Close
0%
0%

ESP32 Soil Moisture Sensor with Flip-Dot

In this project I develop a small, battery-powered soil moisture sensor using the ESP32 with a status indicator and logging to the cloud!

Similar projects worth following

Read the project logs for all the detailed information 😊, or view the project on GitHub:

https://github.com/maakbaas/esp32-soil-moisture-sensor/tree/master

The final assembled product in a 3D printed enclosure:

To maximize battery life a bistable flip-dot status indicator is used to show if the plant needs water:

The sensor has enough resolution to measure differences in water levels in the required range:

Case.zip

STL files for the 3D printed case

x-zip-compressed - 118.58 kB - 04/18/2021 at 17:12

Download

Gerber.zip

Gerber files for the PCB

x-zip-compressed - 38.24 kB - 04/04/2021 at 14:29

Download

Schematic.png

The schematic for the PCB

Portable Network Graphics (PNG) - 34.00 kB - 04/04/2021 at 14:14

Preview
Download

  • 1 × Custom PCB
  • 1 × ESP32-WROVER module
  • 2 × Keystone 53 Battery holder
  • 1 × CR2 Battery
  • 1 × PTS810 Push button

View all 10 components

  • GitHub

    Maakbaas11/06/2021 at 06:02 0 comments

    After publication on the front page, I got several requests for the design files. I have posted them to GitHub here:

    https://github.com/maakbaas/esp32-soil-moisture-sensor/tree/master

  • Logging to the cloud

    Maakbaas04/18/2021 at 18:04 0 comments

    In this final post I will dive into the connectivity and WiFi functions for the ESP32 soil moisture sensor. The goal is to be able to log the sensor data to the cloud and pull it into a home automation system. The data will first be buffered locally, and then pushed to the cloud in a batch. This is needed because WiFi is significantly more power hungry compared to other activity. With this approach the device should theoretically have a battery life of two years.

    Read more »

  • Using deep sleep

    Maakbaas04/16/2021 at 19:39 0 comments

    In this post and the next I will present the software that is running on my ESP32 soil moisture sensor. In this initial version of the software I focus on the parts that allow the sensor to work in standalone mode. This includes the push button, the status indicator and the actual sensor implementation. In the next and final post I will dive into the connectivity and WiFi functions.

    Read more »

  • Testing the sensor

    Maakbaas04/14/2021 at 20:25 0 comments

    After receiving the circuit boards for my soil moisture sensor, the biggest question was whether the actual sensor would work. It seems like dark magic, how a simple copper pad, connected to an ESP32 without any additional circuitry could turn into a moisture sensor. Therefore, the first thing I did after building the boards is to see how well this would work.

    Read more »

  • Hardware design

    Maakbaas04/04/2021 at 14:19 0 comments

    Recently we bought some new plants to fill up some of the space after we moved to a larger house. I am not the best plant owner, and need to be reminded when to water these new housemates. Roughly at the same time, I found a cool new component, that can switch from red to green, and only requires current when switching. This makes it a great status indicator for battery-powered products. One plus one is two, and this gave me the idea to build a soil moisuture sensor using this status indicator.

    Read more »

View all 5 project logs

Enjoy this project?

Share

Discussions

ViktorK wrote 11/27/2023 at 10:35 point

Hey @Maakbaas can you please commit also you KiCad file (or EDA file of software you've created the PCB in)? I would like to suggest some changes for your design, but Gerbers are not very editable.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Daniel wrote 10/29/2021 at 13:44 point

Hello.  Great project - I think I'm going to make some of them.  Any chance you'd put the code for this on your github?

  Are you sure? yes | no

Maakbaas wrote 11/06/2021 at 06:03 point

Done!

  Are you sure? yes | no

Geoff wrote 05/07/2021 at 18:01 point

Awesome project! I want to try and recreate your project and create some of my own. I'm wanting to order some PCBs based on your gerber files, but I'm still a bit of a noob & newish to custom hardware. Do you mind sharing some of the information when you ordered the PCBs? I'm curious on the overall size dimensions, PCB layers, etc. Thanks in advance!

  Are you sure? yes | no

Maakbaas wrote 05/17/2021 at 07:54 point

Hi, thanks for your message. Normally, if you upload the Gerber files, this information is extracted automatically. The PCB is a 2 layer PCB, roughly 107 by 23mm.

  Are you sure? yes | no

Similar Projects

Does this project spark your interest?

Become a member to follow this project and never miss any updates