BS2 and Plant Perception (Backster Effect)
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Posts: 46,084
I read almost every post that comes through, and I appreciate all the
great information that everyone shares on this forum. That is the
reason I am working with the BASIC Stamp and not another
microcontroller.
My question is really off-the-wall, but has some utility in it (at
least to me): has anyone interfaced a BS2 and associated circuitry to
a living plant? For instance, I would be interested in learning how
someone (Dr. Tracy Allen?) may recommend connecting various
electronic circuitry to a plant (say, shrub or potted plant) to
monitor various physical parameters including water uptake,
transpiration, etc. I know EME Systems offers leaf wetness sensors,
and this may be a place to start.
The off-the-wall part is: any ideas on how to proceed with connecting
a polygraph to said plant for monitoring purposes? Any plant
physiologists out there with interfacing ideas?
Thanks for any comments.
-George Sutton
great information that everyone shares on this forum. That is the
reason I am working with the BASIC Stamp and not another
microcontroller.
My question is really off-the-wall, but has some utility in it (at
least to me): has anyone interfaced a BS2 and associated circuitry to
a living plant? For instance, I would be interested in learning how
someone (Dr. Tracy Allen?) may recommend connecting various
electronic circuitry to a plant (say, shrub or potted plant) to
monitor various physical parameters including water uptake,
transpiration, etc. I know EME Systems offers leaf wetness sensors,
and this may be a place to start.
The off-the-wall part is: any ideas on how to proceed with connecting
a polygraph to said plant for monitoring purposes? Any plant
physiologists out there with interfacing ideas?
Thanks for any comments.
-George Sutton
Comments
Just a thought...if you wanted to you could use various mostiure
sensors integrated into the plant itself or on the plant. I spaced
correctly and with enough of them you could monitor different parts
of the plant to account for any "spot effects". I you used sensors
that restrict the voltage dependent on moisture present or something
like that those readings could be integrated as variables. Those
variables could then be put into if...then statements that could
respond in the desired fashion. Once again it's just a
thought...feel free to tell me if I'm full of balogna.
Chris P.
I setup and operate TDR systems for measuring volumetric water content for
my employer. It is very expensive, but incredibly accurate. Try this site
to get you started, and look under the tdr link.
http://www.sowacs.com
Hope this helps,
-Steve
At 02:28 AM 3/20/03 +0000, you wrote:
>I read almost every post that comes through, and I appreciate all the
>great information that everyone shares on this forum. That is the
>reason I am working with the BASIC Stamp and not another
>microcontroller.
>
>My question is really off-the-wall, but has some utility in it (at
>least to me): has anyone interfaced a BS2 and associated circuitry to
>a living plant? For instance, I would be interested in learning how
>someone (Dr. Tracy Allen?) may recommend connecting various
>electronic circuitry to a plant (say, shrub or potted plant) to
>monitor various physical parameters including water uptake,
>transpiration, etc. I know EME Systems offers leaf wetness sensors,
>and this may be a place to start.
>
>The off-the-wall part is: any ideas on how to proceed with connecting
>a polygraph to said plant for monitoring purposes? Any plant
>physiologists out there with interfacing ideas?
>
>Thanks for any comments.
>
>-George Sutton
>
>
>To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
>Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Thanks for the information. Chris, your ideas are not anymore
bologna than mine are! I appreciate the response. I will
incorporate some of your ideas into my plan...
Steve, I am a little familiar with TDR, especially as it is applied
to mudslides and landslide monitoring. I know William Kane and am
familiar with his work. BTW, your firm's website is very
informative, and I will look it over. Any personal ideas about using
a BS2 with TDR, and is it even possible??
Thanks for the replies, both of you.
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, sargent@s... wrote:
> Hi George,
>
> I setup and operate TDR systems for measuring volumetric water
content for
> my employer. It is very expensive, but incredibly accurate. Try
this site
> to get you started, and look under the tdr link.
>
> http://www.sowacs.com
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> -Steve
>
>
>
>
> At 02:28 AM 3/20/03 +0000, you wrote:
> >I read almost every post that comes through, and I appreciate all
the
> >great information that everyone shares on this forum. That is the
> >reason I am working with the BASIC Stamp and not another
> >microcontroller.
> >
> >My question is really off-the-wall, but has some utility in it (at
> >least to me): has anyone interfaced a BS2 and associated circuitry
to
> >a living plant? For instance, I would be interested in learning
how
> >someone (Dr. Tracy Allen?) may recommend connecting various
> >electronic circuitry to a plant (say, shrub or potted plant) to
> >monitor various physical parameters including water uptake,
> >transpiration, etc. I know EME Systems offers leaf wetness
sensors,
> >and this may be a place to start.
