Smart Monitoring Fault Detector Using IoT

Amirul Hamizan Bin Hamee Suzi Seroja Sarnin Wan Norsyafizan W Mohamad
School of Electrical Engineering School of Electrical Engineering School of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering College of Engineering College of Engineering
2021 IEEE 15th Malaysia International Conference on Communication (MICC) | 978-1-6654-2676-3/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/MICC53484.2021.9642086

Universiti Teknologi MARA Universiti Teknologi MARA Universiti Teknologi MARA

40450 Shah Alam Selangor 40450 Shah Alam Selangor 40450 Shah Alam Selangor
amirzain1415@gmail.com suzis045@uitm.edu.my * syafizan@uitm.edu.my

Mohd Nor Mad Tan Ros Shilawani S. Abdul Kadir Nani Fadzlina Naim
School of Electrical Engineering School of Electrical Engineering School of Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering College of Engineering College of Engineering
Universiti Teknologi MARA University Teknologi MARA Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450 Shah Alam Selangor 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor 40450 Shah Alam
mohdn829@uitm.edu.my ros885@uitm.edu.my nanifadzlina@uitm.edu.my

Abstract— In the world of tomorrow, endless streams of I. INTRODUCTION

technology will come up and produce significant results in
proportional to the demand of people who deem the benefits of Nowadays, there is a lot of fire breakout because of short
technology along with their safety. In power electrical circuit. Before we go further into this issue, lets us first
engineering, we knew that supplies from power generators understand what is a short circuit? The short circuit is where
produced around 240V after being step-down by the
transformer, and its power went through appliances household. the abnormal flow of current causes the spark to occur. These
As a result, power is supplied, but what if there is breaching of can be observed when during thunder the MCB will kick off to
overload current that will pass through the Miniature Circuit prevent excess high voltage to enter the house circuit. This is
Breaker (MCB)? Fire or destruction of electrical components in to prevent excess high voltage implies any damage to any
housing appliances might occur. This project is to design a device
using Arduino Uno that acts as a microcontroller, ACS758 as a appliances in the house. MCB is one of the hardware act as
current sensor, and GSM as input and smoke sensor also as safety in the building. Although MCB can act as safety during
input. Besides that, this project aims to build a prototype of the rain and thunder, it cannot prevent any leakage of current to
Smart Monitoring Fault Detector System using IoT that
implements the usage of the Internet of Things while this project
flow throughout the circuit. From the spark of the short circuit,
undergoes test and troubleshoot to determine its capacity, it can cause another disastrous phenomenon which is fire.
strength, weaknesses, and specifications. By this project, it uses a Spark can occur anytime and anywhere in the building. That’s
concept similar to the Underground Fault Cable Detector System why, in all appliances, it has a fuse to prevent or to control the
that maximizes the uses of the current sensor ACS758 and smoke
sensor as input which connects to GSM and smartphones to current needed for certain appliances. Although it has a fuse,
inform the user if any fault and fire happens. The design of this the spark can still occur when the fuse rejects excess current,
project prioritizes the detection of fault occur and also detection at the socket, it will produce spark then leads to overheating
of fire if short circuit implies during the fault which results in
which eventually causes fire to break. That is why the
live-saving as the notification not only receive by the owner of the
building but also sent to the fire brigade to minimize the time importance of a smoke sensor is to detect the intensity of
taken for them to arrive at the scene. This project also optimizes smoke when a real fire occurs. With all the safety precautions
the use of the internet to control and supervise the fault if implemented, the fire still can destroy a large amount of
happens at the house. Besides, the user will also know the
location of the fault by indicating which MCB has a 0V voltage property, and sometimes it can claim lives also [1-3].
reading and at the same time, the smoke sensor will measure the The objective of this project build is to design a smart
intensity of smoke if any fire breakout. monitoring fault detector system using IoT in an urban area
which implies the use of GSM as medium to send notification
Keywords— IoT, fault detector
through messages with Arduino as the main brain of this
project. Other than that, it is use to analyze the correct system
in detecting first fault or smoke occur with the presence of

