Low cost precision irrigation system with passive valves and portable adjusting device

摘要

According to some embodiments of the invention, an adjusting device for adjusting a passive drip irrigation valve to enable precision irrigation includes a device body configured to be at least one of hand-held or attachable to a robot, the device body having a manipulator end, and a manipulator assembly contained within and extending from the manipulator end of the device body. The manipulator assembly includes a coarse alignment adjustment assembly constructed and arranged to align the adjusting device with the passive drip irrigation valve. The manipulator assembly also includes a fine actuator configured to rotate the passive drip irrigation valve by a specified angle.