Product Story
The CommonSensor has grown of its' developer's lifetime experience, as a farmer, with irrigation practices, of which he was never satisfied. He felt he does not really know how to properly irrigate his fields. He asked himself whether conventional irrigation methods based on human knowledge of "what is best for the plant", applied either manually or through various irrigation controllers, might be wrong, or at least utterly non-optimal. He thought it might be worthwhile to "listen" to the plants and give them what they ask for.
Moshe Tzori and his "baby" - The CommonSensor
When he retired he had time enough to put his ideas to a test. His Hi-Tech professional sons, with their technical expertise, were called for the job. Together they developed the first CommonSensor
prototype.
Product Specification
This is how the CommonSensor works:
It constantly monitors the amount of water in the ground. When this amount falls below a preassigned Watering Threshold Level, it opens the irrigation valve. It closes the valve when the amount of water consumed is made up to. If the plants consume this water in one day – so be it; if they consume it in two days – so be it. If it takes half an hour to make up for the water consumed – so be it; if takes a full hour – so be it. The CommonSensor just obeys the plants; it does not make any decisions on its' own account. It is just an interface for the plant to open and close the valve. Current experience shows that plants change water intervals and irrigation duration quite unpredictably.
The Watering Threshold Level is assigned according to the farmer's experience, based on the type of crop and on the type of the soil. It may need to be adjusted according to the farmer's observations. However, once decided upon, it need not be changed, except maybe in some special plant growing phases.
The lower the Watering Threshold Level, the less water will be available for the plants, thus constraining their growth. This may be used to put the plants under "stress".
The only other CommonSensor parameter that can be set is the Irrigation Depth. This can be set to one of several relative levels. All that is said about the Watering Threshold Level in the passage above but-one, applies to this parameter.
Product Testing
The prototype underwent extensive testing and research in the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) - Volcani Center, Israel, by Dr. Isaac Klein. It proved very promising and reliable, after which a production model was made.
The CommonSensor has been in farmers' use for several years now. It has achieved great success and is enthusiastically received by all its' users.
