An Expert System for micro-irrigation systems design

System design is one of the most important factors to obtain the full potential of a
micro-irrigation system. Micro-irrigation system design is based on a large number
of theoretical, rational and empirical relationships and is a time-demanding job. An
expert system would be of great help by supplying designers with various levels of
experience with a knowledge base. In this paper we examine the criteria involved
in implementing an expert system to be used in micro-irrigation system design and
present the designing procedure in a format of rules or mathematical models so that
it can be programmed in an expert system. The expert system proposed comprises
three modules: emitter characteristics, sub-unit characteristics, and distribution
pipe sizing and evaluation. The emitter characteristics module helps in the
selection of emitters according to their flow rates, operating pressure, discharge
exponent, manufacturer's coefficient, number of emitters per plant and emission
uniformity. The sub-unit characteristics module concerns determination of the
potential number of sub-units in the whole system and the surface area and shape
for each sub-unit. The distribution pipe sizing and evaluation module identifies the
lengths and diameters of pipes used in the distribution system and their location in
the field and evaluates the adequacy of the designed system. At present the ES
analytically considers technical optimisation only, whereas economic optimisation
is sought through empirical norms as found in the literature, and is only applicable
for rectangular sub-units.