Low power Distance Sensor - Hardware issues

[chrille]

@qqlapraline said:

I'm trying to build up a low power/battery supplied distance sensor. The purpose of that sensor is to measure the water level in a well.
In order to do so, I'm using an US-100 ultrasonic sensor. This one is supposed to go below 3V as for power supply. The main unit is a SenseBender board (very fan of this one). The logic, to keep current consumption low, is to use a digital output of the arduino to power the US-100 and trigger measurement.
It works perfectly with a pair of AA batteries...until it reaches 3V ...after that, no more distance measure.

The module looks very much like the well known HC-SR04. It's known to be quite unreliable running at 3.3V. I am looking into a somewhat related project. I have a large tank (1000 liter) where I capture rain water and use in my greenhouse - I want to measure the amount of water in the tank, by measuring the distance from the top of the tank to the water. I plan on using the JSN-SR04T which is basically a waterproof version of the HC-SR04. The sensor needs 5V and I need to run on batteries. My current plan is to use 3 or 4 AA batteries and a LDO regulator with very low quiescent current, like the HT7333 to power the MCU and NRF24 radio

I am not sure is this would work for you? If the sensor is spec'ed to 3V then using 3x AA batteries should be sufficient

[qqlapraline]

Well, @mfalkvidd, I think you got it ! Your piece of hardware sounds pretty good to fix my issue. In the meantime, I've looked after the exact electrical tolerance of the digital inputs and found the information you are referring to. I thought about using the pullup resistors of the digital inputs but it works only for high/low inputs..not outputs..!
So, basically, I think the logic converter is what I need. I will keep you postee.

@chrille, thanks for your project. Unfortunately, I'm very drastic on battery lifetime and that's why I'm using Sensebender. My setup allows up to 2 years of battery lifetime (measuring distance and temp/hum). And Sensebender works with low voltage (with no voltage regulator).

QQ

[qqlapraline]

Hello all,

It tooks some long time to update my setup but finally, I did it (this weekend)
And....it works ! Like a charm :)
Now the battery voltage is under 3v (2900 mv) and the logic converter does its job very very well.
I only have accuracy issues but, hey, this is a well, so this is a very very aggressive environment for mainstream electronics :)
Thanks again for your help :+1:

QQ.

[qqlapraline]

Oh, for whom is interested, here is a (very very bad) schema of the setup :)

[qqlapraline]

Oh, forgot it..
Here is the INO file (beware, it is a 1.5 version of MySensors libraries)
0_1477341898945_DistanceSensebenderMicro.ino

QQ.

[qqlapraline]

A quick update on this topic.
I have pimped it up using a ME-007 ULS sensor. This one is waterproof, more acurate and can measure longer distances (up to 8 meters).
After some issues related to delay between measures, it works like a charm.

[qqlapraline]

The finale update !
After numerous tests (using used batteries, adapted software and a lot of patience), it appears that the step up booster was not working under a certain voltage (around 2.7v).
Futhermore, the sleep time before distance measure was very variable.

I have questionned myself a lot and finally, my doubts went to the capacity of the Arduino to feed the dc-dc converter with enough current.
To fix this issue, I have used a BC548B transistor with a base resistor of 1K to drive the step-up converter. And, miracle, it works !
My finale test was with a set of used batteries delivering 2 V !

Now, I have a sensor that tests distance, temp/hum and battery level every 15 minutes. The average power consumption is 55 µA (25 µA during sleep time and 15 mA for 1 second during measures).

QQ.

[qqlapraline]

And here the latest battery graph displaying two things:

• The first phase with not that optimal battery consumption (until Jan, 14th)
• The second one with everything optimized (after Jan, 14th).

QQ.

[stevebus]

Very nice project and thanks for sharing. I have a deer feeder in a corner of my yard, and it's always getting empty without me knowing. I'm planning on this exact same type of project to measure the level of corn in the feeder. Would love to see your final schematic and parts list (as it changed across the thread), but no worry if you don't have it as I'm sure I can figure it out.

Thanks again for sharing.

[bjacobse]

I think batteries and sonar distance sensor is not the best, it consumes too much power, since you must measure too often. A better solution if possible is to only get a interrupt with a switch when water tank is empty, then Arduino can sleep forever, or maybe you want to let it wake up once a day to provide a live puls. with a sonar you must check often and spend precious battery for distance measuring. Also there is no need of a DC-DC converter when using the switch, since the DC-DC converter also drains your batteries

Can you use something like this instead?
http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=New+Hot+Sale+Small+Liquid+Water+Level+Sensor+Horizontal+Float+Switch+WB&_id=301886450361&&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2658

[qqlapraline]

Thank you @stevebus. It's now live at its outdoor spot measuring the water in my well. It works perfectly :)

I'll post the photos and schemas once I get back from skiing ;)

[qqlapraline]

@bjacobse , I do understand your concern ! That was my challenge for the past months. But the combination of digital output to trigger on/off the sensor, low update frequency (15 minutes) and a low power ultrasonic sensor makes it possible (ser posts above).

Qq.

[HarrySteff]

Hello @qqlapraline
i want to build exactly this sensor like you do.
Can you help me with a wiring schema and a parts list?

Thank you so much!

[qqlapraline]

Here is the schematics (freshly made for you :))

And here the part list:

• Arduino pro mini (3.3v with BOD disabled) or Sensebender Micro
• Ultrasonic sensor: ME007-ULS (available here)
• NRF24L01+ (I use the PA - LNA version for long range communication)
• NPN Transistor: BC548 (the B version if prefered)
• Base resistor: 1k
• 3.3V Step-up Voltage regulator: NCP1402 (available here)
• Logic Level Converter (available here): it says 3.3/5 but actually it's any to any voltage.
• Waterproof case (available here)

And finally here is my code (not cleaned, sorry).
0_1496348693347_DistanceSensebenderMicro.ino
And the Eagle SCH
0_1496348714531_Low power Distance Sensor.sch

And now, I realize that it may have been wise to upload that to openhardware.io :)

Regards,

QQ.

[HarrySteff]

Thank you very much!

[sq9njj]

@qqlapraline would you mind reupload your sketch?

[mfalkvidd]

@sq9njj the link works if it is opened in a new window or if you right-click and select "save as".

[qqlapraline]

Does it work fine ?
In case, you need it, here it goes again :)
0_1504557254355_DistanceSensebenderMicro.ino
Beware, it uses a former version of the MySensors library.

QQ.

[sq9njj]

@qqlapraline thanks! It works fine, thanks again!

[chbla]

I tried this with a similar setup but RFM95 for LoRaWan and without the transistor as I'm testing it directly on USB.

A pololu 5V stepup regulator does not even work directly on VCC - if I connect the HC-SR04, voltage drops from 5V
to 1.2V after the regulator.

I then tried a different regulator from aliexpress, this setup works with the regulator on VCC, but if I try to control it through a
Pin, Voltage also drops and does not even power the regulator (it has a LED) :(