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current sensor and smoke sensor. This project is purposely suspended ceilings as well as raised and hollow floors in a fire
built for people who own a smartphone. Firstly, the possibility situation, once installation for building services are considered
of overload current struck by lightning is high especially in as the main fire loads. Recognizing electric cables as the
urban areas that have many antennas at the house and primary fire loads, this paper deals with major electric failures
connected to electrical appliances. Since the MCB protects the of short circuits and overloading as the ignition source.
circuit inside the house, this project contributes to protecting All in all, this paper summarize the research paper
small electrical appliances from overload current. Other than that has been referred is the analysis of underground fault
that, when the user is not around, it will be such a problem if detection using microcontroller. This paper served as
an incident occurs without warning to users [4-5]. guideline in researching the use of microcontroller or
Furthermore, if a fire occurs caused by overload current, it specifically IoT. Furthermore, the research paper entitle
will spread fast to other housings area and the problems will “Underground Cable Fault Detector using Arduino and GSM
affect others as well. Lastly, if there are faults in the cable, module” has been referred for the scope for the use of GSM
how do we determine and pinpoint its location? There will and Arduino purposes. Lastly, paper entitle “Fire In Hollow
rise other problems if the fault cable is not being repaired Spaces: Short Circuit As Ignition Source And The Role Of
immediately since it involves with people safety and loss of Ventilation” has been referred to study the causes of fire
property. The underground cable system is a common practice breaking in premises [10-11].
followed in urban areas. While a fault occurs due to many
II. METHODOLOGY
reasons in the cable, at a time of removing or repairing
process, there is difficulty in locating the exact location of the This project consists of three inputs (GSM, current
fault [6]. A system needs to be developed that can find the sensor 50A and smoke sensor) and four outputs (relay, LCD,
LED, and smartphone). Arduino UNO controller act as the
precise location of the occurred fault in the system for all the main brain of this system, therefore it controls the overall
three phases, R, Y, and B for different types of fault system in the project. Thus, the current sensor function as the
conditions [7]. Most of the research use system for current measuring tool to measure the flow of AC. The
underground fault detection while this project is proposed to smartphone will be acting as a device to GSM module devices
monitor or detect any fault that occurs in the building. What for receiving messages as alert or a notification. Next, the
has been studied is the use of IoT in a monitoring system to LCD is used to display the calculated current measurement
made by the program. The smoke sensor operates as a
enhance the lack of detection as the cable is underground or
measuring tool to measure the intensity of smoke to detect a
between walls. fire break. Finally, LED acts as a current indicator which
The controller analyses the received signal and indicates the presence of current in the circuit.
activates the GSM modules to send information about In Fig. 1 show the flowchart of research activity for
monitored parameters to the concerned person [8]. A short this research. This project implies in study the purpose and
circuit whether intentional or accidental can be detected faults the uses of current sensor ACS758 in measuring and
between two points of different potentials with very low calculating the voltage and current presence in a circuit. The
impedance. These are the most common and severe types of next step is to understand the practical use of GSM and how
failures that cause abnormally large currents in equipment or the programme needed to be applied in this project. Next is to
power supplies cable. If these disabilities are allowed to last study and understand the immensity of smoke needed to be
for a short time, the equipment was extensively damaged. A measured by smoke sensor. Finally, the last step is to combine
short circuit fault is also called a parallel fault. Poor all the pseudo-code of each component to produce a project
insulations are the cause of this type of fault between phase namely “Smart Monitoring Fault Detector System using IoT”.
conductors, or between ground and phase conductors, or both. Fig. 2 shows the block diagram of inputs and outputs
Various possible short circuit faults condition that implemented in this project. The inputs are as follow
includes three pairs of ground, two-to-two, two-to-two, and which are GSM which is use to send messages and alert,
one-to-two. In a single-line ground fault, a fault occurs ACS758 current sensor 50A which is used to detect and
measured the current in the circuit and smoke sensor which is
between one of the three wires and the ground. In line-to-line
used to measure the intensity of smoke in the presence of fire
faults, faults can occur any of these two transmission lines. if any fire breaks. The outputs are as follow which are light
When a fault occurs, the voltage will change rapidly. Failure emitting diode (LED) which is used to blink in this project to
to correct this voltage change promptly could severely damage indicates any flow of current detected, liquid crystal display
the system [9]. Current regulations are highly unfavorable in (LCD) is used to display any alert that has been programmed,
Germany for the design of hollow spaces, especially load- relay which is used to cut off the supply of current to prevent
bearing structures within integrated steel construction, any damages to the components used and last but not least

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smartphone which is used to receive any alert or messages to
notify the user or owner of the premises. Fig. 3 shows the circuit diagram of this project. The
main component is Arduino while the sub component which
act as input are ACS758, GSM and smoke sensor. While other
component which related as output are relay, LED and LCD.
Two component on bottom left side are where ACS758 and
smoke sensor which connected on Arduino at point analog A0
and A1. The top left are relay with port 13, GSM with port 11
and 12 and also LED with port 10. The middle bottom is LCD
which connected with port 4 until port 9.

