SparkFun gator:soil Hookup Guide
Englandsaurus Introduction
Do you have a science experiment involving plant growth?
The gator:soil is the perfect tool to monitor the moisture content of the soil of your test subjects. This tutorial will show you how to get started using this soil moisture sensor with the gator:bit (v2) in the micro:bit development environment.
Required Materials
To get started, you'll need a micro:bit to control everything. Each of the products below includes a micro:bit, but the kit and bundle also include some additional accessories that you may want as well.
To easily use the gator board ecosystem, a gator:bit (v2) will help breakout the necessary pins and you will also need alligator and/or banana cables to connect the gator:bit to the gator:soil.
(*These banana cables have a special diameter on the attachment points designed specifically for use with the micro:bit ecosystem. They may or may not be compatible with the banana cables used on your test equipment.)
You may already have some of these materials, so feel free to modify your cart as necessary.
Suggested Reading
There isn't much learning required to use the gator:soil (moisture sensor). However, you may find the following concepts useful along the way.
Voltage, Current, Resistance, and Ohm's Law
Analog to Digital Conversion
Soil Moisture Sensor Hookup Guide
micro:climate Kit Experiment Guide
If you aren't familiar with the micro:bit, we recommend reading here for an overview.
We would also recommend taking a look at the following tutorials if you aren't familiar with them.