Solar Powered Smart Ultrasonic Insects Repellent
with DTMF and Manual Control for Agriculture
Humayun Rashid1, Iftekhar Uddin Ahmed1, S M Taslim Reza1, M. A. Islam2
1
Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), International Islamic University Chittagong (IIUC), Chittagong-4314, Bangladesh
2
Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Ikoma, Nara, Japan
Email: raahat.rashid09@gmail.com
Abstract— The paper represents a smart gadget to avert the
calamitous effects of pest bugs in the farming land as well as in
household commodities. In this paper, development and
performance analysis of smart ultrasonic insects repellent device
has been demonstrated. This device is able to generate different
types of frequencies which are very helpful to repel different
types of insects. It can be controlled from any distance with
DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) technology. Besides,
manual control with night mode via LDR (Light Dependent
Resistor) has also been employed. The device would be charged
through solar energy system which is a cost effective approach. A
power amplifier along with a microcontroller known as Arduino
Uno as well as solar charger circuit regulator and solar panel are
used. The implementation of this device in farmland has shown a
great reduction of bugs attack compared to the other land which
doesn't have one.
Keywords—ultrasonic; insects repellent; dtmf; arduino
I. INTRODUCTION
Pest bugs may possess harmful as well as disastrous
influences on farming production and the organic atmosphere.
Infestation pestilence might result in issues through destroying
harvest and also nutrients manufacturing that may well lead to
health and fitness risk to human beings. Noise is being used to
get rid of pests with loud claps and yells for a very long time
in agriculture system [1]. A substantial Kansas State
University research verified that ultrasonic noise performs
insect repellent impact and also a decrease in the pairing as
well as a reproduction of numerous pests [2]. The Federal
Trade Commission and the American Mosquito Control
Association have both informed individuals that scientific
questions into the performance of ultrasonic pest control
gadgets have a perfect, provisional and fleeting influence on
pest populations [1].
Ultrasonic audio can be characterized as advanced
auditory frequency spectrum with a frequency range of more
than 20,000 hertz. People are not able to listen to ultrasound
due to the fact that the eardrum will not vibrate rapid but
several animals can listen effectively into the ultrasonic range
[2]. Ultrasonic waves create a noisy and hostile environment
which repels pest. Most important effect of ultrasonic sound is
that they not only work as a repellent but also has an effect on
reducing in mating and reproduction of various harmful
insects. Bugs identify noise through unique hairs or sensilla
positioned upon the antennae (mosquitoes) or genitalia
(cockroaches), or through more complex tympanal body parts
978-1-5090-6004-7/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
[6]. Cockroaches have “Sensory hairs” to sense the ultrasonic
sound as well as Spiders, Wasps, Beetles, Flies etc. have
“Tympanic membrane” to detect ultrasonic sound and Fleas
communicate using high-frequency ultrasonic sound.
A paper on sonic pest repellents has been presented in [1]
by Nicholas Aflitto and Tom DeGomez. In this system
infrasonic and ultrasonic sound, the range is used to repellent
the insect which is harmful both for human and crops. Another
smart pest repellent system has been proposed in [4] by Nur
Najia H. Binti Mohd Nasir which is done using ultrasonic
sensor. A circuit has been designed in this system which can
vary the frequency of ultrasonic sound automatically. An
electronic pest specifically mosquito repelling device is
proposed in [8] by Carlos F.S. Andrade and Virginia S. Bueno
based on Aedes albopictus (Skuse). A pair of tests were done
in this project to get the required output of that device which
lasted for 15 minutes. Another electronic insect repeller is
introduced in [9] by Simeon M. I, Mohammed A.S and
Adebayo S. E. This system was developed based on basic
electronics components which are available to buy and easy to
implement. This system also has the ability to vary the
frequency automatically.
One of the main problems of conventional ultrasonic insect
repellent system is a generation of fixed frequency which is
not capable of repelling all kind of insects. Another common
phenomenon which is observed that the attack of the insects
on crops is mostly occurring on the night. The conventional
device needs to be controlled fully manually and uses battery
which needs to be recharged or interchanged. In this work, a
smart ultrasonic insect repellent device has presented. The aim
of this work is to present a smart device which will give more
fruitful results in the farmland than the conventional one. The
device is developed to overcome these limitations of
previously developed systems.
II. METHODOLOGY
The developed model device consists of three units as
illustrated in fig 1. Which are as follows: A) Ultrasonic
frequency generation unit, B) Solar charging unit and C)
Controlling unit.
Ultrasonic frequency generation unit is able to generate
fixed and variable range of frequency according to the user’s
choice. A rechargeable DC battery along with a solar panel
and solar charge controller circuit is employed to make a solar
charging unit.

