Plant Soil Moisture Sensor

Inspiration

My father and mother love to garden but are often are too busy to maintain many of the plants, by creating this project, I wanted to help them take better care of their plants.

What it does

This project identifies and reports the moisture levels of the soil beneath plants to users in an effort to help take better care of their plants at home.

How we built it

I built this program in python and javascript using the Microbit - MakeCode IDE at link, I then purchased a Microbit V2, alligator clips, and nails to accomplish the rest.

Challenges we ran into

I ran into many challenges associated with checking the Microbit identifying the moisture in the soil as it previously only gave a "1" or "0" as a return value, this proved troublesome due to the fact that I wanted the user to know it the moisture levels were "too much", "sufficient", or "low", but "1" and "0" only allowed for 2 options, not 3. As a result, I created a way to identify the current passing through the cables from 0 - 1023, using conditional statements to create the 3 options.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am proud of the fact that this project can be used in my local secondary school to help maintain plants that are often dying due to the lack of moisture in their soil, this project was not only something virtual for people to see but also something that is being used by my school currently due to my efforts.

What we learned

This project reminded me of the concepts of conductivity at a molecular level, as this project was functional due to the fact that water molecules can conduct electricity.

What's next for Plant Soil Moisture Sensor

I want my program to be able to create a database recording the average moisture level in the soil per day.

Built With

• javascript
• mircobit
• python