Fig. 1. Flowchart of research activity

Fig. 4: Flowchart of the project

Fig. 4 shows the flowchart of the project. Initially,

the current sensor will start to detect and calculate the current
measured in the circuit. If there is flow of current, the LCD
Fig. 2: Block diagram
will display the “Current Value=amps” and the LED will turn
on. Which indicates the flow of current. Whereas, if there is
no flow of current, it will triggered the smoke sensor to detect
and measure the presence of smoke if any fire breakout. There
are two condition which firstly, if there is presence of smoke,
it will triggered the GSM to send alert or messages to the user
which are “WARNING!!!!” and “FIRE ALARM” which
indicates that there is fire breakout in the premise. Secondly, if
there is no presence of smoke, it will triggered the GSM to
send alert or messages which are “SYSTEM ALERT!!!” and
“FAULT OCCUR” which indicates that there is fault occur in
the circuit system of the premise. Simultaneously, the LCD
Fig. 3: Schematic diagram of project

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will display the same alert and messages sent to the user, the
LED will turn off and relay will cut off the flow of current to
the component to prevent any damages.

III. RESULT & DISCUSSION

Fig. 6: loop condition

Fig. 7: value of current

Fig. 7 shows the display of current value in the state

of connection with supply and load which is lamp. The value
display is the result of calculation done in the programme
which has been implemented. In the programme the value of
raw value is fetch. By getting the value, the value of voltage
can be obtain. With the value of voltage the value of current
then can be obtained. As mentioned earlier, the value shown in
the figure is given or displayed after the project is running.
The data display shows that there is flow of current throughout
the circuit after the supply is turn on. The value of current
Fig. 5: code of programme display gives the meaning that the value of current flow in the
circuit is 0.21. The load used mentioned is lamp which at the
Fig. 5 shows the code use to fetch the raw value of socket of the lamp has been attached with fuse so that it can
current. The analogue data is firstly fetch using code in line 57 control the current needed for the lamp to turn on. Other than
which then proceed in calculate the value of voltage measured that, the value display on LCD is the result of the calculation
from line 59 until line 71. The calculated value then being made by the programme by using appropriate code of
passed in line 74 to be used in the main body of the programme understand by the system.
programme.
Fig. 6 shows the loop condition in calculating the
value of current. The data that has been sent is stored in line
35 which then being used in line 36 and line 37. The
calculated current then being passed to line 44 for display in
the LCD.

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 conditions are mainly to detect any flow of current which in
this case there is no flow current which triggered the smoke
sensor to measure the smoke presence. This triggered the
second condition which detecting presence of smoke where in
this case there is no presence of smoke in the surrounding
area. That is why the outcome shown on the LCD is as
displayed.

Fig. 8: value of smoke sensor

Fig. 8 shows the value of smoke sensor when the current

sensor obtain the value of current. To produce this value of
smoke sensor, the limit of current is set to be lower than 0.17A
which is then to trigger the smoke sensor. This result of data is
produced when the value of current triggered the minimum
value of current measured that has been set in the code. This is
to ensure that the minimum current value is when the short
circuit is possibly to happen. After the minimum value is
triggered, the smoke sensor will start to measure the intensity Fig. 10: value of smoke sensor over threshold
of smoke presence in the surrounding area. the resistivity of
the smoke sensor is adjusted on the component itself so that it Fig. 10 shows the value of smoke sensor which
can detect the intensity of carbon monoxide in a short period triggered the threshold that has been programmed. This
of time. condition is set where the smoke sensor measure the intensity
of smoke in the presence of smoke in the surrounding area.
This outcome means that the intensity of smoke very high
which implies there are very thick presence of smoke in the
surrounding area.

Fig. 9: LCD display alert

Fig. 9 shows the display of alert on the LCD. This

has been programmed earlier which is when the condition is Fig. 11: fire alert
current lower than 0.17A and the smoke sensor value does not
triggered the value of threshold which is 400. This display is Fig. 11 shows the LCD display which displayed the
to prove that there is fault occur in the circuit. The result fire warning. This indicates where the current value is below
display on the LCD is when the system detect that the first and 0.17A and the threshold has been exceeded which is 400. This
second condition of the programme is triggered. The can be proved that there is presence of smoke in that area. The

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result shows that there is presence of smoke and no flow of IV. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
current in the circuit system which can confirm that maybe the
The authors would like to thank members College Engineering,
causes of smoke is because of short circuit occur in the circuit. Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Malaysia for the
That is why the LCD show alert message which are guidance and support during this project.
“WARNING!!” and “FIRE ALARM”.
REFERENCES
[1] Asif, Rao & Hassan, Syed & Rehman, Ateeq & Rehman, Asad &
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IV. CONCLUSION
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