Desenvolvimento de uma bancada eletrônica para obtenção da condutividade hidráulica do solo

Abstract

Soil hydraulic conductivity is an important parameter for studies involving water dynamics in the soil, as it expresses the amount of water that is moved through it, being essential for crop production and management, and environmental preservation. The determination of conductivity can be carried out in the laboratory, with a higher degree of control over the variables that influence the measurement, or in the field, with immediate but less precise results. Among laboratory equipment, the constant head permeameter is widely used for its ease in obtaining the data necessary for coefficient calculation. However, the process is costly for the researcher due to the time spent analyzing each sample. In this context, this work seeks to mitigate the problems encountered through the use of low-cost sensors, through the open-source hardware platform Arduino. Low-cost sensors can be easily found in the Brazilian market, with extensive documentation to aid in their programming. In this work, we will use the HX711 weight sensor together with the Arduino Mega prototyping board and the MicroSD memory card reader. In this way, the necessary information will be obtained, reducing the expenses generated in future research.