Office plant monitoring

[LastSamurai]

Thanks I will keep testing for some days and then report again.

[martinhjelmare]

To get rid of the ripple effect, maybe use the rolling average of the last two measurements for the voltage measurements also?

[mfalkvidd]

@martinhjelmare which ripple effect are you referring to?

[martinhjelmare]

@mfalkvidd

Looking at your chart and also my own battery reporting charts, they contain small and tight ups and downs, "ripples". I was thinking about smoothing them out to have a nicer chart. But I also think this could make the measurement more accurate, which could help in @LastSamurai 's case where there's an unexpected dip in voltage. Maybe the next measurement will be higher again? Taking an average will give you more confidence in your measurement.

[LastSamurai]

Mhm so I measured it for 2 days now and I am loosing about about 25mV per day (a little over 50mV overall). Thats really strange as I am using the pro mini without regulator or led. Has anybody seen similar problems?
Otherwise I guess I have to start measuring, although I don't know how well my multimeter can do this :(

[mfalkvidd]

@LastSamurai is the drop steady or does it go up and down a lot? Mine goes up and down in the last bit (9mV) quite often, but not as much as 50mV.

[LastSamurai]

@mfalkvidd Its more or less stable.

[mfalkvidd]

@LastSamurai that's a pity. Can you try measuring the current consumed from the battery in different situations (disconnect power to the nrf, disconnect the moisture sensor, disconnect both the nrf and the moisture sensor)?

[LastSamurai]

Thanks! I will (later) and post the results here.

[flopp]

@LastSamurai
I think Delay will really stop the MCU, Wait(xx) will continue to work in background? can anyone confirm this please

You can try to use Delay(2000) between each step to know if the power is low between the steps, maybe it do something that increase the power consumption.

Try to disconnect the Sensor, maybe it is damage? When sensor is disconnected it shall report 0%.

Can you try with another Pro Mini?

[flopp]

@hek
Like this?
https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/4045/solar-powered-soil-moisture-sensor

[hek]

@flopp said:

Wait(xx) will continue to work in background? can anyone confirm this please

Yes, wait() continue processing incoming messages and does not sleep the MCU.

[Fat Fly]

Hi.

What is the last version from this ?

[Fat Fly]

Oops! Looks like there was a serious issue with your project.

If you are not sure what could be wrong please contact us.

(file in sketch) Soil moisture for houseplants - multi-sensor internal pull-up.o: In function global constructors keyed to oldvoltage': Soil moisture for houseplants - multi-sensor internal pull-up.cpp:(.text._GLOBAL__I_oldvoltage+0xc): undefined reference to MySensor::MySensor(unsigned char, unsigned char)'
(file in sketch) Soil moisture for houseplants - multi-sensor internal pull-up.o: In function setup': Soil moisture for houseplants - multi-sensor internal pull-up.cpp:(.text.setup+0x30): undefined reference to MySensor::begin(void (*)(MyMessage const&), unsigned char, unsigned char, unsigned char, rf24_pa_dbm_e, unsigned char, rf24_datarate_e)'
Soil moisture for houseplants - multi-sensor internal pull-up.cpp:(.text.setup+0x50): undefined reference to MySensor::present(unsigned char, unsigned char, bool)' Soil moisture for houseplants - multi-sensor internal pull-up.cpp:(.text.setup+0x78): undefined reference to MySensor::present(unsigned char, unsigned char, bool)'

This errors.

@mfalkvidd said:

How did thinks go @Lars65 ?

I thought a bit more about this problem and I think I have come up with a pretty neat solution:
Throw away the chip on the moisture sensor and connect the "pitchfork" directly to the Arduino. Connect one prong to GND and one prong to an analog pin. No power pins are required.
https://codebender.cc/sketch:177182
The chip on the moisture sensor is basically a voltage divider. We get the same thing if we use the internal pull-up resistor on the Atmega processor.
EDIT: This means you can buy just the "pitchforks" really cheap: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pcs-Soil-Hygrometer-Detection-Module-Soil-Moisture-Sensor-Probes/2051713873.html

[flopp]

@Fat-Fly
I have used the latest version of this sketch and it worked perfect.
If you use the latest version it must be something with your PC/Arduino IDE

[Fat Fly]

I trying compile from this and these errors.

[mfalkvidd]

@Fat-Fly as flopp said, there is something wrong with your environment.

Are you using the development version of MySensors? If so, remove it and install 1.5 or convert the sketch to the development version by following the conversion guide.

If you already have 1.5, remove it and re-install it closely following the instructions. You can try verifying any of the stock MySensors example sketches if you like.

[Fat Fly]

Good morning. I try after work. I use linux. I want monitor this https://goo.gl/photos/oqnXUU8Pa5wmz8k87 . Moisture and if needed open valves and switch on pump.At the moment i have 3 goups what i can control.Left , right tomatoes and 3 raised beds in center, sweet peppers.

[mfalkvidd]

@Fat-Fly very nice greenhouse!

[Fat Fly]

I want to monitor soil moisture and switch on irrigation valves and pump. Windows open arduino but why not mysensors+domoticz. I can't and not want every morning go to open greenhouse windows. let this make computer :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnRbiiqhH2I