SUGISAKAMASANORI

Journal of Advances in Artificial Life Robotics
Vol. 1(1); June (2020), pp. 7–11
ON LINE ISSN 2435-8061; ISSN-L 2435-8061
https://alife-robotics.org/jallr.html

Research Article

A Device Design Based on TDS Water Quality Detection
Fengzhi Dai1,2, Jichao Zhao1

Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China
Tianjin Tianke Intelligent and Manufacture Technology CO., LTD, Chin

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ARTICLE INFO
Article History
Received 25 October 2019
Accepted 29 June 2020
Keywords
TDS
Real-time detection
Micro control system
GPS module

ABSTRACTThe traditional water quality detection method is sampling and detection by artificial nodes,
which is easily interfered by weather and environment. The presented design method is a newwater quality detection device for marine and other waters. The device is spherical in shape anduses a built-in sensor and control system to detect the water quality in the form of drifting. This
device has a built-in micro control system, TDS detection module, power voltage regulator
module, GPS module and wireless signal transmission module. The TDS module detects theconcentration of total dissolved matter in the water, and the GPS module measures the current
location of the device, which sends the data to the micro control system. The micro control systemsends the water quality information and the geographical location information through thewireless transmitting module, and the user can view the water quality status by the device in realtime through the Internet. The power supply voltage regulator module provides the different
voltages required by the entire device to achieve the function of detecting the current water quality.

© 2022 The Author. Published by Sugisaka Masanori at ALife Robotics Corporation Ltd
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

detection and treatment in general waters, pollutant
leakage detection in emergency and dangerous situations,etc. The application is very broad [2].
Water quality detection drift ball, a new water quality
detection device for ocean waters and other waters. This
device is spherical in shape, and has a built-in microcontrol system, TDS detection module, power supply
regulator module, GPS module and wireless signaltransmission module. The TDS module detects theconcentration of total dissolved substances in the water,
the GPS module measures the current position of thedevice, and both send data to the micro control system.

1. Introduction
Looking at the increasingly serious environmental
problems nowadays, the solution of water pollution isimminent. In order to solve these problems of pollution
investigation and treatment, we have produced a device
that integrates the detection function of pollutants, thetraceability function of pollution sources, and theemergency treatment function.
The device can collect water quality conditions in
multiple directions for calculation and analysis throughsensors at the same time, find the direction of thepollution source according to the principle of diffusion,
trace it back, find the source of the pollution, put specificmicrobial algae after scientific calculation, and treat thepollution by biological methods [1]. The biggest featureof this device is the combination of pollutant detection,
traceability, and treatment, and the biological treatment
method adopted greatly avoids the problem of secondary
pollution caused by water pollution in the expanded area.
It can be applied to many aspects such as pollution
Corresponding author’s E-mail: daifz@tust.edu.cn URL: www.tust.edu.cn

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The micro control system sends water quality
information and geographic location information to thenetwork through a wireless transmission module, andusers can view the water quality status of the water area
where the device is located in real time through theInternet. The power supply voltage stabilization module
provides different voltages required by the entire device
to implement the function of detecting the current waterquality. In the form of drifting, the water quality of thewater area is tested by built-in sensors and control
systems. The device is shown in Fig.1.

Fig.2. Arduino Mega2560

water, in milligrams per liter (mg/L). TDS mainly reflects
the concentration of ions in water, and has a goodcorresponding relationship with the hardness andconductivity of water. TDS is commonly used to measure
the concentration of pure water. When the TDS value issmaller, it means that the concentration of ions in thewater is lower, the conductivity is smaller, and the purityof purified water is higher.
In general, the TDS value of distilled water is zero. The
size of the TDS value can also be used to reflect theconcentration of harmful heavy metal ions in most water,
the number of bacteria in the water, the level of organic
matter, whether the nitrous acid concentration exceeds
the standard, and whether there are crop residues. TDS is
also an important indicator of domestic water
consumption, and the value of TDS directly reflects the
potable quality of water.
Adopt the analog TDS water quality detection sensor
module developed and produced by DFROBOT. It can
detect the TDS value of various water quality in real time,
as well as the chemical conductivity parameters ofchemical water quality liquid. The module adopts theTTL serial port form, and has a certain protocol for query,and then reads the sensor module data. It can be directly
connected to different development boards or serial ports,
and it can also be directly connected to the serial port ofthe microcontroller. It has the following characteristics:
Input voltage: DC 3.3-5.5V.
Output signal: DC 0-2.3V.
Working current: 3-6mA.
TDS measurement range: 0-1000ppm.
TDS measurement accuracy: ±10% F.S. (25 ° C).
Size: 42 * 32mm.
Module interface: PH2.0-3Pin.
Electrode interface: XH2.54-2Pin.

