To use Area Mode, you must first define the area’s boundaries. This is done in software through a process similar to what I have encountered on other competing devices. You turn on mapping mode, and the sprinkler engages. Then, using a simple remote control system, you dial in the water pressure at just the right amount, targeting the edge of your yard but not the fence; Once the water is where you want it, you drop a pin to mark the boundary of the watering area. Then you rotate the nozzle over the sprinkler a few degrees and repeat, setting the flow strength to cover the desired area. Repeat over and over until you’ve gone through 360 degrees and dropped pins to represent the entire area of your yard. The company says the maximum area supported is 4,800 square feet, with spray up to 39 feet.
ScreenshotAiper app via Chris Null
In the app, you can watch this location map being created in real time. The process is quite intuitive except for the last few points, where the Aiper system makes it difficult to complete a 360 degree rotation. If you look at the completed map in the screenshot below, you will see a small part of the yard that no amount of solving can make Aiper close.
Irrigation operations can be initiated on demand or on a schedule, and surprisingly define not a run time rate but a “water use limit,” measured in inches of water you want to apply to the soil. While it’s nearly impossible to measure how accurate this is, qualitatively, the estimate felt about right in my tests.
In Zone mode, IrriSense 2 dispenses water by spraying the plane in one direction, rotating clockwise 360 degrees until it passes over the map you set before turning back and doing it again in a counter-clockwise direction, repeating this cycle until the desired irrigation depth is reached.
Although the IrriSense 2 sprinkler system is officially described as a gentle “mist,” it’s actually more of a jet, especially when it has to reach the far reaches of the yard near the center of its range. That results in more water being delivered to the edges of the yard than the center of the planned area, but that’s a common issue I’ve seen with rotary sprinklers like this one. To answer this, IrriSense 2 doesn’t just render at full speed for the entire run. Instead, repeated cycles reduce the pressure exerted little by little, until the final cycles are more than a stream of water hitting just a few inches from the unit. (Note that canceling a run early means that only the outer parts of the area will receive water.)
Photo: Chris Null
