Research Article
Design and Implementation of Digital Automation System for the Protection of Equipment and Machineries in Ethio Telecom
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3318281/v1
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License
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Arduino Microcontroller
Digital automation system
Ethio Telecom
GSM Module
The telecom industry provides a way to exchange information or to transmitting and receiving of signals from the source to the destination in any form of information such as voice, video, data, text and images through both wired and wireless methods [1].When Telecom network is built, its cost requires huge amount of money starting from the construction phase to equipment installation. Equipment in Telecom Industries may not work properly due to over temperature, water leakage and high humidity ( Worku, 2005).
According to European Commission (2008) data centres include rooms that contain servers, communication equipment, cooling equipment, and power equipment, and they generally provide the computing backbone of telecommunication infrastructures. Temperature and humidity ranges in data centres are often based on industry standards. Currently, most data centres operate with an inlet air temperature range set between 20 oC and 22 oC using air conditioning (Brandon, 2007; Miller, 2008). Typical humidity levels in data centres are often maintained between 35% RH and 55% RH (Shehabi, 2007).
If the conditions achievable by economization and mixing of outside air are beyond the set ranges, a temperature and humidity control system could be implemented to internally recirculate conditioned air instead of outside air for cooling (Shehabi, 2007). A small water leak can be very hazardous and turn into a big problem affecting operation of equipment and machinery room, and water Alert systems can protect every part of a server room, from the ceiling to the floor (Motaz and Yousef, 2007).
In Ethio Telecom there are rooms for equipment such as BR, IGW, CS, Exchange node, Backbone (DWDM, CWDM, DMR, and Optical SDH) and for power machineries such as generator, rectifiers, UPS, inverters, Air conditioners, and back up batteries. In order to keep the reliability of these telecom equipment and machineries, problem that may cause due to water leakage, high humidity, and over temperature have to be manipulated automatically in the sector of Telecom industry what if the operator is not in the required place. However, studies conducted in our country Ethiopia on automatic telecom equipment protection is rare therefore, In this research design and implementation of digital automation system is developed for the protection of Telecom Equipment and machineries on the existing system located in Dire Dawa region.
Automation or automatic control is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machineries, processes in factories, switching on telephone networks, steering and stabilization of ships, aircraft and other applications with minimal or reduced human intervention. The biggest benefit of automation is that it saves labour; however, it is also used to save energy and materials and to improve quality, accuracy and precision (Ahmad, et. al., 2011). Automation system can be performed by microcontrollers which are cheap and easily available to use them instead of simple logic circuits. A microcontroller, can connect directly to switches, buttons, and serial ports, that are generally used for specific tasks in equipment (Ahmad, et. al., 2011).
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) System for Mobile Communication, which is a digital cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services. GSM supports outgoing Simple Message System (SMS) (Hamdan, et.al., 2019). GSM module is a module that can be integrated within an equipment and is an embedded piece of hardware. It is applied to provide communication media between the system and the operator by means of SMS message (Hamdan, et.al., 2019).
In Ethio telecom Safety rooms, equipment and machinery failure may occur and interrupt server operation mostly due to high temperature, water leakage, and high humidity. Changes in temperature may go beyond the specified ranges of some components causing electrical parameter variations of components and systems. As a result of the parameter variations, particularly at hot spots, there is a risk of intermittent out of the system specification behaviours. This kind of intermittent behaviours can result in intermittent failures of the electrical products or systems (Jun et. al., 2014). Uncontrolled humidity may also cause reliability risks in telecom equipment in data centres such as the introduction of fresh air from the outside could potentially result in significant swings in ambient humidity. Typical humidity levels in data centres are often maintained between 40% and 60% RH. This controlled environment provides very effective protection against failure mechanisms (Jun et. al., 2014).
In addition operations failures can be caused by water accumulating or dripping on the floor that can interrupt server operations in the room. Leakages are mainly caused by generally aged and consequently breakable water distribution. Once a leak is detected, corrective and controlling action has to be taken to prevent equipment and machineries losses and failure operation in rooms ( Sayeesh, 2019).
Ethio telecom uses digital system for controlling purpose manipulating by an operator and the equipment and machineries safe only when the operator is in the place. This digital system does not protect equipment if the operator is not available at a place or nearby thus, we need to develop digital automation system in controlling equipment and machinery room. Hence, this project was investigated the use of Arduino microcontroller to controlling purpose, sensors for the detection of problem on equipment and machineries whenever the exceeding occurrence of limiting value resulting from over humidity, temperature, and water detection and GSM module which provide communication media between the system and the operator by means of SMS even an operator is out from the place.
