Training Device for Water Conservation System

Abstract

In one embodiment, a training device may include a first module to receive a plurality of inputs that define a set of animal waste elimination behaviors. A second module may train an animal monitoring system based on the plurality of inputs. The training may facilitate use of the animal monitoring system with an irrigation system to reduce water consumption.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A machine readable medium comprising an application stored thereon that, if executed, causes a wireless device to:
 receive a plurality of inputs that define a set of animal waste elimination behaviors; and   train an animal monitoring system based on the plurality of inputs.   
     
     
         2 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the application, if executed, causes the wireless device to receive the plurality inputs from a user via a user interface, the plurality of inputs to include a training mode selection input and a plurality of waste elimination timing inputs. 
     
     
         3 . The machine readable medium of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of inputs is to further include at least one of a grass entry input that corresponds to an animal entering a grassy area, an idleness threshold input that defines a motion baseline for determining animal idleness, and an animal identifier input. 
     
     
         4 . The machine readable medium of  claim 3 , wherein the application, if executed, causes the wireless device to establish a profile based on the animal identifier input. 
     
     
         5 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the application, if executed, causes the wireless device to:
 determine a monitoring period, an idleness period and an idleness threshold based on the plurality of inputs; and   transmit a programming command, the monitoring period, the idleness period and the idleness threshold to the animal monitoring system.   
     
     
         6 . The machine readable medium of  claim 5 , wherein the application, if executed, causes the wireless device to:
 calculate the monitoring period based on a grass entry input and a waste elimination onset input; and   calculate the idleness period based on the waste elimination onset input and a waste elimination completion input.   
     
     
         7 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the application, if executed, causes the wireless device to transmit a training command and the plurality of inputs to the animal monitoring system. 
     
     
         8 . The machine readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the application, if executed, causes the wireless device to:
 receive an operation mode selection input and a grass entry input that corresponds to an animal entering a grassy area; and   transmit an initiation trigger signal to the animal monitoring system based on the operation mode selection input and the grass entry input.   
     
     
         9 . A monitoring system comprising:
 a memory;   a communication module to receive training data from a remote device; and   a training module to store a monitoring period and an idleness period to the memory based on the training data, the monitoring period to define a period of time to monitor an animal for an onset of an elimination event and the idleness period to define a period of time for the elimination event.   
     
     
         10 . The monitoring system of  claim 9 , wherein the training data is to include a programming command, the monitoring period and the idleness period, the training module to store the monitoring period and the idleness period to the memory in response to the program command. 
     
     
         11 . The monitoring system of  claim 10 , wherein the training data is to further include an idleness threshold that defines a motion baseline for determining animal idleness, the training module to store the idleness threshold to the memory in response to the program command. 
     
     
         12 . The monitoring system of  claim 9 , wherein the training data is to include a training command and a plurality of inputs that define a set of animal waste elimination behaviors, the training module to determine the monitoring period and the idleness period based on the training command and the plurality of inputs. 
     
     
         13 . The monitoring system of  claim 12 , further including timing logic to calculate the monitoring period based on a grass entry input and a waste elimination onset input, and to calculate the idleness period based on the waste elimination onset input and a waste elimination completion input. 
     
     
         14 . The monitoring system of  claim 12 , further including:
 an accelerometer; and   idleness logic coupled to the accelerometer to calculate an idleness threshold that defines a motion baseline for determining animal idleness, the training module to store the idleness threshold to the memory in response to the training command.   
     
     
         15 . The monitoring system of  claim 9 , further including:
 an accelerometer;   an operation module to start the monitoring period in response to an initiation trigger signal from the remote device, and to increment an idleness counter if the accelerometer indicates that a motion of the monitoring system is below an idleness threshold; and   a radio frequency identifier (RFID) reader to identify one or more nearby sprinkler heads if the idleness counter reaches a threshold corresponding to the idleness period.   
     
     
         16 . The monitoring system of  claim 15 , wherein the operation module is to increment a monitoring counter if the monitoring period has not expired.