> >
> >The off-the-wall part is: any ideas on how to proceed with
connecting
> >a polygraph to said plant for monitoring purposes? Any plant
> >physiologists out there with interfacing ideas?
> >
> >Thanks for any comments.
> >
> >-George Sutton
> >
> >
> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the
Subject and
> >Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
> >
> >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
I'm not affiliated with the Sowacs web site. Sowacs is one of the more
informative site's for sensors related to agriculture. I'd bet Tracy Allen
will respond when he gets a chance, he's a pro at this stuff. There are a
couple of relatively low cost TDR sensors designed for measuring water
content. One that I'm familiar with and is pretty easy to interface to a
Stamp is the CS615 from Campbell Scientific. Unfortunately this model is
being phased out, and replaced with the CS616 model, which could be
interfaced to a Stamp but will take a little more work. These sensors run
about $200 each.
http://www.campbellsci.com/soilvol.html
A cheaper approach would be a Watermark sensor, which Tracy Allan has
generously supplied some great info on is located here
http://www.emesystems.com/OL2mhos.htm
Hope this helps,
Steve
> Hi George,
>
> I setup and operate TDR systems for measuring volumetric water
content for
> my employer. It is very expensive, but incredibly accurate. Try
this site
> to get you started, and look under the tdr link.
>
> http://www.sowacs.com
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> -Steve
>
>
>
>
> At 02:28 AM 3/20/03 +0000, you wrote:
> >I read almost every post that comes through, and I appreciate all
the
> >great information that everyone shares on this forum. That is the
> >reason I am working with the BASIC Stamp and not another
> >microcontroller.
> >
> >My question is really off-the-wall, but has some utility in it (at
> >least to me): has anyone interfaced a BS2 and associated circuitry
to
> >a living plant? For instance, I would be interested in learning
how
> >someone (Dr. Tracy Allen?) may recommend connecting various
> >electronic circuitry to a plant (say, shrub or potted plant) to
> >monitor various physical parameters including water uptake,
> >transpiration, etc. I know EME Systems offers leaf wetness
sensors,
> >and this may be a place to start.
> >
> >The off-the-wall part is: any ideas on how to proceed with
connecting
> >a polygraph to said plant for monitoring purposes? Any plant
> >physiologists out there with interfacing ideas?
> >
> >Thanks for any comments.
> >
> >-George Sutton
> >
> >
> >To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the
Subject and
> >Body of the message will be ignored.
> >
> >
> >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Steve,
On further thought, I doubt the BS2 would have the speed to interface
to and generate a TDR signal. What do you think? From what little I
know, TDR requires something on the order of a 200uSec sending and
even less detection time.
Mekkatronix
Yes, your right about the speed. I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, I have a
bad habit of sending half worked out thoughts.
The CS615 and CS616 are TDR water content probes, with the high speed
circuitry built into the probe. The downside is the accuracy of these self
contained probes. Typically +/- 3 % VWC.
The upside is low cost, no maintenance required (bury it and forget it) and
the probe has an output that can be interfaced to the Stamp fairly easily.
Both probes output a varying frequency in relation to water content.
The CS615 output is a +/- 2.5 vdc square wave in the range of 700 Hz to
1500 Hz.
The CS616 output is +/- 0.7 vdc and the period ranges from 16 to 32
microseconds, quite a bit faster. This probe would require a comparator or
something similar to shift the 0.7 vdc to something the Stamp pin would
recognize, with 1.5 vdc usually being the minimum.
If you then run the probe input into the stamp pin via say a 22 K ohm
resistor, this will allow the Stamps internal protection diodes to safely
remove the negative side of the signal and then finally use the count command.
Hope this doesn't muddy the water anymore,
Steve
>Steve,
>
>On further thought, I doubt the BS2 would have the speed to interface
>to and generate a TDR signal. What do you think? From what little I
>know, TDR requires something on the order of a 200uSec sending and
>even less detection time.
>
>Mekkatronix
Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your comments. If you have
additional information or ideas that could help me interface BS2 to
TDR applications, please feel free to contact me off-list at
mekkatronix@y....
Sincerely,
George
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, sargent@s... wrote:
> George,
>
> Yes, your right about the speed. I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, I
have a
> bad habit of sending half worked out thoughts.
