They measure the amount of water in the soil by following the capacitance to measure the volumetric content of water.
It also helps users to understand climatic conditions as they change. Also, the moisture sensors help to protect vital water resources.
A soil moisture sensor is straightforward to use. All you will do is insert the sensor into the target soil, and it will show you the data in percentages.
There are other ways you can check the moisture with the sensor.
- With Arduino
2. TI LaunchPad
3. Raspberry Pi
To use the Arduino, insert the moisture sensor into your target soil. When you have done this, plug it into your Arduino Seeduino, connect the Arduino to a PC using your USB cable and read the soil data.
Hooking up your moisture sensors is very simple.
There are just three pins that you have to connect: GND, SIG, and VCC. You have to power the GND and VCC while the SIG’s analog signal that you will join ADC pins on your choice microcontroller.
It is important to note that the voltage powering the moisture sensors also affects the value that the SIG will show.
If you are going to use your sensor outside, protect the PCB to last longer. You can use hot glue or cover the solder and the critical SMD parts on your PCB with conformal coating.
However, hot glue and sun don’t match unless the project exposes the sensor to very high temperatures.
