A heuristic for piping residential sprinklers

A heuristic developed in this study derives efficient pipe configurations for connecting sprinklers. The objective is to connect all of the sprinkers in a watering zone with a minimum length of pipe. Minimum-length pipe configurations reduce pressure loss and installation cost. The heuristic adapts the Prim algorithm, conventionally used to derive minimal spanning trees, to a modified rectilinear Steiner problem. Modifications were made to account for impervious objects such as patios and decks that protrude into a lawn area and cannot be traversed by pipe. Rapid solutions can be obtained manually for sprinkler configurations that are typical of residential lots.