>
> The CS615 and CS616 are TDR water content probes, with the high
speed
> circuitry built into the probe. The downside is the accuracy of
these self
> contained probes. Typically +/- 3 % VWC.
>
> The upside is low cost, no maintenance required (bury it and forget
it) and
> the probe has an output that can be interfaced to the Stamp fairly
easily.
>
> Both probes output a varying frequency in relation to water content.
>
> The CS615 output is a +/- 2.5 vdc square wave in the range of 700
Hz to
> 1500 Hz.
>
> The CS616 output is +/- 0.7 vdc and the period ranges from 16 to 32
> microseconds, quite a bit faster. This probe would require a
comparator or
> something similar to shift the 0.7 vdc to something the Stamp pin
would
> recognize, with 1.5 vdc usually being the minimum.
>
> If you then run the probe input into the stamp pin via say a 22 K
ohm
> resistor, this will allow the Stamps internal protection diodes to
safely
> remove the negative side of the signal and then finally use the
count command.
>
> Hope this doesn't muddy the water anymore,
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> >Steve,
> >
> >On further thought, I doubt the BS2 would have the speed to
interface
> >to and generate a TDR signal. What do you think? From what
little I
> >know, TDR requires something on the order of a 200uSec sending and
> >even less detection time.
> >
> >Mekkatronix
Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your comments. If you have
additional information or ideas that could help me interface BS2 to
TDR applications, please feel free to contact me off-list at
mekkatronix@y....
Sincerely,
George
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, sargent@s... wrote:
> George,
>
> Yes, your right about the speed. I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, I
have a
> bad habit of sending half worked out thoughts.
>
> The CS615 and CS616 are TDR water content probes, with the high
speed
> circuitry built into the probe. The downside is the accuracy of
these self
> contained probes. Typically +/- 3 % VWC.
>
> The upside is low cost, no maintenance required (bury it and forget
it) and
> the probe has an output that can be interfaced to the Stamp fairly
easily.
>
> Both probes output a varying frequency in relation to water content.
>
> The CS615 output is a +/- 2.5 vdc square wave in the range of 700
Hz to
> 1500 Hz.
>
> The CS616 output is +/- 0.7 vdc and the period ranges from 16 to 32
> microseconds, quite a bit faster. This probe would require a
comparator or
> something similar to shift the 0.7 vdc to something the Stamp pin
would
> recognize, with 1.5 vdc usually being the minimum.
>
> If you then run the probe input into the stamp pin via say a 22 K
ohm
> resistor, this will allow the Stamps internal protection diodes to
safely
> remove the negative side of the signal and then finally use the
count command.
>
> Hope this doesn't muddy the water anymore,
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> >Steve,
> >
> >On further thought, I doubt the BS2 would have the speed to
interface
> >to and generate a TDR signal. What do you think? From what
little I
> >know, TDR requires something on the order of a 200uSec sending and
> >even less detection time.
> >
> >Mekkatronix
Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your comments. If you have
additional information or ideas that could help me interface BS2 to
TDR applications, please feel free to contact me off-list at
mekkatronix@y....
Sincerely,
George
--- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, sargent@s... wrote:
> George,
>
> Yes, your right about the speed. I'm sorry I wasn't very clear, I
have a
> bad habit of sending half worked out thoughts.
>
> The CS615 and CS616 are TDR water content probes, with the high
speed
> circuitry built into the probe. The downside is the accuracy of
these self
> contained probes. Typically +/- 3 % VWC.
>
> The upside is low cost, no maintenance required (bury it and forget
it) and
> the probe has an output that can be interfaced to the Stamp fairly
easily.
>
> Both probes output a varying frequency in relation to water content.
>
> The CS615 output is a +/- 2.5 vdc square wave in the range of 700
Hz to
> 1500 Hz.
>
> The CS616 output is +/- 0.7 vdc and the period ranges from 16 to 32
> microseconds, quite a bit faster. This probe would require a
comparator or
> something similar to shift the 0.7 vdc to something the Stamp pin
would
> recognize, with 1.5 vdc usually being the minimum.
>
> If you then run the probe input into the stamp pin via say a 22 K
ohm
> resistor, this will allow the Stamps internal protection diodes to
safely
> remove the negative side of the signal and then finally use the
count command.
>
> Hope this doesn't muddy the water anymore,
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
> >Steve,
> >
> >On further thought, I doubt the BS2 would have the speed to
interface
> >to and generate a TDR signal. What do you think? From what
little I
> >know, TDR requires something on the order of a 200uSec sending and
> >even less detection time.
> >
> >Mekkatronix