Description
The Makerfabs LoRa Soil Moisture Sensor is a cost-effective and easy solution for smart agriculture. It is used for monitoring the relative moisture of the soil, the temperature, and the relative humidity of the air. The sensor reports data via LoRa to a remote LoRa receiver, creating a low-cost remote monitoring network easily. Based on Atmel's Atmega328P, it collects local air temperature and humidity with the AHT10 sensor and detects soil humidity with capacitive measurement. The data is then transmitted to the gateway using LoRa communication, making it suitable for smart-farm, irrigation, agriculture, and other related applications.
Upgrades in V3
This LoRa Soil Moisture Sensor V3 is an upgraded version of the V1 and V2 versions, with the following improvements:
- Lower Power Consumption: With Makerfabs' detailed hardware and firmware design, the sensor can work for at least 2 years using 2xAAA batteries.
- Unique ID: Each sensor comes programmed with a unique ID, allowing the remote LoRa receiver to identify multiple sensors.
- Improved Board Coating: J3166 water-proof paint protects the board, preventing water damage and electrode corrosion, resulting in better accuracy and longer battery life.
Installation and Usage
The LoRa Soil Moisture Sensor can be installed by simply plugging it into the soil, either in a flowerpot or near a plant. It monitors the air and soil status and reports the data to a remote LoRa receiver. Each sensor's unique ID allows the remote receiver to monitor and identify signals, triggering alarms or actions to help maintain plant health.
The sensor is shipped with an Arduino Pro Mini bootloader pre-loaded and Makerfabs' default sketch programmed. Users can re-program it using the Arduino IDE, with a standard USB2UART converter recommended. Note that the DTR in the USB2UART converter should be connected to the "Reset" pin for Arduino sketch downloading. If there is no DTR, you may need to press the "reset" button manually during downloading.
The Makerfabs CP2104 USB to Serial Converter Arduino Programmer is strongly suggested for re-programming.
Features
- Wireless LoRa Transceiver
- Soil Moisture Measurement based on capacitive testing
- Unique ID
- Low power: 7.1uA when sleeping, 2 years working life with 2xAAA batteries
- Onboard AHT10 sensor to monitor air temperature and humidity
- Onboard Battery Voltage Measurement
- Fully Open Source: all hardware and software available on GitHub
- Compatible with Arduino
- Supply power voltage: 2.0V~3.3V
- 3D printing case available
Useful Links
- Wiki
- GitHub
- LoRa Soil Moisture Sensor V3 - What Updated?
- Project Learn 1 - LoRa ESP32 Network
- Project Learn 2 - LoRa Moisture Sensor
- Project Learn 3 - IoT Irrigation System
- Project Learn 4 - Soil Monitoring and Irrigation With LoRa
