US 2021/0239641 A1 · SOIL MOISTURE SENSOR AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF

Abstract

Disclosed herein are a soil moisture sensor and an operating method thereof. The soil moisture sensor includes: a first probe including a pair of first electrodes extending in a first direction; a first resonance circuit connected to the pair of first electrodes of the first probe through a pair of first ports, and configured such that a first AC signal is applied thereto; a second resonance circuit having the same impedance as the first resonance circuit, and configured such that a second AC signal having the same characteristics as the first AC signal while being a reference AC signal is applied thereto; and a determination circuit configured to receive a first electrical signal and a second electrical signal and to determine the moisture in the soil based on the first resonant frequency of the first electrical signal and the second resonant frequency of the second electrical signal.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A soil moisture sensor comprising:

a first probe including a pair of first electrodes extending in a first direction in order to penetrate into a soil;
a first resonance circuit connected to the pair of first electrodes of the first probe through a pair of first ports, and configured such that a first alternating current (AC) signal is applied thereto;
a second resonance circuit having a same impedance as the first resonance circuit, and configured such that a second AC signal having same characteristics as the first AC signal while being a reference AC signal is applied thereto;
and
a determination circuit configured to:
receive a first electrical signal formed in the first resonance circuit;
receive a second electrical signal formed in the second resonance circuit;
and
generate a first determination value for moisture in the soil based on a first resonant frequency of the first electrical signal and a second resonant frequency of the second electrical signal.

6 more elements

A soil moisture sensing method comprising:

applying, by a first oscillator, a first alternating current (AC) signal via a first resonance circuit that is connected to a pair of first electrodes of a first probe including the pair of first electrodes extending in a first direction in order to penetrate into the soil through a pair of first ports;
applying, by a second oscillator having same characteristics as the first oscillator, a second AC signal, which is a reference AC signal, to a second resonance circuit having a same impedance as the first resonance circuit;
receiving, by a determination circuit, a first electrical signal formed in the first probe and the first resonance circuit under an influence of the first AC signal;
receiving, by the determination circuit, a second electrical signal formed in the second resonance circuit under an influence of the second AC signal applied to the second resonance circuit;
and
generating, by the determination circuit, a first determination value for moisture contained in a soil located between the pair of first electrodes of the first probe based on a first resonant frequency of the first electrical signal and a second resonant frequency of the second electrical signal.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Soil moisture sensor and operating method thereof

Life of this patent

Soil moisture sensor and operating method thereof

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims13