Soil moisture sensor with parallel plate capacitance
AssigneeHomedigy Inc.
InventorsJonathan Beck, Kenneth Ng, Lawrence Ying
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A soil moisture sensor includes a power source, a parallel plate capacitance sensing element, and an electronics unit. The parallel plate capacitance sensing element is powered by the power source and is adapted for ground insertion to generate and transmit capacitance data. The electronics unit is powered by the power source to: receive the capacitance data transmitted from the parallel plate capacitance sensing element; process the received capacitance data; and communicate the processed capacitance data off sensor.
Claims22
A soil moisture sensor, comprising:
- a power source;
- a parallel plate capacitance sensing element powered by the power source and adapted for ground insertion to generate and transmit capacitance data;
- and
- an electronics unit powered by the power source to:
- receive the capacitance data transmitted from the parallel plate capacitance sensing element;
- process the received capacitance data;
- and
- communicate the processed capacitance data off sensor.
A method for monitoring soil moisture, comprising:
- disposing a soil moisture sensor in the ground, the soil moisture sensor comprising a parallel plate capacitance sensing element including a parallel plate capacitor;
- cyclically charging and discharging the parallel plate capacitor of the parallel plate capacitance sensing element;
- determining the soil moisture from the capacitance characteristics of the parallel plate capacitor as the parallel plate capacitor is cyclically charged and discharged;
- and
- transmitting the determined soil moisture off sensor.
A system for monitoring soil moisture in a preselected area, the system comprising:
- a plurality of soil moisture sensors disposed in the ground in the preselected area, each of the soil moisture sensors further comprising:
- a power source;
- a parallel plate capacitance sensing element powered by the power source and adapted for ground insertion to generate and transmit capacitance data from a plurality of depths at the respective location of the soil moisture sensor;
- and
- an electronics unit powered by the power source to:
- receive the capacitance data transmitted from the parallel plate capacitance sensing element;
- process the received capacitance data;
- and
- communicate the processed capacitance data off sensor;
- a communications system over which each soil moisture sensor transmits the respective soil moisture data;
- and
- a remote computing system receiving the transmitted soil moisture data over the communications system and monitoring the soil moisture condition of the preselected area.
A method for monitoring soil moisture, comprising:
- disposing a plurality of soil moisture sensors in the ground in a preselected area, each of the soil moisture sensor comprising a parallel plate capacitance sensing element including a plurality of parallel plate capacitors disposed as different depths in the soil;
- cyclically charging and discharging the parallel plate capacitors of the parallel plate capacitance sensing elements;
- determining the soil moisture from the capacitance characteristics of the parallel plate capacitors as the parallel plate capacitors are cyclically charged and discharged;
- and
- transmitting the determined soil moisture off sensor over a communications system to a remote computing system for monitoring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.