Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Soil Moisture Sensor || TinkerCAD Circuits Input Component

 A sensor whose signal voltage changes as it gets wet. It is used to measure the moisture content in soil.

In other words, a sensor whose signal voltage changes as it gets wet.

Description:

This device detects the amount of moisture present in soil.

Soil Moisture Sensor || TinkerCAD Circuits Input Component

How It Works:

This soil moisture sensor measures the resistance between the two probes stuck into soil, which will decrease when more moisture is present.

Connect It:

This device has three connection pads labeled VCC, GND, and SIG. Power the device by connecting the VCC pin to the Arduino 5V terminal (or any analog or digital terminal set to HIGH) and Ground (GND) to any GND terminal on an Arduino. The Signal pin is connected to any analog input on the Arduino.

How It Is Used:

Click the device during simulation to highlight it, then click and drag the wiper to change the simulated resistance.

How It Is Used: Soil Moisture Sensor

Get Started:

Drag the starter circuit below into your design for a working example of how to use this part.

Get Started: Soil Moisture Sensor

More About Soil Moisture Sensor:

To add a Soil Moisture Sensor in Tinkercad, search for "Soil Moisture Sensor" in the component library, drag it onto your breadboard, and connect its terminals with wires to other components in your circuit. You can then click on the Soil Moisture Sensor to set its name for easy identification. 

Soil moisture sensors primarily fall into two categories: Volumetric Water Content (VWC) sensors and Soil Water Potential (Tension) sensors. VWC sensors, which measure the actual percentage of water by volume (m3/m3 or percent), include Capacitance (Frequency Domain Reflectometry - FDR), Time-Domain Reflectometry (TDR), and Resistive types. Capacitance and Resistive sensors, common in hobbyist and low-cost applications, typically operate on a Power Rating of 3.3V to 5V DC and draw a small Operating Current around 15 mA; they often provide an Analog Output in a 0V to 5V range, mapped to an arbitrary unit (e.g., 0 to 1023), or a 0% to 100% VWC. Tension sensors, such as Tensiometers and Granular Matrix Sensors, measure the force required for a plant to extract water, with the reading expressed in units of pressure like centibars (cb) or kilopascals (kPa), with a typical Working Range from 0 to 200 cb for commercial systems. The more accurate and stable research-grade TDR/FDR sensors are often more expensive, have complex digital interfaces like RS-485/SDI-12, and boast VWC accuracy of ±1% to 3%.

Website Title: UMN Extension

Website Page URL: https://extension.umn.edu/irrigation/soil-moisture-sensors-irrigation-scheduling 

URL recommended for (Reason): Excellent, academically focused overview of sensor types (Capacitance, TDR, Tensiometer) and their application in agricultural irrigation scheduling, including advantages and considerations for each type.


Website Title: Seeed Studio Blog

Website Page URL: https://www.seeedstudio.com/blog/2020/01/10/what-is-soil-moisture-sensor-and-simple-arduino-tutorial-to-get-started/ 

URL recommended for (Reason): A solid introduction to resistive vs. capacitive sensor principles, their respective drawbacks (corrosion), and a step-by-step Arduino tutorial for the capacitive type.


Website Title: Instructables

Website Page URL: https://www.instructables.com/Complete-Guide-to-Use-Soil-Moisture-Sensor-W-Pract/ 

URL recommended for (Reason): A complete beginner's guide on interfacing a common resistive soil moisture module with Arduino, including pinout explanations, wiring diagrams, and sample code.


Website Title: SparkFun Learn

Website Page URL: https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/soil-moisture-sensor-hookup-guide/all 

URL recommended for (Reason): Provides a detailed hookup guide for capacitive sensors, including important recommendations on only powering the sensor when reading it to prevent long-term corrosion.

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TinkerCAD Circuits Platform related Interesting Links:

TinkerCAD Circuits Reference Handbook eBook: About Page 

Quickly Master Electronics with the TinkerCAD Circuits Reference Handbook 


…till next post, bye-bye & take care.

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