AIM OF PROJECT

The aim of the project is to demonstrate the underlying

principles of electrical conduction under the influence of
light. Various applications are possible by employing this
Simple principle such as (A) Automatic switching of
street lamps, (b) Intruder's alarm, (¢) Monming wake up
alarm, (d) Fire alarm, (e) Light intensity meters, (
Automatic elevator doors etc. to name a few.

In this project, I have demonstrated the intruder's alarm

in a simple manner which is easy to understand. The
heart of the project is an LDR or Light Dependent
Resistor. This project could have been done using a
photo-voltaic cell in place of LDR but the circuit would
have become complicated in the case of photocel

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 INTRODUCTION
A photoresistor or light-dependent resistor(LDR) s a
light-controlled variable resistor. The resistance of a
photoresistor decreases with increasing incident light
intensity; in other words, it exhibits Photoconductivity.
A photoresistor can be applied in light-sensitive
detector circuits, and light and dark activated switching
circuits. These resistors use pure semiconductors like
silicon or germanium. When the light falls on the LDR,
then the electrons get excited by the incident photons
and move from the valence band to the conduction band
and therefore the number of charge carriers increases. In
other words, the conductivity goes up.
Distinction needs to be made here between photocells
and LDRS. In a photocell, when it is excited by light
(photons), electricity is generated. Unlike photocells,
LDRS, do not generate electricity but only change their

conductivity
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 THEORY
Alight dependent resistor works on the principle of photo
conductivity. Photo conductivity is an electro-optical
phenomenon in which the
material's conductivity is
increased when light is
absorbed by the material.
Modem light dependent circut eymbo

resistors are made of

materials such as lead sulphide, lead selenide, indium
antimonide and most commonly cadmium sulphide
(Cds) and cadmium selenide.
When light falls ie. when the photons fall on the
material, the electrons in the alence band of the
semiconductor material are excited to the conduction
band. These photons in the incident light should have
energy greater than the band gap of the semiconductor
material to make the electrons jump from the valence

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band to the conduction band. Hence when light having9
enough energy strikes on Dark Averao Bright
Night Sunny Bright
Time Day Sunlight
the device, more and more
electrons are excited to the
conduction band which
results in large number of
Lightlntensity 1000
charge carriers. The result lumination (Flux)

of this process is more and more current starts flowing

through the device when the circuit is closed and hence

it is said that the resistan.ce of the device has been
decreased. This is the most common working principle of
LDR

This can be clearly seen from the graph. The resistance of

the LDR falls rapidly with the increasing intensity of the
incident light.

The converse is also true when light intensity is reduced

or cut off.

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The circuit uses two transistors, connected in series. The
base voltage of the first transistor is adjusted carefully
through the variable resistor (potentiometer) so that the

slightest increase in the base voltage can fire the

transistor Ti. Thus, when there is no light on the LDR,
the transistor remains un-fired. But when light flls on
the LDR, the LDR starts conducting and the net base
voltage of transistor T crosses the threshold voltage,

causing Ti to five. As a consequence, the collector

current of Ti drives transistor T2 and T2 begins to fire

The collector current of T2 is now large enough to

energize the relay. The relay gets energzed and changes
the contact position from 1 to 2. When light is cut off,

falls back less than the

the base voltage of Ti to

threshold voltage of its base -emitter junction and

therefore, the relay gets de -energized.

As stated earlier, the relay is connected to a buzzer

So, whenever, light is intewupted, the

through a battery.

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The same circuit can be rewired to reverse the effect of
light. Va. we can make the buzzer ring whenever, light is
present and interestingly this set up can be used as a
moming alarm.

Circuit Diagras
Now, let us understand how the switching takes place
when the LDR s illuminated by light. For the automatic

switching, we have used the following circuit consisting of

Transistors. One of the most common uses for transistors
in an electronic circuit is as sinmple switches. In short, a

transistor conducts

cunrent across the

LED
collector-emitter
T
path only when
sufficient voltage is

applied to its base.

oOV

When no voltage is present, the switch is

sufficient base
the switch is
off. When sufficient base voltage is present,
On.

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by an opaque object, the LDR stops receiving the incident
light and its resistance becomes high. This de -energizes
the relay and puts it to position-1 and the buzur starts

ringing
Thus, to summarize, we can say that the as long as the
light source is on and the LDR is illuminated, the buzzer
will not ring. But the moment, the light source is
interrupted, the buzer will start ringing.

We can Imagine the interruption of the light beam to be

caused by an intruder and hence this arrangement can
automatically detect any intruder by tuming on the
buzzer.