The main objective of this project is to design and implement a digital automation system using Arduino-microcontroller to control and sensors to detect high temperature, water level and humidity occurrence in Ethio Telecom equipment and machineries.
The specific objectives of this project are:
Develop a prototype that incorporates temperature, water and humidity sensors using Proteus 8 software for simulation of the design,
Develop a program using Arduino programming (C language),
Test the proposed prototype practically, and
Allow easy use of mobile in order to control equipment room.
This project helps in controlling Telecom equipment and machines like generators from getting damaged due to highly flammable machines from getting damaged due to high temperature as well as protecting machines which can be damaged due to high humidity and water leakage. In general, this project work presented a Telecom digital automated system which control a very important equipment and machinery from over humidity, temperature, and water. The system implemented by Arduino microcontrollers, sensors, buzzer, LED, LCD, and GSM module, and smart mobile phone. To ensure proper safety of the Equipment and machinery room, the operators need to get notified about incidents like over temperature within a very short time thus the mobile station unit interacted with the system all the time even if the operator is out from the required place.
The scope of this research project is on equipment and machinery room of Ethio Telecom specifically in Dire Dawa region. Telecom automation for both software and hardware system going to be designed and implemented with Arduino microcontroller for controlling the Equipment and machinery room.
During this study, the following limitations occurred:
We designed and implemented only through three sensors due to less time.
It became difficult to found some components from the market.
This paper is organized in five chapters. In the chapter one, background, statement of the problem of this project and the objectives to be achieved are discussed. In chapter two, a review of literatures relevant to this study, which have been investigated by different scholars, is presented. Chapter three is about system design and methodology, which presents system components, design analysis and working principles and procedures are presented. Chapter four, focused on results and result and discussion for testing the simulation and prototype together. Finally, chapter five gives conclusion and recommendation achieved from this research work and propose future work in this field of study.
The system design involved both hardware and software. It consists of components which are Arduino Microcontroller, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, rain drop sensor, buzzer, LED, LCD display, GSM module, and mobile phone. The software system design was developed using the C-code language written on the Arduino platform.
The Arduino Mega 2560 is a microcontroller board based on ATmega2560. It has 54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analogue in-puts, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button.
The Arduino Mega 2560 can be powered via USB connection or with external power supply; this project uses the later. The circuit board mainly includes a microcontroller device, digital and analogue pins, as well as other peripheral components.
Specification
Microcontroller: ATmega2560
Operating Voltage:5V
Input voltage (recommended) :7-12V
Input voltage (limits) :6–20 V
Digital I/O Pins: 54 (of which 15 provide PWM output)
Analog Input Pins:16
DC Current per I/O pin: 20 mA
DC current for 3.3 V pin:50 mA
Flash Memory:256 KB of which 8 KB used by bootloader.
Pin No. | VIN | Input voltage when using external power source |
---|---|---|
1 | 5V | Regulated power supply used to power the microcontroller and other components on the board. |
2 | 3V3 | A 3.3 volt supply generated by the on-board regulator |
3 | GND | Ground pins |
In addition, some pins have specialized functions: |
Serial: 0,2,4 (RX) and 1,3,5 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. These pins are connected to the corresponding pins of the ATmega8U2 USB-to TTL Serial chip.
External Interrupts: 2 and 3. These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value.
PWM: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11. Provide 8-bit PWM output with the analogue write function. SPI: 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK).
These pins support SPI communication, which, although provided by the underlying hardware, is not currently included in the Arduino language. The Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller is programmed using embedded C-language in the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The IDE handles the compiling and linking of the source code in which the hex file is uploaded to the memory of the controller. Arduino Mega 2560 is selected to effectively carry out the automation due to flexibility, RAM size, number of programmable I/O lines etc.
The sensors are implemented as different types of detectors according to the necessity of the application and the human desire. The operation of sensors is managed by software. Since there are different types of sensors, they are interfaced according to the output and properties of the sensor. The external circuit for interfacing the sensor for the application depends on the type of the sensor and it is not a must as some of the sensors do not need it and the output can be driven directly and used on the application.
