be above a maximum target threshold, the adaptive hydraulic control system identifies one or more valves in an opened position of the plurality of valves that when closed would cause the pressure and the flow rate to return within the target operational thresholds. The adaptive hydraulic control system provides instructions to change a position of the one or more identified valves.

A decision-making method for variable rate irrigation management includes the following steps: S1: sampling a soil from a root zone of a crop in an area controlled by an irrigation sprinkler, and measuring compositions of separates of the sampled soil; S2: managing and dividing the area controlled by the irrigation sprinkler according to an AWC of the soil in the root zone of the crop; S3: constructing an optimized soil moisture sensor network; S4: placing ground-fixed canopy temperature sensors; S5: constructing an optimized airborne canopy temperature sensor network centered on the center pivot; and S6: performing a variable rate irrigation by using the optimized soil moisture sensor network, the fixed canopy temperature sensors, the optimized airborne canopy temperature sensor network and an automatic weather station. The method optimizes the placement and quantity of the soil moisture sensor network and the canopy temperature sensor network to improve the measurement accuracy.

An irrigation and harvesting system includes one or more center pivot irrigation assemblies. The center pivot irrigation assembly includes a hollow shaft attached to an area of land; one end of a hollow member is attached to the hollow shaft, wherein the hollow member pivots around the hollow shaft, and wherein the hollow member carries irrigation water; a second end of the hollow member is connected to a wheel in contact with the ground, and the wheel is driven at a controlled speed; and a traction device including harvesting equipment is attached to the hollow member.

A control system for a low-volume irrigation system includes a plurality of valve controllers for opening and closing valves; an irrigation system controller for controlling the valve controllers in accordance with an irrigation plan; and a graphical user interface for allowing a user to interact with the irrigation controller and to create the irrigation plan. The graphical user interface displays an irrigation zone list, an irrigation set list, and an irrigation plan field. The user interface has drag and drop functionality that permits an irrigation zone listing from the irrigation zone list to be dragged and dropped into any of the irrigation set listings in the irrigation set list and that permits an irrigation zone listing or an irrigation set listing to be dragged and dropped into the irrigation plan to create irrigation steps within the irrigation plan.