Welcome to this interesting series of sensors. Today, I will explain Raindrop sensor.
🍁What is a Raindrop 🌧sensor?
The raindrop sensor is used to detect rain. It is also used to determine the severity of rainfall.
🍁What's the working funda of Raindrop sensor
Raindrop sensor is nothing more than a board with nickel lines on it. It is based on the resistance concept.
When a moisture threshold is surpassed, the Rain Sensor module detects moisture through analogue output pins and outputs a digital signal.
The LM393 operational amplifier is at the heart💖of the module. It comprises of a printed circuit board and an electronics module that collect raindrops. Raindrops🌧 collect on the circuit board and create parallel resistance paths, which the op amp detects.
When the sensor is wet, it has a lower resistance and when it is dry, it has a larger resistance. When there are no raindrops on board, the resistance rises, producing in a high voltage, as V=IR predicts. Raindrops reduce resistance because water is an electrical conductor, and the presence of water connects nickel lines in parallel, lowering resistance and voltage drop.
🍁How a Raindrop sensor looks like?
🍁Pin Description of Raindrop sensor
- Vcc ->+5 Volts Power Source
- GND -> Ground or negative power source
- D0 -> Digital Output. Goes low when moisture exceeds set threshold.
- A0 -> Analog Output – Zero to five volts. The lower the voltage, the greater the moisture
🍁Interfacing of Raindrop sensor with Arduino
🍁Source Code
#define rainAnalog A0
#define rainDigital 2
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(rainDigital,INPUT);
}
void loop() {
int rainAnalogVal = analogRead(rainAnalog);
int rainDigitalVal = digitalRead(rainDigital);
Serial.print(rainAnalogVal);
Serial.print("\t");
Serial.println(rainDigitalVal);
delay(200);
}
🍁Applications of Raindrop sensor
- Used as a water-saving device, and it is connected to the irrigation system to turn it off when it rains.
- It helps the usual windshield wiper mode as well as protect the interior of the car from rain.
- It is used in specialized satellite communications aerials to activate a rain blower above the aerial feed entry to remove water droplets from the mylar wrap and keep the waveguides pressurized and dry.
Stay tuned to this series of sensors to gain knowledge of next sensor .. [Sound Sensor].