HardLabs

Capacitive soil moisture sensor

RonMcKay·capacitive-soil-moisture-sensor·hardware/soil-moisture-sensor.kicad_pcb

Capacitive soil moisture sensor PCB layout, top view — open source AVR/Arduino board by RonMcKay

About the Capacitive soil moisture sensor PCB

Capacitive soil moisture sensor is an open source AVR/Arduino PCB design by RonMcKay, published on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board measuring 185.3 × 23 mm, with 18 components from 15 distinct parts.

Its main chip is the ATmega328P-AU, from the AVR/Arduino family. Other key parts include the NRF24L01_Breakout and ATSHA204A. By type, the board carries 4 capacitors, 4 resistors, 3 ICs, 2 connectors, 1 crystal and 1 battery holder.

It belongs with the iot & wireless, sensors and power & battery designs in this gallery.

From the project

Compact and battery powered capacitive soil moisture sensor.

This is a capacitive soil moisture sensor which runs with a standalone ATmega328P and utilizes the [MySensors][1] framework. It can however be adapted to any other framework that uses 2.4 GHz radio communication with an NRF24L01 if you upload your own code.

A short summary of the features is: Runs on 2 AAA batteries Sleeping current of 8uA (approx. 10 years of battery life under optimal conditions) Uses an NRF24L01 radio module for communication Utilizes an ATSHA204A for secure message signing (optional) A sensor value range of approximately 400 (from air to water) External 8MHz resonator…

Capacitive soil moisture sensor, from the project README
From the project README

Main components on the Capacitive soil moisture sensor

ATmega328P-AUNRF24L01_BreakoutATSHA204A

Capacitive soil moisture sensor bill of materials (BOM)

18 components, 15 distinct parts.

QtyPartRefs
1
ATmega328P-AU
U1
1
NRF24L01_Breakout
U2
1
ATSHA204A
U3
1
Resonator
Y1
1
AVR ISP
J1
1
FTDI
J2
1
Battery_Cell
BT1
1
SW_Push
SW1
1
Conn_01x01
Sensor1
1
D_Schottky
D1
1
100nF
C1
2
1uF
C2, C4
1
220uF
C3
3
10K
R1, R3, R4
1
510K
R2

Capacitive soil moisture sensor design files

The KiCad project lives in the RonMcKay/capacitive-soil-moisture-sensor repository on GitHub; these links point at the commit this page was built from.

Capacitive soil moisture sensor: common questions

What microcontroller does the Capacitive soil moisture sensor use?

The Capacitive soil moisture sensor is built around the ATmega328P-AU, from the AVR/Arduino family.

How big is the Capacitive soil moisture sensor PCB?

The Capacitive soil moisture sensor measures 185.3 × 23 mm, has 2 copper layers and is 1.6 mm thick.

How many components are on the Capacitive soil moisture sensor?

18 components, from 15 distinct parts. The full bill of materials is listed on this page.

Where can I download the Capacitive soil moisture sensor design files?

From the RonMcKay/capacitive-soil-moisture-sensor repository on GitHub, which has the KiCad layout and the schematic; the links under Design files point to each one.

Can I use the Capacitive soil moisture sensor design in my own project?

The repository has no license, so all rights stay with RonMcKay. Use it as a reference, and ask the author before reusing the design.

Can I test firmware for the Capacitive soil moisture sensor without the hardware?

Yes. HardLabs builds a simulation of the board from its netlist and BOM, so you can run and debug AVR/Arduino firmware against it before you order a PCB.

Similar boards