Humidity and temperature sensor
According to Lab centre Electronics, (2019) DHT11 is a four PIN sensor that can measure temperatures ranging from 0 to 50°C and relative humidity ranging from 20 to 95 RH. The sensor uses its own proprietary 1-Wire protocol to communicate with Arduino and works at 3.3–5V. It uses a capacitive humidity sensor and a thermistor to measure the surrounding air and splits out a digital signal on data pin. It is simple to use but requires careful timing to grab data. The only real downside of this sensor is we can only get new data from it once every 2 seconds (Balath, et. al., 2015).
Each DHT11 element is strictly calibrated in the laboratory that is extremely accurate on humidity and temperature calibration. The calibration coefficients are stored as programmers in the OTP memory, which are used by the sensor’s internal signal detection process. The single-wire serial interface makes system integration quick and easy.
Pin No: | Pin Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | Vcc | Power supply 3.5V to5.5V |
2 | Data | Output Humidity through serial Data |
3 | NC | No connection and hence not used |
4 | Ground | Connected to the ground of the circuit |
Specification | ||
Operating Voltage:3.5V to 5.5V | ||
Operating current:0.3mA (measuring) 60uA (standby) | ||
Output: Serial data | ||
Temperature Range:18°C to 27°C, Humidity Range:25–60% |
Resolution: Temperature and Humidity both are 16-bits Accuracy:+-1°C and +-1%
Rain drop sensor
It is a board on which nickel is coated in the form of lines. It works on the principal of resistance. It is designed for water detection, which can be widely used in sensing the rainfall, water level, even the liquate leakage.
An easy way to accomplish this was to connect the VCC pin to a digital pin of an Arduino and set it to ON or OFF per requirement. If there was any drop of water the sensor activated and became ‘ON’ and gave messages to the Arduino micro-controller. If there was not drop of water the sensor became ‘OFF’ and no message sent to the Arduino micro-controller.
Pin No: | Pin Name | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | VCC | + 5 v power supply |
2 | GND | Ground (-) power supply |
3 | DO | Digital Output (0 or 1) |
4 | AO | Analog Output (range 0 to 1023) |
Specification
Operating Voltage: 3.3V – 5V
Operating Current: 15 mA
Comparator chip: LM393
Sensitivity: Adjustable via Trimpot
Output type: Analog output voltage (AO) and Digital switching voltage (DO)
This automation system uses different actuators to controlling purpose. The actuators that were used in this research are: buzzer, LED, and LCD. The buzzer of 5V rated power that was directly connected to the Arduino-microcontroller to alert a continuous sound during detection of water in the equipment room. Also the LED connected to the Arduino-microcontroller activated along with the buzzer to emit light during detection of water in the equipment room. The buzzer and LED actuate humans near around the circuit. In this project a 16x2 LCD was used which displayed 16 characters per line and there are 2 such lines.
Pin No. | Function | Name |
---|---|---|
1 | Ground(0V) | Ground |
2 | Supply voltage: 5v(4.7-5.3v) | Vcc |
3 | Contrast adjustment; through variable resistor | VEE |
4 | Select command register when low; and data register when high | Register select |
5 | Low to write to the register; High to read from the register | Read/write |
6 | Sends data to data pins when a high to low pulse is given | Enable |
7 | 8-bit data pins | DBO |
8 | DB1 | |
9 | DB2 | |
10 | DB3 | |
11 | DB4 | |
12 | DB5 | |
13 | DB6 | |
14 | DB7 | |
15 | Backlight VCC (5v) | Led+ |
16 | Backlight Ground (0v) | LED- |
We have used I2C expander on the back of the LCD to connect it to Arduino in order to reduce the number of wires in the design and number of required Arduino pins. The SDA (Serial Data) and the SCL (Serial Clock) pins of the I2C LCD need only be connected to the respective pins of the Arduino.
A GSM module is designed for communication of a computer with the GSM network. It requires a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card just like mobile phones to activate communication with the network. In this project, A6 GSM module is used to send short message from the system to user. The module is basically a GSM Modem connected to a PCB with different types of outputs taken from the board TTL Output (for microcontrollers) and RS232 Output to interface directly with a PC. The board also has pins or provisions to attach a mic and speaker, to accept + 5 V or other values of power and ground connections.
