RADIO-MEASURING SOIL MOISTURE CONVERTER BASED ON PRIMARY SENSOR YL-69

Abstract

Soil moisture monitoring in agriculture is becoming an integral part of ensuring optimal conditions for plant growth and achieving high yields, as well as an important environmental aspect for preserving natural resources and ecosystems. The increasing popularity of wireless sensor networks for measuring soil moisture underscores the need for the development of modern technologies in this field. This enables a continuous flow of real-time data on soil conditions, which is crucial for effective agricultural management and ecological balance. The paper presents the development of a radio-based soil moisture transducer with a moisture-sensitive resistive element based on a transistor structure with negative resistance. The YL-69 resistive sensor was utilized as the primary soil moisture sensor. An analytical expression for the conversion function of the radio-based soil moisture transducer is determined. Computer simulation of the transducer's operation was conducted in the OrCAD environment, resulting in a family of current-voltage characteristics for the investigated radio-based transducer. A region with negative differential resistance is observed on the current-voltage characteristics. An experimental conversion function of the radio-based soil moisture transducer based on the YL-69 primary sensor was obtained. From the conversion function, it is evident that as soil moisture increases in the range from 0% to 50%, the frequency of the output signal of the radio-based soil moisture transducer decreases from 680 kHz to 452 kHz. The highest sensitivity value of the radio-based soil moisture transducer is achieved in the soil moisture measurement range from 20% to 45% and is 8.7 kHz/%. The operation of radio-based soil moisture transducers is based on the functional dependence of semiconductor device impedance on soil moisture, which opens up wide prospects for improving agricultural technologies and preserving the environment. This transducer can be used for measuring soil moisture in agriculture, which can be utilized to create automatic systems for monitoring soil moisture and watering plants.