Abstract:
Rain gauges are used to measure rainfall. For the rainfall data collection, manpower is required.
In that scenario, the person needs to go where the rain gauge is located and download data from
the data logger and calculate the rainfall. Some places are difficult to reach and need a flat
surface to install the rain gauge. In addition, systematic and human errors, defective instruments,
non-recorded data are some difficulties in the rain gauges. The number of internet-enabled
loggers is currently limited in the market. While doing those, different types of rain gauges
under different price points were identified. Most of the rain gauges and their material cost are
expensive. Those rain gauges need special training and experience to operate and calibrate. This
study introduces a low-cost tipping bucket rain gauge to overcome the problems associated with
conventional systems. The 3D printed device is specially designed to use the minimum amount
of raw materials possible, and all the raw materials can be easily found. A water collector is
designed to collect water 10 ml on one side. An adjustable base is used to install the rain gauge
in unbalance surfaces. Consequently, temperature, pressure, humidity, moisture, and altitude
parameters also can be measured to operate as a fully functional weather station. Reed switch
counts the number of tips that make a temporary electrical connection each time the bucket tips.
The measured parameters are stored in the cloud server and displayed on the web interface. The
Root Mean Square Error is a commonly used metric for calculating the difference between the
values predicted by a model and the values observed in a controlled environment.