Hello,
I am looking into purchasing your Ping2D sensor for an art project and I’d like to sense check my plan before dropping $400
I am doing a residency in Eastport, Maine where the tidal range is ~18metres!! My aim is to have a float/buoy anchored just off the pier that will house the Ping in conjunction with an Arduino and wifi module. This will send the depth values to me in my studio (across the road) where I will have a separate device reacting/moving with a DC motor.
I have used tidal charts and API keys before in my work and so for this project it is important that I am gathering the data first hand. I want to confirm however that the Ping is the right thing for the job and that there is a library in place that can ‘easily’ send the depth values over serial…
Suggestions / advice is welcome, please and thank you!
***Also if there is a specific solar power device anyone has used with this device before?
The Ping2 can typically detect sonar echos in the range of ~0.3m to 100m. Assuming your minimum and maximum tide heights are within that range at your float location then it should likely work well.
Since you’re planning to have an anchor, an alternative solution could be to have a pressure sensor like the Bar100[1] located at the anchor in a cable splice kit (or small enclosure), with a tethered connection to your wifi module on the float, in which case you could estimate the depth by the pressure instead of by echolocation. There are some different trade-offs with each approach.