Fig. 1. Functional block diagram of the proposed solar smart ultrasonic
insects repellent.
The controlling unit consists of three types of control
system. They are a) Control from any distance using DTMF
technology, b) Automatic night mode using LDR and c)
Manual Control Unit. The device has five modes. First three
models are able to generate different frequencies ranging from
20 KHz to 100 KHz. The other two modes are combination
modes and night mode.
III. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
A. Solar Charging Unit
A voltage regulator LM317 has been used for the purpose
of generating regulated desired voltage from a 10-watt solar
panel for charging purpose. The LM317 device is an
adjustable three terminal positive voltage regulator capable of
supplying more than 1.5 Amp over an output voltage range of
1.25 V to 37 V including various features[3].
Fig. 2. Simplified circuit diagram of the solar charging unit.
LM7805 has the characteristics of internal thermal
overload protection as well as able to provide 1.5 amperes
current with regulated 5 volts [5]. The output of the LM7805
is able to provide fixed voltage with accuracy to maintain the
voltage regulation which is required for proper operation of
the components. There are two resistors R1 and R2 amounting
values of 220 ohms and 330 ohms to set the output voltage
and to adjust the voltage variable resistor R3 has been used as
depicted in Fig 2.
Capacitor C1 is used for the purpose of substantial
protection against static discharge. One diode D1 has been
connected from the positive terminal of the solar panel to the
input terminal of LM317 to prevent backflow of current and
another diode D2 has been used from the output terminal to
the battery to prevent unwanted discharge.
B. Ultrasonic frequency Generation Unit
All kind of sounds is a function of frequency. Arduino Uno
microcontroller along with a crystal oscillator has been used to
generate ultrasonic sound. It’s employed to generate a square
wave of the specified frequency with specific duty cycle on a
digital pin. The pin is connected to the amplifier circuit based
on LM386 power amplifier with an 8-ohm as shown in Fig. 3.
The audio playback works using two of the Arduino
board’s timers. One timer is used to generate a high-frequency
square wave whose duty cycle corresponded to a particular
value (amplitude) in the audio sample. Another timer is used
to update this duty cycle at the required frequency.
Fig. 3. Circuit diagram of Amplifier circuit using LM386 power amplifier.
The microcontroller unit is able to operate in various
modes depending on user input. In each mode, the
microcontroller generated a square wave signal whose
frequency varied continuously to create frequency range.
C. Controlling Unit
Three controlling systems have been developed for the
proposed system as shown in Fig. 4. The first controlling
system based on DTMF. DTMF is a technology which can be
used to control the device from any distance by using GSM
mobile phone. A DTMF receiver MT8870 is used for
developing the remote control function which has the function
of the bandpass filter and a digital decoder with the capability
of decoding 16 DTMF tone to pairs to code 4 bits [6] as
illustrated in Fig 4. DTMF is the signal to be transmitted to the
Arduino Uno when the keypad buttons of the mobile phone
are pushed [7]. The keypad buttons of mobile phone produce
two different tones of high and low frequencies. The A, B, C,
D buttons are not used in a cell phone but reserved for the
special purpose. Mixed frequencies of the different range have
obtained through DTMF which is shown in Table I.
 IV. RESULT ANALYSIS

A. Ultrasonic Sound Generation

Developed device has both auto and the manual system so

that a farmer can keep it at a fixed frequency by manual
switches or if he wants that the device will generate different
frequencies within a range after certain time intervals, he can
keep the device in the auto mode. Implementation of proposed
device under testing environment is shown in fig 6.

Fig. 4. Circuit diagram of controlling unit using DTMF, LDR, and switch.

