Watering robot

Depending on the circumstances watering can be performed either by using a water tank pulled by a wheeled robot or by moving around water sprinklers. A water tank solution requires high accuracy when planning robot travel path. If the robot leaves the preselected path it will overwater some parts of the area missing other parts. Integrated video navigation system allows heading variations of approximately 20 cm using parallel navigation technique, which ensures equal and economical watering of lawns. When watering big plants, including bushes and trees, the robot checks out each plant on the irrigation map and makes dosed watering of plant roots. Water tank is refilled in the automatic mode.

In case of a hose watering system it is recommended to use a robot fitted with a manipulating arm able to grip and shift water sprinklers. This system will help to robotize the existing irrigation system, avoid the use of human labor and improve irrigation efficiency by achieving equal watering of plants. A gripper suitable for handling water sprinklers of various types allows the robot to serve large areas. Shifting a water sprinkler from one place to another does not take much time, so the robot can move from one sprinkler to another as its presence is not required during watering. Positions of sprinklers and watering duration are given in the irrigation map. Soil moisture is measured by means of a pull-out probe sensor.

In some cases it is reasonable to use a watering robot fitted with a hose reel. In this system a water sprinkler is situated on the robot and a hose that supplies water to the sprinkler retracts on the reel fixed in the rear part of the robot. Hose unwinding and rewinding are synchronized with robot motions, which prevents kinks and tangles. A particular advantage of this system is the possibility of intensive irrigation at a minimal cost and economical watering of substantial areas.