Cheap, wireless, automatic backyard sprinkler control

This water-conserving technology could be as easy and effective as putting a brick in the toilet tank.

1 min read

Maybe it’s just because as the editors of IEEE Spectrum have lately been paying a lot of attention to the problem of water conservation, and the coming clash between water and energy, but right now any easy, inexpensive way to cut back on water usage seems like a good idea to me.

And Digital Sun, a startup company based in San Jose, Calif., purports to have such an idea (I have yet to try it for myself). They presented their product, at Launch: Silicon Valley, an annual conference sponsored by the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, held Tuesday, June 8, in Mountain View, Calif.

Digital Sun has developed a system that includes sensor that goes into a hole you cut in the dirt with a wireless receiver that you attach to your existing sprinkler control box. The sensor uses a proprietary wireless communications protocol over a very low power 2.4 GHz signal, sent through the dirt, to override the sprinkler timer if it’s due to start watering cycle already damp ground. Digital Sun CEO Dale Hitt explained the technology to me, in the video below.

Right now, the basic package—one sensor, the receiver, and a tool that cuts a hole in the ground for the sensor—retails for $200. The company attended the Launch conference in hopes of attracting enough venture investment to move their manufacturing offshore, which would enable them to cut their price below $100 and get into Home Depot and other low-cost retailers.

I think they’re on the right track. In fact, I might suggest their product to a few neighbors, whose sprinklers seem set to “create swamp” rather than “water lawn.” Just a thought.

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