Fig.1. Image of the device

2. The hardware structure design
2.1. Arduino Mega2560
Arduino is an open-source electronic prototyping
platform enabling users to create interactive electronicobjects. The controller has a large number of network
exposed information and exposed instances, and is easy
to operate, so it has a large number of users and advocates.
ATmega2560 is a high-performance, low-power
Microchip 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller
combines 256KB ISP flash memory, 8KB SRAM, 4KB
EEPROM, 86 general purpose I/O lines, 32 general
purpose working registers, real time counter, six flexible
timer/counters with compare modes, PWM, 4 USARTs,
byte oriented 2-wire serial interface, 16-channel 10-bit
A/D converter, and a JTAG interface for on-chip
debugging. The device achieves a throughput of 16 MIPS
at 16 MHz and operates between 4.5-5.5 volts. The
Arduino Mega2560 is shown in Fig.2.
2.2. TDS Conductivity Sensor
The full name of TDS is Total Dissolved Solids, whichrefers to the concentration of total soluble substances in8The choice of the TDS Conductivity Sensor is shownin Fig.3.

The choice of the PH Sensor is shown in Fig.4.

Fig.4. pH sensor
Fig.3. TDS Conductivity Sensor

2.4. Positioning module
ATK1218-BD uses SkyTra's GPS and Beidou dual-mode
positioning module: S1216, external active antenna,
positioning within 30 seconds. This module not only
supports GPS positioning system, but also supports
Beidou navigation system. The module comes with aback battery, which can save ephemeris data [4]. It canbe powered on again within half an hour after power
failure, and can be repositioned in a few seconds. In termsof interface, it is connected to the outside through a
2.54mm pin with a pitch of 1*5Pin. It uses serial
communication, and the configuration data can be saved,
which is very convenient to use [5]. The choice of thePositioning module is shown in Fig.5.

2.3. pH sensor
The pH of water quality is an important indicator formeasuring whether the water quality meets drinking
water standards. The pH value of the water we want todrink in daily life should be between 6.5 and 8.5. The
standard of pH value is based on the standard of hydrogenions. If it is less than 7, it is significantly acidic, if it ismore than 7, it is alkaline. The standard of drinking water
is just neutral. However, the pH value does not change
the color of the water quality. We cannot observe anddistinguish directly with the naked eye, so we still need
to use a sensor to measure the PH value.
The pH of a soil is also one of the most importantcharacteristics for crop production. Agricultural soil
should have the pH from 4.5 to 7. For high soil pH, theincrease in waste water pH results in increase incombined pH of soil and waste water. Increased pH cause
natural precipitation. As discussed earlier, for better plant
growth the pH range required is from 5.5 to 7. So it isnecessary to determine the soil pH first based on which
the waste water need to be treated such that for aparticular soil, the pH optimized waste water will ensure
the suitable pH range of 5.5 to 7 for irrigation. By using
fully automated method or semi-automated method it ispossible to maintain the combined pH of waste water andsoil in the range of 5.5 to 7 [3]. The module we choose
has the following characteristics:
Heating voltage: DC 5±0.2V.
Working current: 5-10mA.
Detection concentration range: PH 0-14.
Detection temperature range: 0-80℃.
Response time: ≤5S.
Stability time: ≤60S.
Component power consumption: ≤0.5W.

Fig.5. Positioning module

92.5. GSM module

management loopholes and technical blind spots causedby divide and conquer are relatively reduced.

This module uses high-performance industrial-grade
GSM/GPRS quad-band SIM800C module, and theworking frequency band is GSM850/900/1800/
1900MHz [6]. Not only can realize telephone voice, SMS(short message, multimedia message), GPRS datatransmission functions, but also have DTMF decoding(can identify the other party's key), TTS (voicebroadcast) and Bluetooth. This module supports 3.3V
and 5V TTL serial ports, and supports 5V-18V working
voltage [7]. Along with 5G network coverage, themodule will also upgrade to support 5G networkconnectivity. The GSM/GPRS communication module isshown in Fig.6.

Acknowledgements
The research is partly supported by the Project of Tianjin
Enterprise Science and Technology Commissioner toTianjin Tianke Intelligent and Manufacture Technology
Co., Ltd (19JCTPJC53700). It is also supported by theIndustry-University Cooperation and Education Project(201802286009) from Ministry of Education, China.
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Fig.6. GSM/GPRS communication module

3. Conclusion
The device also has the function of fixed-pointmonitoring. Fixing the device in a certain water area,such as urban water source, can also play the role of realtime water quality monitoring. When a certain water
quality index occurs abnormal, the first time to informthe relevant part, effectively prevent the further
deterioration of water quality.
In the face of the current shortage of water resources
and the serious water pollution environment and living
conditions, most of the existing water pollution
monitoring devices in the market perform separate
detection and treatment [8]. This device integrates thedetection and treatment of pollution in water, caneffectively optimize the water quality for limited water
resources, take different treatment measures for different
pollution categories and pollution levels, andinnovatively add a traceability link In order to form achain structure for the governance of water pollution, the10

Authors Introduction

Mr. Jichao Zhao

Dr. Fengzhi Dai

He received an M.E. and Doctorof Engineering (PhD) from theBeijing Institute of Technology,
China in 1998 and Oita
University, Japan in 2004
respectively. His main researchinterests
areartificialintelligence, pattern recognition
and robotics. He worked inNationalInstituteofTechnology, Matsue College,
Japan from 2003 to 2009. Since October 2009, he has been
the staff in Tianjin University of Science and Technology,
China, where he is currently an associate Professor of theCollege of Electronic Information and Automation.

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He is a first-year mastercandidate in Tianjin Universityof Science and Technology. His
research is about deep learning,
pattern recognition.