Load cells and Arduino for measuring a small silo weight

[mathire]

Thank you all for the inputs, I'm starting to get a grip of what is necessary to do in order to complete this project.

@JohnRob

The really problem I foresee is connecting everything up and surviving:

• ESD
• Lightning strikes in the area
• etc

@DaveEvans

The OP also needs to consider how to connect the feet to their footings to allow the load cells to function while still restraining the feet against lateral loads from wind (if outdoors) and earthquakes (if those are a factor where the OP lives).

In addition, depending on the proportions of the silo and silo contents, there may be uplift loads at the feet during severe wind or seismic events that need to be resisted (to prevent overturning).

I think those problems are not concerning because the silo will be inside a building, earthquakes are not a factor where I live and the contents of the silo will be cereals. The only environment problem should be due to the large amount of dust, but a suitable enclosure for the Arduino, the HX711 and schermature for the cables should be enough, I hope.

As @JohnRob said, the load cells are the main cost here. I think 1000kg single compression load cells should go from 100-500€ (depending on the certifications), so the 6 Load cells connected to the 6 HX711 seems the more straightforward solution to me. I still need to figure out how much electric power is needed, since I won't be able to connect all to a constant source of power and I will need a battery pack, but I think I can find loads of resources on that matter on the web.