Arduino Water Flow Sensor Code
The complete water flow sensor Arduino code is given at the
bottom of the page. The explanation of the code is as follows.
We are using the header file of the LCD, which eases our
interfacing the LCD with Arduino, and the pins 12,11,5,4,3,9 are
allotted for data transfer between LCD and Arduino. The sensor's
output pin is connected to pin 2 of Arduino UNO.
volatile int flow_frequency; // Measures flow sensor pulses
// Calculated litres/hour
float vol = 0.0,l_minute;
unsigned char flowsensor = 2; // Sensor Input
unsigned long currentTime;
unsigned long cloopTime;
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 9);
This function is an interrupt service routine and this will be called
whenever there is an interrupt signal at pin2 of Arduino UNO. For
every interrupt signal, the count of the variable flow_frequency will
be increased by 1. For more details on the interrupts and their
working, you can read this article on Arduino interrupts.
void flow () // Interrupt function
flow_frequency++;
}
In the void setup, we tell the MCU that the pin 2 of the Arduino
UNO is used as INPUT by giving command pinMode(pin,
OUTPUT). By using attachInterrupt command, whenever there is
a rise in the signal at pin 2, the flow function is called. This
increases the count in the variable flow_frequency by 1. The
current time and cloopTime are used for the code to run in every
1 second.
void setup()
pinMode(flowsensor, INPUT);
digitalWrite(flowsensor, HIGH);
Serial.begin(9600);
lcd.begin(16, 2);
attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(flowsensor), flow, RISING); // Setup
Interrupt
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Water Flow Meter");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("Circuit Digest");
currentTime = millis();
cloopTime = currentTime;
The if function ensures that for every one second the code inside
it runs. In this way, we can count the number of frequencies
produces by the water flow sensor per second. The flow rate
pulse characteristics from the datasheet are given that frequency
is 7.5 multiplied by flow rate. So the flow rate is frequency / 7.5.
After finding flow rate which is in liters/minute, divide it by 60 to
convert it into liter/sec. This value is added to the vol variable for
every one second.
void loop ()
currentTime = millis();
// Every second, calculate and print litres/hour
if(currentTime >= (cloopTime + 1000))
cloopTime = currentTime; // Updates cloopTime
if(flow_frequency != 0){
// Pulse frequency (Hz) = 7.5Q, Q is flow rate in L/min.
l_minute = (flow_frequency / 7.5); // (Pulse frequency x 60 min) / 7.5Q =
flowrate in L/hour
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Rate: ");
lcd.print(l_minute);
lcd.print(" L/M");
l_minute = l_minute/60;
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
vol = vol +l_minute;
lcd.print("Vol:");
lcd.print(vol);
lcd.print(" L");
flow_frequency = 0; // Reset Counter
Serial.print(l_minute, DEC); // Print litres/hour
Serial.println(" L/Sec");
The else function works when there is no output from the water
flow sensor within the given time span.
else {
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Rate: ");
lcd.print( flow_frequency );
lcd.print(" L/M");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("Vol:");
lcd.print(vol);
lcd.print(" L");
Source Code:
/*
YF‐ S201 Water Flow Sensor
Water Flow Sensor output processed to read in litres/hour
Adaptation Courtesy: hobbytronics.co.uk
*/
volatile int flow_frequency; // Measures flow sensor pulses
// Calculated litres/hour
float vol = 0.0,l_minute;
unsigned char flowsensor = 2; // Sensor Input
unsigned long currentTime;
unsigned long cloopTime;
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 9);
void flow () // Interrupt function
{
flow_frequency++;
}
void setup()
{
pinMode(flowsensor, INPUT);
digitalWrite(flowsensor, HIGH); // Optional Internal Pull-Up
Serial.begin(9600);
lcd.begin(16, 2);
attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(flowsensor), flow, RISING); // Setup Interrupt
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Water Flow Meter");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("Circuit Digest");
currentTime = millis();
cloopTime = currentTime;
}
void loop ()
{
currentTime = millis();
// Every second, calculate and print litres/hour
if(currentTime >= (cloopTime + 1000))
{
cloopTime = currentTime; // Updates cloopTime
if(flow_frequency != 0){
// Pulse frequency (Hz) = 7.5Q, Q is flow rate in L/min.
l_minute = (flow_frequency / 7.5); // (Pulse frequency x 60 min) / 7.5Q = flowrate in
L/hour
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Rate: ");
lcd.print(l_minute);
lcd.print(" L/M");
l_minute = l_minute/60;
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
vol = vol +l_minute;
lcd.print("Vol:");
lcd.print(vol);
lcd.print(" L");
flow_frequency = 0; // Reset Counter
Serial.print(l_minute, DEC); // Print litres/hour
Serial.println(" L/Sec");
}
else {
Serial.println(" flow rate = 0 ");
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Rate: ");
lcd.print( flow_frequency );
lcd.print(" L/M");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("Vol:");
lcd.print(vol);
lcd.print(" L");
}
}
}
