2 layers85.1 × 53.3 mm
Transmitter
mvanbrab/water-level
A project to measure the water level in a water reservoir, using a waterproof ultrasonic sensor
23 parts5
2 layers85.1 × 53.3 mm
Receiver
mvanbrab/water-level5A project to measure the water level in a water reservoir, using a waterproof ultrasonic sensor
- Size
- 85.1 × 53.3 mm
- Copper layers
- 2
- Thickness
- 1.6 mm
- Parts
- 17
- Nets
- 48
- Pads
- 117
- Tracks, vias
- 151, 2
- Pours
- 1
- Routed
- Yes
- KiCad
- KiCad 5 (file 20171130)
- Created
- 12 Feb 2020
- Updated
- 19 Sep 2026
Overview
Receiver is an open-source printed circuit board by mvanbrab, from the mvanbrab/water-level repository on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board of 85.1 × 53.3 mm with 17 parts on 48 nets, routed with 151 tracks and 2 vias.
It is built around the ESP32-DEVKITC-VE and MAX3232ID. Its parts include 6 connectors, 5 capacitors and 2 ICs. It belongs with the ESP32 boards of this library.
Main components
2README
README.mdIntroduction
Here I share hardware and software about my water-level project, whose purpose is to measure the water level in a water reservoir, located under the ground.
This project actually has a predecessor. Enjoy reading about it in this bit of history.
The transmitter
The first piece of hardware is a transmitter. It measures the water level with a waterproof ultrasonic sensor and sends the measurement result as a JSON object via RS232 to a possibly connected receiver.
The positioning of this sensor in my project is described in the physical setup.
Here are some pictures showing the transmitter in practice.
In the folder hardware/transmitter you'll find the hardware design as a KiCad project. Without Kicad installed, you can view
- the schematic diagram as .pdf;
- the copper layout of the printed circuit board;
- the component placement on the printed circuit board.
The folder software/WaterLevelTransmitter is an Arduino sketch, containing the software of the transmitter part of the project.
Read more about this piece of software here.
The receiver
The second piece of hardware is the receiver. It requests output from the transmitter and publishes is to whatever destination.
Here are some pictures showing the receiver in practice.
In the folder hardware/receiver you'll find the hardware design as a KiCad project. Without Kicad installed, you can view
- the schematic diagram as .pdf;
- the copper layout of the printed circuit board;
- the component placement on the printed circuit board.
About the receiver hardware:
- the RS232 level converter is the same as used for the transmitter, this time it is powered from 3V3;
- the character-based LCD screen to connect is a 2 rows of 16 columns type, using an HD44780 driver, connected via I2C @ 3V3, but powered @ 5V;
- the processor board (chosen because of its WiFi connectivity) is a ESP32 DevKitC (with ESP32-WROOM-32D module).
The folder software/WaterLevelReceivers is contains a set of Arduino sketches, each containing a different software solution for the receiver part of the project.
Read more about this piece of software here.
Connecting the transmitter with the receiver
| Transmitter | Receiver |
|---|---|
| GND (J1.2) | GND (J1.3) |
| TXD (J1.4) | RXD (J1.2) |
| RXD (J1.5) | TXD (J1.1) |
Lessons learned
Parts
17| Qty | Value | Footprint | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 100n | Capacitor_THT:C_Rect_L7.0mm_W2.0mm_P5.00mm | C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 |
| 4 | MountingHole | MountingHole:MountingHole_3.2mm_M3 | H1, H2, H3, H4 |
| 2 | Conn_01x02 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x02_P2.54mm_Vertical | J2, J4 |
| 2 | Conn_01x19 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x19_P2.54mm_Vertical | J3, J5 |
| 1 | Conn_01x03 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x03_P2.54mm_Vertical | J1 |
| 1 | Conn_01x04 | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x04_P2.54mm_Vertical | J6 |
| 1 | ESP32DevKitC | MyFootprints:DIP-38_W25.4mm | U2 |
| 1 | MAX3232 | Package_DIP:DIP-16_W7.62mm_LongPads | U1 |
Questions
How big is the Receiver PCB?
It measures 85.1 × 53.3 mm and has 2 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.
What parts does the Receiver use?
17 parts, built around the ESP32-DEVKITC-VE and MAX3232ID. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.
Where can I download the Receiver KiCad files?
From the mvanbrab/water-level repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is hardware/receiver/receiver.kicad_pcb. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.
Can I use the Receiver design in my own project?
Its repository states no licence, so its author keeps all rights: ask mvanbrab before reusing the design.
More from mvanbrab/water-level
1Similar boards
- 2 layers127.3 × 54.1 mm
ESP32 SolarBox
cole8888/SRNE-Solar-Charge-Controller-Monitor
Read data from SRNE solar charge controllers.
34 parts42 - 2 layers189.5 × 204.9 mm
SmartSpin2k Panelized
doudar/SmartSpin2k
Transform your spin bike into a Smart Trainer!
749 parts292GPL-2.0 - 2 layers193 × 113 mm
- 2 layers81.6 × 44.5 mm
ELTerm
zephray/ELTerm
ANSI/VT100-compatible serial terminal built with Raspberry Pi Pico and EL640.480-AM/AG screen
31 parts92MIT - 2 layers87 × 71 mm
- 2 layers100 × 93 mm
Speeduino base
Tjeerdie/SPECTRE
Speeduino compatible engine control unit (ECU) based around black STM32F407VET6 board.
213 parts59GPL-3.0 - 2 layers33.1 × 43.8 mm
ThrottleBlaster
scrapcomputing/ThrottleBlaster
A Turbo circuit with a MHz display that can slow down the CPU speed
34 parts57GPL-2.0 - 4 layers98.8 × 85.1 mm
