tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post6187309054384774225..comments2023-09-08T23:28:46.402-07:00Comments on Zero Characters Left: PCB as a Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensordrxzclhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474086282452650899noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-25169324707323674892016-09-08T08:05:57.015-07:002016-09-08T08:05:57.015-07:00@Michael Prior: Hi, can you please let me know whe...@Michael Prior: Hi, can you please let me know where can I find more info on your project? My email is pedro_nf AT yahoo.com. Thanks in advance!pedro_nfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13490085427421223348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-39990008194392680592016-07-27T06:33:11.585-07:002016-07-27T06:33:11.585-07:00I found a project similar to this.
They also havin...I found a project similar to this.<br />They also having full DIY Kits :-)<br />https://www.mikrocontroller.net/topic/335407#newAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-56573165665175217322016-07-19T13:03:27.015-07:002016-07-19T13:03:27.015-07:00You can just grab the board file from the post, an...You can just grab the board file from the post, and send it off to a PCB manufacturer. I used https://oshpark.com/ because the pricing worked out really well, but there are lots of them.drxzclhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00026698619782225841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-10047884021828857212016-06-11T10:25:02.893-07:002016-06-11T10:25:02.893-07:00Hi, there is a 100MHz soil sensor FDR at https://...Hi, there is a 100MHz soil sensor FDR at https://www.tindie.com/products/Power_Modules/fdr-100mhz-plant-soil-sensor-mineral-transparency/ <br /><br />This is a prototype but is reaching a final product. Very precise and stable over many soils.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-55807601856375843282016-05-25T07:23:46.469-07:002016-05-25T07:23:46.469-07:00Maybe supply DC/DC converter is not stable and cau...Maybe supply DC/DC converter is not stable and causing interference. Try to supply sensor from a battery instead other kind of supply.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-72699468345312369322016-05-19T00:36:07.892-07:002016-05-19T00:36:07.892-07:00Hi, I am using sunrom soil moisture sensor http://...Hi, I am using sunrom soil moisture sensor http://www.sunrom.com/m/1282 . It gives output in UART as well as ADC. We are using in UART and It gives output like this : In water it reaches upto 140 and in wet soil it reaches upto 160 but it gives many random output. we are using this in 3.3v . I am confused in output of sensor because once i give water to plant and measure output it gives value in range of 140 then it increase in Day and decreases in night and also after 5 days it still gives same output. I wan to use this sensor for irrigation in farm and for irrigation cycle we are using tensiometer . So My questions are too many about sensors , behavior of soil in day time and night time so what to do ? Kindly answer about my questions . Sorry for too many explaination..:P..Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04155168448942062518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-5164590768174578502016-05-10T09:04:46.682-07:002016-05-10T09:04:46.682-07:00Hi check my new design file here https://db.tt/oqo...Hi check my new design file here https://db.tt/oqoKNU2RVitor_Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01610414100060963052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-40532186589166298752016-05-09T06:21:39.836-07:002016-05-09T06:21:39.836-07:00There is a new paper about developing a RF capacit...There is a new paper about developing a RF capacitive soil probe Check paper here https://db.tt/LJPCstpWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-31073791202459788832016-05-09T05:34:03.458-07:002016-05-09T05:34:03.458-07:00Hi, please check my paper about developing a RF so...Hi, please check my paper about developing a RF soil sensor probe, based on probe capacitance and wheatstone bridge. https://db.tt/LJPCstpW<br />I measured some probes capacitance. <br /><br />RegardsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-22595261443602643052016-04-21T01:50:28.838-07:002016-04-21T01:50:28.838-07:00Hi Michael!
I saw your design and it looks awesom...Hi Michael!<br /><br />I saw your design and it looks awesome! Is it possible you could send me all the info in order to make one myself and test it? <br /><br />Do you think I can implement this to and Arduino?<br /><br />my email is plantingrosesandcactus@gmail.com<br /><br />Thank you in advance<br />Planting Roseshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062948274588690521noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-34276723201786222952016-04-17T05:46:06.038-07:002016-04-17T05:46:06.038-07:00Hi, I'm trying to know how vegetronix VH400 wo...Hi, I'm trying to know how vegetronix VH400 works. They use 80MHz and two pcb wire strips arround 10cm per 2mm tick spaced by 1mm. They use some circuit to drive 80MHz and a detector. Any ideias or any reverse engineering?<br />There is also a soil sensor with wifi here ebay.com/itm/262390323377<br /><br />Good for pot plants and publish data to freeboard.io Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-14841792938971702292016-02-16T17:15:25.622-08:002016-02-16T17:15:25.622-08:00I want buy this one ....where I will get...
872275...I want buy this one ....where I will get...<br />8722754625...this my number please inform me<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16579401960854899728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-40302463802026785082016-01-12T07:43:36.333-08:002016-01-12T07:43:36.333-08:00Hey, could anyone repost the circuit or an image o...Hey, could anyone repost the circuit or an image of what Vitor_A posted here (https://www.circuitlab.com/circuit/5jv7ey/capacitance_to_dc_v4/) ?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607896432472469067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-65468437196741329312015-12-07T11:22:29.320-08:002015-12-07T11:22:29.320-08:00Hey, I would like to review that schematic since I...Hey, I would like to review that schematic since I ordered parts to build the circuit. Unfortunately it is offline now, so does anyone have a backup copy of it?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607896432472469067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-7491744641933161342015-11-02T07:06:39.992-08:002015-11-02T07:06:39.992-08:00You can use literally any arrangement as long as a...You can use literally any arrangement as long as a) it has a measurable capacitance and b) it relies on the external medium as dielectric (not the FR4 PCB). Meanders, fractal capacitors etc etc all should work. <br /><br />You can estimate the capacitance using Equation (1) of http://www.troian.caltech.edu/papers/Chen_LabOnAChip_4_04.pdfdrxzclhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09474086282452650899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-30152359860426715382015-10-26T04:09:58.278-07:002015-10-26T04:09:58.278-07:00Does this sensor need to have these plates?
