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Log Entry #3 : The Sensor Works!

A project log for Remote Water Consumption Display

Design and build a simple, inexpensive, and manufacturable remote indicator for the most common type of mechanical water meter in use today.

john-schuchJohn Schuch 07/15/2014 at 21:351 Comment

Some notes to go with that video...

You'll probably notice that the display jumps around quite a bit. The sensor itself does 80 measurements per second, but sending the data out the serial port, and through the LCD serial backpack is VERY slow. Bear in mind that in the final design the sensor will not have any display so the microcontroller will be able to accept data at a MUCH greater rate. Further, the actual data does not get sent back to the display module, the microcontroller just uses that data to determine revolutions of the meter shaft.

The sensor also allows for over-sampling (kinda like averaging) which I have turned off for this test. I'll probably set it to 4:1 over sampling or so in the final unit which will make the readings much more stable.

So next, remove the display electronics from the breadboard and replace them with the transmitter, and then breadboard up a test receiver. I'll also be working on the solar charged batteries at the same time. More details about that in the next build log.

Discussions

John Schuch wrote 07/15/2014 at 21:38 point
And yes, I know my camera can't focus on the LCD display, but it's all I have to work with right now.

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