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Arduino Based Underground Cable

Fault Detection
May 17, 2016 Arduino Projects arduino, cable, detection, fault, measurement, reistance,
underground

Introduction

The objective of this project is to determine the distance of underground cable fault from
base station in kilometers using an Arduino board. The underground cabling system is a
common practice followed in many urban areas. There are many electrical, telephone and
other signal cables are laid underground.
Many time faults occur due to construction works and other reasons. At that time it is
di icult to dig out cable due to not knowing the exact location of the cable fault.

What we learn?

1. What are the different cable faults?

2. How to detect cable faults?
3. How to detect fault location?
4. How to measure small value resistance? Our e-Books
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Different Cable Fault
There are main two faults in cable short circuit and open circuit.

Short Circuit Fault

Short circuit can be determined by measuring resistance between two cables at one end
(base station).  The value of resistance tells us the exact location of short circuit.

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Cable Short Circuit Fault

Open Circuit Fault

Open Circuit can be detected by measuring the capacitance between two wires.
Capacitance of cable changes according to the length. The length of cable varies based on
the location of cable cut (open).     As the cable is open parallel wire capacitance gets
reduced based on this we can calculate the fault location. Measurement Made Simple with Arduino:
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needs at one place.

Cable Open Circuit Fault

The proposed system is to find the exact location of the fault. The project uses the
Arduino Beginners Guide: Get started with
standard concept of Ohms law i.e., when a low DC voltage is applied at the feeder end arduino in simple steps
through a Cable lines, then current would vary depending upon the location of fault in the
cable. In case there is a short circuit (Line to Ground), the voltage across series resistors
changes accordingly, which is then fed to inbuilt ADC of Arduino board to develop precise
digital data for display in kilometers.

The project is assembled with a set of resistors representing cable length in KM’s and fault
creation is made by a set of switches at every known KM to cross check the accuracy of the
same. The fault occurring at a particular distance and the respective phase is displayed on
a LCD interfaced to the Arduino board. Further this project enhanced by measuring
capacitance of cable which can even locate the open circuited cable.

Arduino based underground cable

fault detection circuit
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The circuit is consists of 4 line display, arduino and resistance measurement circuit. Main
component of the underground cable fault detection circuit is low value resistance
measurement. It is constructed using a constant current source of 100mAmps. It can
measure very low value resistance as the cables have around 0.01 Ohm/meter resistance.
For 10meter cable resistance becomes 0.1 Ohm. This circuit can measure resistance up 50
Ohm, Maximum cable length it can check up to 25000 meters.

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Underground Cable Fault Detection Circuit

Arduino Code for Underground Cable

Fault Detection

/*
circuits4you.com
Arduino Based Underground Cable Fault Detection
*/
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// include the library code:
#include <LiquidCrystal.h> Best Online JSON Editor Tool to Edit JSON
Online
// initialize the library with the numbers of the interface pins ESP8266 IoT Based RGB LED Strip Controller
LiquidCrystal lcd(7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2);
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const double Rc = 0.01; //Cable Resistance per meter its 0.01 Ohm/Mtr ESP8266 weather station using Arduino IDE
void setup() {
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// set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
lcd.begin(16, 4);
// Print a message to the LCD.
lcd.print(" Cable Fault ");
} Ad
void loop() {
double Vx=(5.0/1024.0) * analogRead(A0); //Voltage across Rx
double Rx = Vx / (1.25/12); //Cable Resistace (1.25/R2)=I Constant
Current Source

//Display Cable Resistance

lcd.setCursor(0, 1); // set the cursor to column 0, line 2
lcd.print("Res:");
lcd.print(Rx);
lcd.print(" Ohm");

//Display Fault Location

lcd.setCursor(0, 2); // set the cursor to column 0, line 3
lcd.print("Dist:");
lcd.print((Rx/Rc)/2); //Find Location of Fault
lcd.print(" Mtr");
}

Testing and Results

Circuit can be tested with di erent resistor values to simulate various fault conditions. It
displays exact location of short circuit. Similarly you can find the open circuit in a cable
using capacitance measurement technique.

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18 thoughts on “Arduino Based Underground Cable

Fault Detection”

April 27, 2017 at 11:20 am

thanks this project is working

atul
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April 6, 2017 at 8:16 am

Good day.

Morgan I run a company that does ht power lines on the mines.

Lewis

I also do allot of mv cabling.

Can you please send me all the details on what and how.
I have a arduino mega r3 and and want to know exactly what tipe of
screen, screen libraries and components.

I want to build this as a portable unit for use to test cables in overhead
cable racks.

any info would be appreciated.

regards

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March 13, 2017 at 2:55 am

If i have a 100 metre cable then How do I measure voltage drop and how
do I know where fault resides in 100 metre
Safana

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March 4, 2017 at 9:43 am

Why are we dividing 1.25/12 to get the current?

from where 1.25 came in the calculation.,
Shivam

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March 9, 2017 at 2:47 am

1.25V is reference voltage of LM317. Iconst = 1.25/12 Ohm. See

constant current source using LM317 circuit.
Manoj R.
Thakur
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March 3, 2017 at 3:31 am

Sir i found it di icult to find out the powering circuit. Can u pls help me
by sending me the whole circuit and component details??
SaranG

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March 3, 2017 at 12:38 pm

Triangular symbols are used for +5V

Manoj R.
 Log in to Reply
Thakur

February 6, 2017 at 4:09 pm

How can I give the connections between the relays & the switches which
we are using as a fault in the project
shivam

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January 20, 2017 at 10:21 am

how i add advance in it?? plz sir reply me i m student who wann a do it .

shubhangi
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wankhade

January 9, 2017 at 1:05 pm

What is the overall cost for this project?

Varsha
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January 12, 2017 at 8:45 am

Rs 650

Ajai
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September 23, 2016 at 7:59 am

How to make the circuit diagram on this project. Please sir can you send
on my mail.
Rahul

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September 5, 2016 at 6:07 am

How can I locate fault location using both technique i.e. open circuit and
short circuit simultaneously.
AJAI with circuit diagram

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May 25, 2016 at 10:29 am

Sir,
I want use ohms law to find fault location I.e by sensing voltage drop can
Nikhil u plz send code and ckt diagram for same experiment but using ohm’s
law

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May 25, 2016 at 1:02 pm

The above circuit is for same purpose. uses ohms law, you need to
connect cable between “Cable RX” i.e. shorted cable resistance
admin

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July 20, 2019 at 11:45 am

hi brother i have an idea do u tell me is it possible to do it

i have an idea of using sensor in this process to detect the fault
Halith and i need to know that if this process is possible doing with the
Hamja
telephone cable used underground in real time. i am taking this as
my project using iot and i need to know about this pls reply me

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May 18, 2016 at 3:36 pm

This code is incomplete and the technique doesn’t work in the real
world.
camerin
hahn
RC is not defined anywhere in this code. Since you are doing a constant
current measurement it is only possible to measure the sum of the 2
resistors, only one measurement number so you can only solve 1
equation.

The correct way to measure this parameter is a tdr.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=183770.0

It is a much more technical process, but it will give real results. The thing
you measure with a tdr is the time of reflection, the amplitude, and the
sign of the reflection. With these numbers you can calculate distance,
magnitude of the damage, and short or open.

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May 19, 2016 at 5:37 am

Rc is defined at line 12,

In practical world this technique is not useful because of many
admin factors.

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