Rain gauge
Contents
3-D Printed Rainfall Gauge
This section shows the journey for making our 3D print rain gauge!
Design journey
We didn't start from scratch - we work on Suromark's version (referred as original design in the following) and we did some changes to that:
First, we noticed that the tipping bucket can get stuck to the pivot if operated overnight, so we changed the flipper with 0.6 mm clearance. Secondly, we noticed that not all of the water in the bucket can escape when tipping. We compared with the standard tipping bucket rain gauge design, and we added a sharp edge and make some "swale" in the bucket to help divert water when tipping:
Tipping bucket original design
Tipping bucket new design
Thirdly, we found water can be soaked into the tipping bucket during long-time operation so we changed the 3D print from 30% infill to 100% infill;
In the end, we found that the tipping volume can change from time to time. We found during the overnight operation, a small amount of water from splashing or dripping can stay on the rain gauge base, which probably increases the friction between the base and bucket, therefore influencing the tipping volume. In that case, we changed the base design - to make water can easily escape so the tipping volume is consistent.
Original base design
New base design
Application
| Rain gauge tipping volume(ml) | Feb 16 3pm | Feb 17 11am | overnight difference (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2 |
| R2 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2 |
| R3 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 9 |
| R4 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 7 |
| R5 | 3 | 3 | -1 |
| R6 | 3 | 2.9 | 2 |
We have used these rain gauges in Xixi Shi's lab-wetlands to monitor the outflow rate:
Wetland with Rain gauge
RTM wetland outflow rate
3D print file:
Files.... Thanks Stephen for editing the files!
Nano Board code:
File:Nano Rainguage Sender.ino Thanks Luke(Baiqian) Shi for the coding :)
