Arduino Stud Finder

Arduino Stud Finder

This is a project under development. The concept is to build a LED Bar Graph Indicator that simply identifies wall studs. A simple design where the user presses unit against the wall, pushes a button to calibrate then moves the unit over the wall resulting in the LEDs glowing when passing over a stud.

When I started this project there didn't seem to be anything in the market. Subsequently, I have seen models now available. I think there would still be a lot of interest in a DIY Arduino version so it is a worthy cause.

I have had various promising attempts as below using an Arduino to measure changes in wall capacitance by measuring changes in capacitance, inductance and even using ultrasonic sensors.

None of the current methods have yielded stable results so this project is on the back burner. Any ideas on how to crack this nut would be appreciated so send me your suggestions!

V1-V3 used the Arduino CapSense library to measure the variation in pulse-width across a high impedance circuit. Initially promising the results where unstable despite 3 attempted architectures and various sensors.

V4 employed an Ultrasonic sensor to measure density of wall. I found difficulty in finding an affordable sensor with the appropriate ultrasonic frequency.

V5 currently on the drawing board is an 8 coil pulse width induction circuit that is promising however the coils are interacting with each other.

So this project is on hold until further inspiration returns!