An open-source soil moisture datalogger & sensor-based irrigation platform.

[AFRS_soil]

Hello,

I would like to share my work with the community in the development of an open-source datalogger for resistive soil matric potential (moisture) sensors, I have called "Open_Irr", Phonetically open ear. The device can read from up to 16 sensors and is intended for use (i) as a stand alone datalogging platform; (ii) as a scale-neutral horticultural tool for data-driven irrigation automation. The device allows users to specify various settings (trigger point, duration, minimum time between events) for up to 4 irrigation groups based on any combination of soil matric potential sensors. Settings can be changed through interfacing with a crude menu in a serial terminal monitoring application by phone or PC. In its current state, the platform requires users to configure wiring to route the low-level signal from the Moteino-Mega to any low-level logic switch (relays etc.) and toggle device (e.g. pump, solenoid, ball valve).

You can find a more detailed report on the device here -> https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067223000652#f0095

I am formally trained as a soil scientist but took the plunge into some aspects of agricultural engineering over the past couple of years. Undoubtedly, there are opportunities for continued improvement of the platform and optimization, that I am sure. I will continue to work on the platform to improve it over winter of 2023. The Moteino has been a fantastic platform to work with and I want to thank Felix for the work put into its development. Happy to answer any questions I can.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Felix]

Very interesting, and I hope as lead times come down and components become available again prices will also come down again and make it even more affordable.
Thanks for sharing your project Andrew!