Pin No. | Interface | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | EN | Reset the A6 module |
2 | PWR | Power switch pin |
3 | GND/R232_RX/R232_TX | RS232 Send out/receive |
4 | Rx GND/U_RXD/U_TXD | UART send out/receive |
5 | H_TXD/H_RXD | Pin out for firmware upgrade |
6 | VCC_IN | Power input pin (5–9 V) |
7 | REC +/REC | Speaker positive/negative |
8 | MIC +/MIC | Microphone positive/negative |
Parameter | Min. | Max. | Unit |
---|---|---|---|
Power voltage (V supply) | 4.5 | 5.5 | VDC |
Input voltage VH | 0.7VCC | 5.5 | V |
Input voltage VL | − 0.3 | 0.3 VCC | V |
Current consumption (pulse) | - | 2000 | mA |
Current consumption(continuous) | - | 500 | mA |
Baud rate | - | 115200 | bps |
Once the circuit is built, upload the following sketch to the Arduino then place the Sim 900D the GSM module which is an important part of the system responsible for communication between the Arduino and the mobile phone. AT commands were used to interface the module as well as to configure it.
A mobile phone also known as a wireless phone, cell phone, or cellular telephone is a little portable radio telephone. A Mobile Phone can serve as powerful tool for world-wide communication (Mishra, 2015). The mobile phone can be used to communicate over long distances without wires. It works by communicating with a nearby base station (sometimes called a "cell") which connects it to the main phone network. In this project a smart android mobile was used to receive SMS messages from the GSM module.
This project propose a method for controlling a Telecom equipment and machineries using the digital based Telecom automation system. The hardware system constructed with Arduino microcontroller which contains a piece of code for a specific action. The automation system was developed by implementing the sensors. The action taken by the GSM module i.e. to alert an operator about problem to the Telecom equipment. The system established a connection between mobile phone and Arduino microcontroller. The system was implemented on Arduino platform using the Arduino Board. The GSM module connected to a Arduino microcontroller. The proposed sensors send message to the Arduino microcontroller whenever it exceeds the assigned threshold value that was resulted in over temperature, water leakage and high humidity. Then Arduino microcontroller sends the data or status to the operator mobile through GSM module to take further action and displays the output on the LCD screen.
This project was designed in such a way that the three sensors are interfaced to an Arduino microcontroller. The GSM modem contains a GSM SIM card also interfaced to the Arduino through the GSM module. SMS message used in the system which was the outgoing message from the system to the operator’s mobile.
The three sensors of the designed system are connected to the Arduino through wires using the OR logic gate. As it is shown in the Table 7, when either of the sensors recognized a problem then the output of logic became “1” which means the system is not on safe mode. And the sensors sent out a signal to the Arduino and the operator’s mobile. But when there were no problems recognized then the output of logic became “0” means the system is on safe mode.
The rain drop sensor arranged at an equipment and machinery room to control any water droplet on the surface. The Arduino-microcontroller continuously control the output of the rain drop sensor. If the rain drop sensor detects any water in the room, the microcontroller will immediately start to alarm the buzzer (which is interfaced to the microcontroller). Then the Arduino microcontroller sends the data or status to the operator mobile through GSM modem to take further action. The outgoing message contains the status of the room which tells the operator mobile that the “water is detected” The LCD interfaced to the controller display the status of the sensor.
Humidity sensor | Temperature sensor | Rain drop sensor | Output |
---|---|---|---|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
HDT11 sensor arranged at an equipment and machinery room, to control high temperature and high humidity. The microcontroller continuously control the output of the sensor. If sensor detects an exceeding the threshold value, it informed the Arduino which then immediately command GSM modem to send SMS to the operator’s mobile. The outgoing message contains the status of the room which tells the operator mobile that the “Temperature is high” and “humidity is high”. The Arduino microcontroller displays the output on the LCD screen.
Figure 7, illustrates the working principle flow chart which is the graphical representation of the flow of data in the prototype system and represents the work process of the system. It illustrates the whole process from initializing the all the components, to recording of data from the sensors, and finally taking an action accordingly.
The developed software application with complete automation system was experimentally tested on the latest technology available in smartphone which gave a proper message. This system was easy to use and very simple. The system was experimentally tested for both detection and controlling purposes.
First of all, all the hardware units of the system were tested and it was ensured that they were in a good working condition. Then, each and every unit were interfaced and implemented individually with the microcontroller board and drove with the software according to the necessity of the application. The testing of the application was not done at once after it was completed. Rather each unit of the application was tested individually. The second unit was not tested until the first unit gave the expected result and until it was not working according to the necessity of the application. After all of the units were working correctly, the units were kept together and then the whole system was developed and tested. After the hardware units were tested, the communication of the mobile station with the GSM module was tested.