The buzzer is just one of the devices we have connected

to the relay. As such we can connect many devices to the
relay such as sirens, flashing lights or even an automatic
dialer to the nearest police station. This intruder alarm
can be easily set up in houses, banks, schools etc.

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As seen in the above diagram, a light source is positioned
behind the door on the right hand side and an LDR is
placed in the same line of vision at the opposite end of
the door. When the light beam falls on the LDR, it lowers

the resistance of the same and this activates the

switching transistor circuit. The transistor circuit

(described later) is connected to a relay which is in turn
connected to an extemal buzzer.

The relay is a special type of switch which is drien by its

magnetic coil. The relay has two positions. In de-
energized condition, position-1 will be active and in
energized condition, position-2 will be active.
When the circuit is powered, the relay goes to position-1
to which the buzzer is connected. Thus, the buzer will
start ringing. But when the light source is switched on,

the resistance of LDR falls and this drives the transistor

switching circuit and the relay gets energized. This puts

the relay switch in position-2, which cuts off the buzzer.
In this condition, whenever the light beam is intercepted

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PROCEDURE FOLLOWED
An empty cardboard box was used to mimic a house. An
opening was cut on the box to present a door. Behind
the door, a light source is placed and in the line of vision
of the light source, an LDR is also placed.
A circuit is connected to the LDR which switches on a
relay when the light beam is intercepted. A schematic

diagram of the set-up is shown below

BUZZER

NTERRUPTION
RELAY

LIGHT BEAM

TRANSISTOR LIGHT SOURCE

CIRCUT

HOUSE DOOR

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APPARATUS REQURED
The project consists of the following apparatus:
1. Light source (white, utra-violet and laser)
2.LDR

3.Switching circuit

4.Relay
5. Buzzer

6. Batteries

7.Housing for the above

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relay goes to position-1 where, the buzzer is connected
and the buzzer starts ringing.
The ringing buzer wards off the intruder and also alerts
the neighbors about the intrusion. In addition to the

buzer, one can also connect a

high intensity flash light
to warn the people in the neighborhood about the
intrusion
Needless to say, one has also to install a stealth switch
that is known only to the owner so that the owner can
disable it for his own entry

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 0BSERVATION
In the set up described, the following observations were
made by (a) varying the nature of light souree, (b)
varying the translucency of the interceptor object.

Table of observations
S. No Type of Light| Material of Resut
Source Interceptor
White light Opaque Buzzer Rings
Transparent Buzzer does
not ring.
Near ultra- Opaque Buzzer Rings
violet Transparent Buzzer does

not ring.
Low intensity Opaque Buzzer Rings
red laser Transparent Buzzer does
not ring.

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Extension of scope in future
The device was also tested under invisible light using a
TV remote control as an infrared light source. The same
observations were made as above. This extends the scope
of the project to the invisible light sources such as
ultraviolet and infrared. The advantage is that; we can
dupe the intruder by using invisible light as the light rays
will not be visible even in the night
Another interesting application that can be thought of is
an automatic people counter that can be used to
measure the number of people traversing a certain

passage or entrance in an auditorium or theatre. t can

also be used as a "traffic counter in check posts and toll

gates. For this, we have to simply
replace the buzzer with a digital
.000 counter. A typical digital counter
is shown in the acompanying

picture.

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 CONCLUSION
Based on the observation above, it can be concluded that
the LDR based electronic switch can be successfully
deployed for the following applications:

1. Intrader detection / burglar's alarm for home uses.

2. Anti-theft alarm for Banks and offices.

3. People Counter at Auditoriums

4.Vehicle counter at traffic check posts.

PRECAUTIONS
The project uses certain devices that can be harmfiul to
humans and animals if proper caution and care are not

observed.

1.Laser diode: Although we have used a low intensity

laser, this can be harmful if aimed accidently at the

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 eyes or if the reflected beam is seen through naked
eye. t is suggested to wear
protective sun-glasses
while assembling positioning the light source.
2. Ultraviolet LED: UV LED with wavelengths between
315 and 400 nm, which emits the least
energetic
and harmful type of UV light.
However, prolonged
cxposure should be avoided which can damage the
skin and eyes.

3. Buzzer: This device emits high frequency audio

sounds that can damage the ears when put close to
the ears or heard for prolonged period.
4.The LDR: Should a need arise to destroy the project,
care should be taken to dispose off the LDRproperly
as it contains harmful chemicals that can damage

the environment

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
HELP FROM
http://ww http:/w THE INTERNET

HELP FROM
PARENTS

1. www.google.com

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/

3. www.electrica l4u.com

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