Arduino, Alexa etc.
I have today uploaded a new version of my wireless soil moisture sensor. This new version accommodates a larger 18650 type battery, a more efficient TP4056 charge controller and a DC jack for attaching an optional solar panel.
For full details see thingiverse and instructables
In a previous video I described how you could add solar power to your electronics projects. In this video we add a solar panel to the wireless soil moisture sensor to hopefully provide a constant power source, at least through the summer months! All that’s required is a solar panel (duh!), a 5V USB boost converter and the 3D-printed attachment which is available via my thingiverse page.
The batteries used in the sensor may not last long, to combat this I investigate use of a solar panel as means to provide a continuous source of charge. See my tutorial on how to add solar power to your projects and check back soon for progress…
Combining the D1 Mini and Blynk to create a wireless Soil Moisture Sensor…
This small portable sensor can be used to alert you to the moisture condition of your plants. In the future it can be combined with a water pump to create a fully automatic garden system.
To begin you will need to download and 3D-print the 3 separate parts available via thingiverse.
You will need the following components:
WeMos D1 Mini
3.7V 14500 Li-ion Battery
Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor
D1 Mini Battery Shield
WS2812 RGB LED
1 x AA Battery Holder
Connect everything together using the following schematic:
The shield can be connected directly to the D1 mini. The breadboard is used above for reference only and components should be soldered and crimped together in order to facilitate positioning inside the printed housing.
Remember to connect the RST pin to D0 in order to enable sleep mode.
The final assembled device should look similar to the image below:
Download the Blynk App to your smart phone/device and create a new project based on the following:
Upload the sketch to the D1 Mini using the Arduino IDE. Edit the sketch to include reference to your WIFI SSD and password as well as your unique Blynk authentication token.
Insert and charge the battery and watch the data roll in…
Use the sliders in the app to adjust the threshold at which the dry/wet alerts are activated. The sketch can be further customised if your sensor needs it as well as for things like the length of time to sleep.
So I started work on my next project today, an automatic garden watering system and monitor based built using Arduino. My plan is to create a system that can:
With the following additional features depending on how much success I have:
I started out using an Arduino Uno and a cheap 5V motor in order to determine if it could be powered from the USB alone and provide sufficient power to pump water over a distance of approximately 1m. I connected as follows:
Once this was successfully pumping water, I attached an ESP-01 and configured it to connect with Blynk to enable remote control.
This enabled me to start the pump from my phone but unfortunately Blynk would then suddenly disconnect and I would have to recycle power to the ESP-01 to get it going again. So thinking this may be due to the fact the ESP devices are very sensitive to their supply I am attempting to isolate it from both the Arduino and the pump using an external power supply and a relay switch.
I’ll let you know how I get on…