TABLE I. FREQUENCY RANGE IN DTMF TECHNOLOGY

Frequency 1209 1336 1477 1633
(Hz) (Hz) (Hz) (Hz)
697 Hz 1 2 3 A
770 Hz 4 5 6 B
852 Hz 7 8 9 C Fig. 6. Implementation of proposed device under testing environment.
941 Hz * 0 # D
There are five of modes of operations. Each mode has
The second controlling system is manual switches to set
difference frequency ranges for different purposes.
five modes. Five switches have been connected to digital pin
D2 to D6. The third controlling unit is employed using an 1) Mode 1: To activate mode 1, the user has to call the
LDR which has been interfaced with the analog pin A4 and mobile connected to the device and pressed 1. Mode 1 is dog
used to detect day or night to activate night mode. If the user
and cat repellent mode. It can create frequency ranging from
wants to operate the device only at night, then LDR would
22 KHz to 25 KHz for repellent of dogs and cats.
detect the night and activate the device.
2) Mode 2: When mode 2 is on by pressing mobile
16x2 LCD display has been interfaced with the button 2 or by a manual switch, insect repellent will be
microcontroller using SPI communication and LCD Display is activated. Frequency ranges between 31KHz to 44 KHz for
able to show various information about modes and insect’s repellent system is set which will be continuously
frequencies. Circuit diagram of the solar powered smart
amplified through the amplifier circuit. It is effective on
ultrasonic insect repellent device is shown in fig 5.
Mosquitoes, Fleas, House Fly, Spiders, and Cockroaches.
3) Mode 3: Mode 3 is for rat repellent which is activated
by pressing 3 of the keypad of the mobile or manual switch. If
mode 3 is activated than rats will be repelled by the ultrasonic
sound range created by the device. Frequency ranges changes
from 60 KHz to 72 KHz.
4) Mode 4 (Combination Mode): Combination mode is
also developed which can be activated by pressing 4 of
mobile’s keypad or by pressing switch 4 of the manual switch.
It will allow running mode 1 to mode 3 in a loop with a time
gap between every mode.
5) Mode 5 (Night Mode): Night mode can also be
activated by pressing 5 of DTMF keypad of mobile. It will
allow running combination mode only at night and remained
Fig. 5. Circuit diagram of the solar powered smart ultrasonic insect off during the daytime.
repellent system.
 After some analysis and testing, performance results were
obtained to see the nature of frequencies of various modes via
oscilloscope provided in the following fig 7.
This solar charger has the ability to regulate voltage along
with over voltage cut off facilities. This charger has been used
to charge the battery at constant voltage because the output
voltage is adjustable. The variation of current and voltage of
the battery with solar panel has been observed during
charging. It has been found that approximately 2 hours is
required to fully charge the battery using the 10-watt solar
panel as shown in Fig. 8.

13 2.6
Voltage (V) 2.5
12
Current (A)
2.4
11
(i) (ii) 2.3
10
2.2
9 Di

Current (A)
Voltage (V)
sc 2.1
ha
8 rg
ing 2.0

7 1.9

6 1.8

1.7
5
1.6
(iii) (iv) 4
1.5
Fig. 7. The output waveform of ultrasonic sounds with frequencies of 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
(i) 8.22 KHz, (ii) 9.44 KHz, (iii) 10.40 KHz and (iv) 12.59 KHz. Time (minutes)

Tests have been done using a rat in the cage to determine if

the developed system is able to create any effect on living
creature. The rat showed disturbed behavior when ultrasonic
sound was varying between 60-72 kHz frequency ranges
which proved that the developed system is effective to repel
harmful creatures for agriculture system.
B. Solar Charging System
A distinct feature has added in this study is that the battery
of the gadget will be powered up by the sunlight
automatically. Hence extra power source to charge up the
battery of the system will not be required. 10-watt rating solar
panel has been used along with a solar charge controller in this
project to charge a 12-volt battery.
13.0
Fig. 9. Voltage variation with time while discharging.
Besides the discharging states of the battery has also been
taken into consideration. Fig.9 shows voltage variation with
time while discharging. With fully charged battery, the device
can be run up to approximately 12 hours with proposed
design. However, better performance can be achieved with a
high efficient battery and solar panel.
C. Comparison with Previous developed System
In [4] a system has been proposed by Nur Najiah Binti
Mohd Nasir where the ultrasonic sensor has been used to repel
the harmful insects. In this paper, some analysis has been done
studying the factor about the ultrasonic sensor and its effect on
the insect. But there is no exact mention of the accurate
2.50 method which was used to implement the system.

