Patent ID: 11930744
Assignee: THE TORO COMPANY
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC A  Y | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An irrigation control system, comprising:
an irrigation controller configured to:
calculate a predicted soil moisture value based on historic moisture sensor values for an area of soil;
compare the predicted soil moisture value with a predetermined low moisture value threshold; and,
if the predicted soil moisture value is below the predetermined low moisture value threshold, allow a next scheduled irrigation cycle for the area of soil to operate and cause irrigation of the area of soil;
wherein the predicted soil moisture value is calculated by adjusting a current soil moisture value by a historical adjustment factor; wherein the historical adjustment factor is calculated by:
a) determining negative net changes to the historic soil moisture values over one or more intervals within a period of time;
b) averaging or determining a median of all negative net changes to the historic soil moisture values;
c) subtracting the averaged or median negative net change value of one or more intervals from the current soil moisture value.