Soil Moisture Sensor

Soil Moisture Sensor- Water level

This Moisture Sensor uses Immersion Gold which protects the nickel from oxidation. Electroless nickel immersion gold (ENIG)  has several advantages over more conventional (and cheaper) surface platings such as HASL (solder), including excellent surface planarity (particularly helpful for PCB’s with large BGA packages), good oxidation resistance, and usability for untreated contact surfaces such as membrane switches and contact points.

This Moisture Sensor can read the amount of moisture present in the soil surrounding it. It’s a low tech sensor, but ideal for monitoring an urban garden, or your pet plant’s water level. This is a must have tool for a connected garden!

This Moisture Sensor can be used to detect the moisture of soil or judge if there is water around the sensor, let the plants in your garden reach out for human help. They can be very to use, just insert it into the soil and then read it. With help of this sensor, it will be realizable to make the plant remind you : Hey, I am thirsty now, please give me some water.

This Moisture Sensor uses the two probes to pass current through the soil, and then it reads that resistance to get the moisture level. More water makes the soil conduct electricity more easily (less resistance), while dry soil conducts electricity poorly (more resistance).

It will be helpful to remind you to water your indoor plants or to monitor the soil moisture in your garden. The IO Expansion Shield is the perfect shield to connect this sensor to Arduino.

This item have low power consumption, and high sensitivity, which are the biggest characteristics of this module.

This item can be compatible with Arduino UNO、Arduino mega2560、Arduino ADK etc.

Features :

• Dual output mode, analog output more accurate
• A fixed bolt hole for easy installation
• With power indicator (red) and digital switching output indicator (green)
• Having LM393 comparator chip, stable.

Specifications:

• Working voltage: 5V
• Working Current: <20ma
• Interface: Analog
• Depth of detection: 37mm
• Working Temperature: 10℃~30℃
• PCB Dimension : Approx.3cm x 1.5cm
• Soil Probe Dimension : Approx. 6cm x 2cm
• Arduino compatible interface
• Low power consumption
• High sensitivity
• Output voltage signal: 0~4.2V

Sensor maintenance

The device consists of threeparts: measuring probe, detector module and wires. The probe needs to be connected with the main module via wires and place them in the soil where moisture will be measured.

The sensor has a digital D0 output that indicates the exceeding of the set values, using the potentiometer, and analog A0 that helps to get the accurate moisture value.

Wiring Connection

• VCC: 3.3V-5V
• GND: GND
• DO: Digital output interface(0 and 1)
• AO: Analog output interface

The Digital Output D0

The potentiometer sets the threshold above which the output D0 is changed from a high to a low status. The D0 pin can be connected directly to the microcontroller or the development kit, including Arduino or, for example, with a buzzer module which will signal too low or too high humidity level.

The Analog output A0

The sensor has an analog A0 output, which must be connected to the pin of the A/D converter (analog input in Arduino). This will allow you to determine the humidity level more accurately while measuring the proportional voltage signa