Farm automation

The origin: level control and pump switching with Arduino

Arduino
C
Electronics
Soldering

problem

On a farm, monitoring and switching a water pump by hand is constant, error-prone work — too little water for the cattle, or a pump burned out running dry.

solution

An Arduino circuit with level sensors and a switching relay, designed and soldered at the workbench, that turns the pump on and off on its own by reservoir level.

result

It went into production at Fazenda Rio da Prata and runs unattended. It was the first code of mine the physical world obeyed.

learning

Hardware doesn't forgive: a swapped wire doesn't throw an exception, it releases smoke. That teaches you to test before you power on.