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A quick prototipe

A project log for A cheap capacitive soil moisture sensor

In order to achieve the first stage of precision farming, i want to create a cheap soil moisture sensor with wireless communication.

valentin-ortegaValentin Ortega 07/29/2016 at 05:470 Comments

While reading about how to measure capacitance i found what it seems to be the simplest method when using a micro controller: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/CapacitanceMeter

So i improvised a little to build some capacitive probes based on a FR4 double sided cooper board. Everything was made using a rotary tool, so it isn't perfect, that's why i made two, to compare the performance between both.


The next step is soldering some cables, connect to an arduino, and isolate the board completely. In the previous log i talked about the challenge of finding the right kind of isolating coating or cover. Right know i think that the Neverwet alternative mentioned on the comments of the previous log is a good idea, but i'll have to save some money to buy this coating kit.

https://www.amazon.com/Oleum-274232-Never-Multi-Purpose/dp/B00DNQBFAW

Once i have my probe ready, i'll test it on a glass of water and see what happens.

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