This section discusses about the interfacing configuration simulation of the designed system using all the components. In the simulation design the overall circuit diagram of this prototype project is seen. The simulation software used was Proteus 8 professional. This software is very useful and user friendly. But it alone cannot support wireless communication. Thus, additional software, which is Arduino programming software (Arduino IDE), was used.
The boards feature serial communications interfaces, including Universal Serial Bus (USB) on some models, which are also used for loading programs from personal computers. The microcontrollers are typically programmed using a dialect of features from the programming languages C, this software together with Proteus enabled to have full simulation design.
Figure 8, The circuit system design section consists of Arduino Mega, GSM module, LCD, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, and rain drop sensor. GSM server is implemented with Arduino Mega, and sensors. The GSM modem provides the necessary data related to industry to a machine operator located at a certain limited distance and any time.
In the above Fig. 9, the microcontroller unit with the Arduino board, GSM module, and sensors. Power supply to the unit can be provided externally or from the USB port of the computer. The power supply is supplied from the USB port in this project and the sensors and the GSM module drives the power from the unit. The whole system was implemented using the C-code language written on the Arduino platform. The software written on the platform uploaded to the Arduino- microcontroller using Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) software.
The testing of the application was not done at once after it was completed. Rather each unit of the application was tested individually. The second unit was not tested until the first unit gave the expected result and until it was not working according to the necessity of the application. After all of the units were working correctly, the units were kept together and the whole system was developed and tested. After the hardware units were tested, the communication of the mobile station with the GSM module was tested.
The test for detecting the over temperature, water level and high humidity were carried out. While working the system simulation and hardware design it was assumed the threshold temperature value taken at 25°C and the threshold humidity value taken at 50% RH, depending on the surrounding environment situation in order to easily observe the excepted output. And water detection and no water detection in the room were taken as the value of read from rain drop sensor.
Case 1
If humidity = < 50% RH, temperature = < 25°C, and no water detection. This shows the systems were in SAFE condition and the GSM modem was not sent text.
Case 2
If humidity = < 50% RH, temperature = < 25°C, and water detection. Then the GSM modem sent Text “ WATER DETECTION”
Case 3
If humidity = < 50% RH, temperature > 25°C, and no water detection. Then the GSM sends an Text message “ OVER TEMPERATURE” to the operator’s mobile.
Case 4
If humidity = < 50% RH, temperature > 25°C, and water detection.
Then the GSM sends a text message “OVER TEMPERATURE” and “ WATER DETECTED” to the operator’s mobile.
Case 5
If humidity > 50% RH, temperature = < 25°C, and no water detection. Then the GSM sends a text message “OVER HUMIDITY” to the operator’s mobile.
Case 6
If humidity > 50% RH, temperature = < 25°C, and water detection. Then the GSM sends a text message “OVER HUMIDITY” and “water detected” to the operator’s mobile.
Case 7
If humidity > 50% RH, temperature > 25°C, no water detection. Then the GSM sends an Text message “OVER HUMIDITY” & “OVER TEMPERATURE” to the operator’s mobile.
Case 8
If humidity > 50% RH, temperature > 25°C, and water detection. Then the GSM sends an Text message “OVER HUMIDITY”, “OVER TEMPERATURE”, and “WATER DETECTED” to the operator’s mobile.
Now-a-days, automation is playing significant role in human life. Digital automation allows us to control different appliances such as light, fan, fridge and etc. It also provides security system like door controlling, temperature & fire detection and water shower. In this Project In this project, Telecom automation system developed for controlling Telecom equipment and machineries. The Automation System performed using two system units, Arduino-microcontroller interfaced with three sensors to detect over humidity, temperature, & water detection and with GSM module to send an SMS message to the second unit called mobile station handled by the operator. The developed application was tested experimentally for detection and controlling purposes. The telecom appliances automatically in response to any signals came from related sensors by the system user. A hardware implementation of the system was carried out to verify the reliability of the system. The implemented system was a simple, low cost and flexible that can be expanded and scaled up. The method discussed in this project is novel and has achieved the target to control appliances using the SMS-based system satisfying our wishes and necessities.
The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgments
First and for most, we would like to thank to Almighty GOD for giving us, strength and patience to accomplish this project. Then, we would like to thank all the fellow Ethio telecom regarding professionals who assisted us in viewing equipment and machineries which were helpful for the project development.
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