WHAT: a "simple" system indicating whether or not my plants need water. Visual feedback only.
OBJECTIVE: cheap little stake modules that can be entered into the soil - measuring moisture. can be tuned to different "trip" moisture levels for different ones. should turn an LED on when my plant(s) are thirsty.
HOW: hoping to use some fancy pantsy opAmps! would help in my understanding of them - and should be cheaper than having a digital read in each one (i think?). hopefully just run off a AAA or a watch battery for a long time.
APPLICATION: my plants are thirsty! and different ones have different needs. and i am sometimes quite absent minded about keeping them alive.
possible developments: pH measurement would be nice to implement into the same stake, pending on cost and complexity. if the plan doesnt prove cost effective (less than 10 bucks per) - then i might just make a plant probe meter. like a multimeter - but for plants (moisture and pH). i could also then sample several spots in the soil and use it to double as a mini aerator.
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This one I might be able to help you out with- I once made a very simple capacitive water sensor. It was designed such that as the amount of moisture between two electrodes changed, the capacitance changed.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't be too hard to interface that to a microcontroller and run the works off a couple of AA batteries- have it beep periodically to alert the owner to dry soil.
pH is tougher- it requires careful calibration to be accurate even a little bit.
sweet! i'll try and leave next month to start tackling lower hanging fruity projects.
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