Code replacement for irrigation controllers

US8738188B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Rain Bird Corporation · US

Inventors

• Harvey J. Nickerson · San Diego, US
• Russel D. Leatherman · Albion, US
• James R. Musselman · Marion, US
• Andrew M. Nguyen · San Diego, US
• Nicholas N. Lapshov · San Diego, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 11, 2013
• Grant date: May 27, 2014
• Expiry date: Mar 11, 2033

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T137/86389
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Some embodiments provide irrigation controllers comprising: a housing; a control unit including a first microcontroller configured to execute irrigation programs and a first set of code; and a removable plug-in device that removably mates with a portion of the irrigation controller and communicationally couples to the first microcontroller, wherein the plug-in device comprises a memory storing a second set of code to replace at least a portion of the first set of code, wherein the plug-in device is configured to re-flash at least a portion of the first set of code allowing a copy of the second set of code to overwrite at least the portion of the first set of code; wherein the first set of code comprises a bootloader that writes the copy of the second set of code over the first set of code with the exception of the bootloader that is not written over.