Or cou...Does this sensor need to have these plates?<br />Or could i achieve a higher capacity with circuit paths in a meander like orientation?<br /><br />Does someone know how i can estimate the capacity of this sensor?<br /><br />Thanks, Mark!<br />:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-49233599993217908212015-10-21T13:23:22.772-07:002015-10-21T13:23:22.772-07:00I haven't noticed a significant difference as ...I haven't noticed a significant difference as function of plant size.drxzclhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09474086282452650899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-61220173008381746942015-10-20T07:30:57.919-07:002015-10-20T07:30:57.919-07:00I build a sensor similair to yours but it's ex...I build a sensor similair to yours but it's extremely noise with bigger plants to the point of being unusable, even after averaging 10.000 measurements.<br /><br />I have the suspicion this is because of currents running through the soil, pushing away (currents = moving e-) the electrons in the probe, disrupting the capacitor, hereby causing noise. What are your thoughts on this? Any issues with larger plants?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-55824314117630111702015-09-25T13:16:30.827-07:002015-09-25T13:16:30.827-07:00Whether is works "just as well" depends ...Whether is works "just as well" depends on a bunch of things, such as the precision that you need, the soil conditions, the exact schematic etc. However, I'm pretty confident it can be made to work well enough for most practical uses.drxzclhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09474086282452650899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-55316560260117749432015-09-25T08:01:10.465-07:002015-09-25T08:01:10.465-07:00Would the Arduino's capsense library work just...Would the Arduino's capsense library work just as well for measuring soil moisture as the 80Mhz+ hardware methods?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-72148063554311324012015-06-22T14:34:31.730-07:002015-06-22T14:34:31.730-07:00Very interesting... I have what I now believe to b...Very interesting... I have what I now believe to be a similar <a href="http://www.vegetronix.com/Products/VH400/" rel="nofollow">soil moisture sensor</a>, in that I think it is also capacitively based now. Based on the PCB sensor and the fact that it hasn't corroded in the 3 years that I have had it, I was able to put 2 and 2 together. I had always wondered how it worked (I logically assumed that it wasn't magic) but the concept had always eluded me. I knew that it wasn't like the resistive based model (despite my limited knowledge in the field), but ahhh I can now go to bed feeling satisfied. Thanks, found the article very enlightening!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-1037996470961477972014-10-30T04:59:45.269-07:002014-10-30T04:59:45.269-07:00Hi Michael,
70Mhz is suitable for measuremen...Hi Michael,<br /> <br /> 70Mhz is suitable for measurement? So if you set up an oscillator in which sensor act as capacitor, out put frequency is variable. So how to use 70Mhz for measurement?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />TharanathAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04214149088042642160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-918898893528299252014-10-30T04:14:32.948-07:002014-10-30T04:14:32.948-07:00Hi Michael,
I am developing circuit for soil mois...Hi Michael,<br /> I am developing circuit for soil moisture measurement. Could you share how we get the voltage proportional to capacitance change. Are you using oscillator then <br />count ?<br /><br />Thanks,<br />TharanathAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04214149088042642160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-28619813394316412982014-09-11T02:44:18.735-07:002014-09-11T02:44:18.735-07:00Hi Michael,
I am the Anonymous from previous post ...Hi Michael,<br />I am the Anonymous from previous post :) . You are right about added capacity from line. I am using Frequency to Voltage converter after the 555 timer and also mount parts on sensor's PCB. But the most important, I think, is that you are not measuring absolute values in percentage of humidity. So you can easy correct values in software. What is the approx capacitance of sensor in your design. I think the capacitance of above design (shown at this web page) is about 25-100pFAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3514777003302213444.post-64853676941805543382014-09-01T16:51:46.593-07:002014-09-01T16:51:46.593-07:00I thought I would chime in here and share my proje...I thought I would chime in here and share my project as this project was a big help to me. <br /><br />I've designed a sensor which uses a printed PCB similar to this one here. The trouble with the one here is that wires are required to connect the sensor to the frequency measuring device (arduino). Therefore you also pick up capacitance along the connecting wires which introduces significant error. One option is to use low capacitance shielded twisted pair wire, however this is a sub-optimal workaround. I've got around this problem by mounting all associated electronics onto the pcb. I've used a Teensy 3.1 as my frequency measuring device as it is able to measure frequencies up to 70mhz with the freqcount arduino library. Also mounted on the PCB sensor is a schmitt trigger 74hc14n. The teensy measures the frequency and then puts out an I2C digital signal to communicate back to a host arduino which logs to an SD card and outputs to an lcd screen. There's also a P82B715PN I2C extender on the sensor pcb so that I can run long wires back to the host arduino. <br /><br />I'm happy to share all my working code and anymore information with anyone who would like it. <br /><br />Here's a photo of the proof of concept (using a modified version of this pcb sensor)<br />http://imgur.com/ZPeAn82<br /><br />And here's a photo of the pcb i'm currently having printed:<br />http://imgur.com/6aHjXXVMischahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12419360153706028736noreply@blogger.com