Maker Faire Rome 2023

EUREKA! : "Datemi un filo immerso in un liquido, dall'alto verso il basso, e vi indicherò il livello"

The peculiarity of this project is that it allows the measurement of the water level in all those sectors where industrial-type measuring devices are unacceptable both for the costs and for the skills required for implementation. This level measuring device uses a common insulated conductor immersed in water as a measurement probe. It consists of two parts: measuring probe with measuring electronics and microprocessor control unit. The two parts are connected via a non-polarized two-wire connection in order to simplify installation operations. The probe, of the capacitive type, consists of a simple insulated conductor wire, and can be made at a low cost and can be easily adapted by the user to his needs. The measuring range of the device goes from a few tens of centimeters to several meters without requiring particular additional components or specific components for the type of application. The measuring unit based on a microcontroller receives a digital current signal from the measuring probe and according to the settings made in the "user calibration" phase for the "empty" level and the "full" level, displays the value on a display of the level measurement in the range 0...100 %. The microprocessor also controls an output relay in correspondence with two level thresholds (low level setpoint and high level setpoint) freely settable by the user in the range 0…100% through a simple programming procedure. In the programming phase it is possible to choose whether the energized relay state must correspond to a level below the low level threshold or to a level above the high level threshold. In this way it is possible to operate an external device, always in safe conditions. The measurement has an accuracy better than 6% and is characterized by high reliability because there are no metal parts in contact with water or moving parts.