Remote flower watering and monitoring, part II (automatic garden watering)
Abstract:
Last year we developed the tuxgraphics "ethernet flower care" solution
and we tried different sensors to measure soil humidity.
Simple metal sheets used as capacitive soil humidity sensors
turned out to be the best solution. This type of sensor is
robust and reliable at the same time.
This article describes now some software enhancements.
We add a timer function which enables you to water your plants
automatically every day if needed.
The hardware is still the same. You need:
- A tuxgraphics ethernet board with atmega328p.
- The add on electronics for the capacitive humidity sensor.
- Two metal sheets (2.5cm x 10cm, 1inch x 4inch]) for the actual soil humidity sensor.
- A relay to switch on/off the water valve or pump.
- An optional push button to start/stop watering locally.
- An optional ds18s20 temperature sensor.
You need as well a programmer to load the software to the tuxgraphics ethernet
board or you can order a board pre-loaded with software. There are
different ways to control the water and dependent on that you need
a different power source for the circuit.
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