Snowmaking automation system and modules

Abstract

The invention is a snowmaking automation system and snowmaking automation modules for use with snowmaking guns and hydrants. Embodiments of the snowmaking automation modules described herein may be battery powered, and thus do not require fixed electrical infrastructure, but are designed to use such infrastructure if present on the mountain. In some embodiments, various components of the snowmaking automation system may be wireless and thus do not require hard-wired communications, for example between base stations, servers, databases, repeater nodes and remotely controlled snowmaking guns and hydrants with their snowmaking automation modules installed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A snowmaking automation system for remotely controlling the generation of snow, comprising:
 a hydrant for selectively receiving and delivering pressurized water and compressed air;   a snowmaking gun coupled to the hydrant to selectively receive the pressurized water and the compressed air;   at least one automation module coupled to the hydrant or the snowmaking gun, each of the at least one automation modules having a means for communication and a motor for actuating the snowmaking gun or the hydrant to selectively generate snow using the water and the air; and   a base station in communication with the at least one automation module, the base station configured to provide a user control of the at least one automation module and thereby remotely control generation of the snow.   
     
     
         2 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one automation module comprises a first automation module coupled to the hydrant and a second automation module coupled to the snowmaking gun. 
     
     
         3 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 1 , wherein the means for communication is selected from the group consisting of: wireless radio communication, hardwired network communication, optical fiber communication. 
     
     
         4 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 1 , further comprising at least one repeater node linking wireless communication between the base station and the at least one automation module. 
     
     
         5 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 4 , further comprising a weather station in communication with the repeater node, the weather station configured for sensing and transmitting atmospheric weather conditions. 
     
     
         6 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a database in communication with the at least one automation module for storing data gathered from the at least one automation module. 
     
     
         7 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 6 , further comprising a server in communication with the at least one automation module and the database, the server configured for storing and running a computer software program configured for remotely interacting with and controlling the at least one automation module and the database. 
     
     
         8 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 7 , the base station further comprises a computer with a user interface in communication with the server, the database and the at least one automation module, the computer with the user interface configured to remotely interact with and control the at least one automation module. 
     
     
         9 . The snowmaking automation system according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one automation module further comprises:
 a housing with an actuator interface for attachment to a snowmaking gun or a hydrant;   a gear motor with encoder mounted inside the housing and coupled to the actuator interface, the gear motor configured to selectively drive a snowmaking gun or a hydrant;   a radio modem and antenna mounted inside the housing; and   a battery mounted inside the housing, the battery coupled to, and configured for powering, the gear motor and the radio modem.   
     
     
         10 . A snowmaking automation module, comprising:
 a housing with an actuator interface for attachment to a snowmaking gun or a hydrant;   a gear motor mounted inside the housing and coupled to the actuator interface, the gear motor configured to selectively drive a snowmaking gun or a hydrant;   a radio modem and antenna mounted inside the housing; and   a battery mounted inside the housing, the battery coupled to, and configured for powering, the gear motor and the radio modem.   
     
     
         11 . The snowmaking automation module according to  claim 10 , further comprising a control panel mounted to the outside of the housing, the control panel configured for a user to manually control the snowmaking automation module and either a snowmaking gun or a hydrant to which it is attached and to configure the automation module for remote operation. 
     
     
         12 . The snowmaking automation module according to  claim 10 , further comprising a solar panel mechanically coupled to the housing and electrically coupled to the battery for passively supplementing life of the battery. 
     
     
         13 . The snowmaking automation module according to  claim 12 , further comprising a flexible pipe for mechanically coupling the solar panel to the housing and electrically coupling the solar panel to the battery, the flexible pipe configured to allow manual aiming of the solar panel to maximize solar power conversion efficiency. 
     
     
         14 . The snowmaking automation module according to  claim 10 , further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) module mounted in the housing and coupled to the radio modem, the GPS module configured for determining the position of the automation module and providing position information to the radio modem. 
     
     
         15 . The snowmaking automation module according to  claim 10 , further comprising a handle formed into the housing, the handle configured for a user to remove, transport or mount the snowmaking automation module.