2.45
In the developed system, the proper mentioning of working
12.5
principle of the developed system is done with the proper
implementation of the system using Arduino along with
12.0 2.40
multiple controlling modes to control the developed system
from any remote place.
Current (A)
Voltage (V)

ng

11.5 2.35
gi

An electronic insect repellent system has been presented by

ar
Ch

2.30
Simeon M. I, Mohammed A.S and Adebayo S. E. in [9] which
11.0
has the ability to vary frequency automatically. This system is
developed with very traditional electronic components of the
10.5 2.25
astable multivibrator, D flip-flop, PNP and NPN transistors
Voltage (V)
Current (A) which may be less effective in some conditions whereas
10.0 2.20 developed solar powered smart ultrasonic insects repellent
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
with DTMF and manual control has used latest components
Time (minutes)
and technology.
Another additional feature which has made the system
Fig. 8. Voltage and current variation of a solar panel with respect to time distinctive is the attachment of solar charging system using a
while charging from the sun.
solar panel and solar charge controller. Consequently, it has
allowed using no external power source to power up the friendly as its charging system is fully depended on a solar
developed system. Table II is showing the comparison panel.
between different types of insect repellent system. However, better performance can be obtained with high
efficient solar panel i.e. thin film solar panels which have low
TABLE II. COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSECT weight compared to the conventional silicon solar panel. And
REPELLENT SYSTEM WITH DEVELOPED SYSTEM this will reduce the overall weight of the apparatus. Although
Different types of Insect Repellent System
this study evaluates the effects of ultrasound waves against
Electronic Solar Powered
pests and bugs further studies of ultrasonic waves as an
Features Smart Smart effective medium of controlling pest behavior are also still
Pest Smart
Insect Repeller Insect
Repeller
Repeller Ultrasonic open.
Using Ultrasonic With Insects
Sensor [4] Using
Ultrasonic
Automatic Repellent With REFERENCES
Frequency DTMF And
Sensor [4] [1] N. Aflitto and T. DeGomez, "Sonic Pest Repellents", The University of
Variation[9] Manual Control
Arizona Cooperative Extension, pp. 1-4, 2015.
Ultrasonic Sound
Yes Yes Yes [2] S. Jhaveri, R. Singh and T. Hiremani, "Electronic Pest Repellent",
Generation
www.ee.iitb.ac.in,2009.[Online].Available:www.ee.iitb.ac.in/uma/~wel
Automatic No Yes Yes
/wel45/public_html/edl09s/b01.pdf.
Frequency Variation
[3] "LM317 3-Terminal Adjustable Regulator", www.ti.com, 2016.
Manual Frequency No No Yes
[Online]. Available: http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm317.pdf.
Variation
[4] Nur Najiah Binti Mohd Nasir, "Design A Smart Insect Repeller Using
DTMF Control No No Yes Ultrasonic Sensor", Faculty Of Electrical & Electronics Engineering,
Manual Control Yes Yes Yes Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 2012.
Solar charging No No Yes [5] "LM340, LM340A and LM7805 Family Wide VIN 1.5-A Fixed
Capability Voltage Regulators", www.ti.com, 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm7805.pdf.
V. CONCLUSION [6] Art J.S., Caraballo J., and Duff R. “DTMF Technology applied to the
Identification and Control of a Small Mobile Robot”, Tecnologias
The proposed device model has been implemented for the Aplicadas a la Ensenanza de la Electronica (Technologies Applied to
agricultural system of Bangladesh but at the same time, this Electronics Teaching) (TAEE), June 2014; pp 1 – 6.
can be suitable for other domestic purposes. Farmers can keep [7] Yun Chan Cho and Jae Wook Jeon, “Remote Robot Control System
based on DTMF of Mobile Phone”, The IEEE International conference
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their necessity. Considering the economic and environmental [8] C. Andrade and V. Bueno, “Evaluation of Electronic Mosquito-
impact of conventional chemical pesticides, this ultrasonic Repelling Devices Using Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera:
sound based technology is far better. Culicidae)", Neotropical Entomology, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 497-499,
2001.
Conventional noise system and chemical pesticides bring [9] Simeon M. I, Mohammed A.S and Adebayo S. E., "Development and
sound and air pollution respectively which is harmful to preliminary testing of an electronic pest repeller with automatic
human body. The smart ultrasonic sound repellent device frequency variation", International Journal of Engineering Science
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