Flow sensor

YF-S201 Hall-Effect Water Flow Sensor

Accurate flow measurement is an essential step both in the terms of qualitative and economic
points of view. Flow meters have proven excellent devices for measuring water flow, and now it
is very easy to build a water management system using the renowned water flow sensor
YF-S201. This sensor sits in line with the water line and contains a pinwheel sensor to measure
how much water has moved through it. There is an integrated magnetic Hall-Effect sensor that
outputs an electrical pulse with every revolution. The “YFS201 Hall Effect Water Flow Sensor”
comes with three wires: Red/VCC (5-24V DC Input), Black/GND (0V) and Yellow/OUT (Pulse
Output). By counting the pulses from the output of the sensor, we can easily calculate the water
flow rate (in litre/hour – L/hr) using a suitable conversion formula.

Hardware Hook Up
Connecting the water flow sensor to arduino requires minimal interconnection. Connect the VCC
(Red) and GND (Black) wires of the water flow Sensor to the 5v and Gnd of Arduino, and link
Pulse Output (Yellow) wire of the water flow sensor to Arduino’s digital pin 2. Note that the
water flow sensor is not a power-hungry type; it draws a maximum of 15-20mA at 5V DC input!

Software Preparation
The Arduino Sketch (code) uses the external interrupt (int 0) on Arduino’s digital pin 2 (D2).
This is used to read the output pulses coming from the water flow sensor. When Arduino detects
the pulse, it immediately triggers the pulseCounter() function. This function then counts the total
number of pulses detected (wanna know more about
interrupts? h​ ttp://playground.arduino.cc/Main/AVR​).
/*
YF- S201 Water Flow Sensor
Water Flow Sensor output processed to read in litres/hour
Adaptation Courtesy: www.hobbytronics.co.uk
*/
volatile​ ​int​ flow_frequency; ​// Measures flow sensor pulses
unsigned​ ​int​ l_hour; ​// Calculated litres/hour
unsigned​ ​char​ flowsensor = ​2​; ​// Sensor Input
unsigned​ ​long​ currentTime;
unsigned​ ​long​ cloopTime;
void​ flow () ​// Interrupt function
{
flow_frequency++;
}
void​ setup()
{
 pinMode(flowsensor, INPUT);
digitalWrite(flowsensor, HIGH); ​// Optional Internal Pull-Up
​Serial​.​begin​(​9600​);
attachInterrupt(​0​, flow, RISING); ​// Setup Interrupt
sei(); ​// Enable interrupts
currentTime = millis();
cloopTime = currentTime;
}
void​ loop ()
{
currentTime = millis();
​// Every second, calculate and print litres/hour
​if​(currentTime >= (cloopTime + ​1000​))
{
cloopTime = currentTime; ​// Updates cloopTime
​// Pulse frequency (Hz) = 7.5Q, Q is flow rate in L/min.
l_hour = (flow_frequency * ​60​ / ​7.5​); ​// (Pulse frequency x 60 min) / 7.5Q = flowrate in
L/hour
flow_frequency = ​0​; ​// Reset Counter
​Serial​.​print​(l_hour, DEC); ​// Print litres/hour
​Serial​.println(​" L/hour"​);
}
}

Flow sensors typically output a series of pulses proportional to the instantaneous flow rate which
means that to interpret them it is necessary to implement a simple frequency counter. Since this
project uses a water flow sensor containing a Hall-Effect sensor that outputs a pulse rate
proportional to flow rate, so not only is it a useful project in its own right but it also demonstrates
a very useful technique that you can use in a wide range of projects that need to measure the rate
at which something happens (an electronic wind instrument, for example).

Little Math Work

Now, have a look at the maths behind this Arduino Sketch. In our lab experiment, we used one
YF-S201 water flow sensor bought from ebay (www.ebay.in ), and done the homework well
with observed readings (±10 accuracy). In order to measure the quantity of water being passed in
particular time through the water flow sensor it was first passed through the water flow sensor
which was taken as input interface in the flow. Formulas are applied in order to measure the
number of rotations/pulses in a minute of rotation.
Flow rate can be determined inferentially by different techniques like change in velocity or
kinetic energy. Here we have determined flow rate by change in velocity of water. Velocity
depends on the pressure that forces the through pipelines. As the pipe’s cross-sectional area is
known and remains constant, the average velocity is an indication of the flow rate. The basis
relationship for determining the liquid’s flow rate in such cases is ​Q=VxA​, where ​Q​ is flow
rate/total flow of water through the pipe, ​V​ is average velocity of the flow and ​A​ is the
cross-sectional area of the pipe (viscosity, density and the friction of the liquid in contact with
the pipe also influence the flow rate of water).

● Pulse frequency (Hz) = 7.5Q, Q is flow rate in Litres/minute

● Flow Rate (Litres/hour) = (Pulse frequency x 60 min) / 7.5Q

In other words:

● Sensor Frequency (Hz) = 7.5 * Q (Liters/min)

● Litres = Q * time elapsed (seconds) / 60 (seconds/minute)
● Litres = (Frequency (Pulses/second) / 7.5) * time elapsed (seconds) / 60
● Litres = Pulses / (7.5 * 60)

Data sheet

YF-S201 Hall Effect Water Flow Meter / Sensor

This sensor sits in line with your water line and contains a pinwheel sensor to measure how much liquid has moved
through it. There's an integrated magnetic hall effect sensor that outputs an electrical pulse with every revolution. The
hall effect sensor is sealed from the water pipe and allows the sensor to stay safe and dry.

The sensor comes with three wires: red (5-24VDC power), black (ground) and yellow (Hall effect pulse output). By
counting the pulses from the output of the sensor, you can easily calculate water flow. Each pulse is approximately
2.25 milliliters. Note this isn't a precision sensor, and the pulse rate does vary a bit depending on the flow rate, fluid
pressure and sensor orientation. It will need careful calibration if better than 10% precision is required. However, its
great for basic measurement tasks!

We have as example Arduino sketch that can be used to quickly test the sensor, it will calculate the approximate flow
of water in liters/hour.

The pulse signal is a simple square wave so its quite easy to log and convert into liters per minute using the following
formula.

Pulse frequency (Hz) / 7.5 = flow rate in L/min.

Features:

● Model: YF-S201
● Sensor Type: Hall effect
● Working Voltage: 5 to 18V DC (min tested working voltage 4.5V)
● Max current draw: 15mA @ 5V
● Output Type: 5V TTL
● Working Flow Rate: 1 to 30 Liters/Minute
● Working Temperature range: -25 to +80​℃
● Working Humidity Range: 35%-80% RH
● Accuracy: ±10%
● Maximum water pressure: 2.0 MPa
● Output duty cycle: 50% +-10%
 ● Output rise time: 0.04us
● Output fall time: 0.18us
● Flow rate pulse characteristics: Frequency (Hz) = 7.5 * Flow rate (L/min)
● Pulses per Liter: 450
● Durability: minimum 300,000 cycles
● Cable length: 15cm
● 1/2" nominal pipe connections, 0.78" outer diameter, 1/2" of thread
● Size: 2.5" x 1.4" x 1.4"

Connection details:

● Red​ wire : +5V

● Black wire : GND
● Yellow​ wire : PWM output.

Documents

YF-S201 Datasheet
Example Arduino Code