REAL TIME CAR BATTERY AND LOW VOLTAGE ALERT SYSTEM

INDEX

ABSTRACT BLOCK DIAGRAM POWER SUPPLY COMAPRATOR RECHARBLE BATTERY TRANSISTOR DRIVER RELAY ADVANTAGES APPLICATIONS CONCLUSION REFERENCES

ABSTRACT

Abstract: This project is designed to know the voltage level of a battery from the number of LEDs that are glowing. It uses ten LEDs in all. So if three LEDs glow, it indicates battery capacity of 30 per cent. Unlike in mobile phones where the battery-level indicator function is integrated with other functions. This project uses ten comparators, which are internally assembled in the voltage divider network based on the current-division rule. So it divides the battery level into ten parts. The circuit derives the power supply for its operation from the battery of the device itself. It uses ten LEDs wired in a 10-dot mode. The use of different coloured LEDs makes it easier to recognise the voltage level on the basis of the calibration made. Red LEDs indicate battery capacity of less than 40 per cent. Orange LEDs indicate battery capacity of 40 to less than 70 per cent and green LEDs indicate battery capacity of 70 to under 100 per cent.

The brightness of the LEDs can be adjusted by varying the value of preset. Diode is used to prevent the circuit from reverse-polarity battery connection. The tenth LED glows only when the battery capacity is full, i.e., the battery is fully charged. When the battery is fully charged, relay-driver transistor T1 conducts to energise relay RL1. This stops the charging through normally-open (N/O) contacts of relay. For calibration, connect 15V variable, regulated power supply and initially set it at 3V. Slowly adjust VR1 until LED1 glows.

`This project uses regulated 12V, 750mA power supply for charging the battery. 7812 three terminal voltage regulator is used for voltage regulation. Bridge type full wave rectifier is used to rectify the ac out put of secondary of 230/18V step down transformer.

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Charge Full indicator

Battery under test

10 comparato rs built-in IC

Charge Medium indicator

Charge Low indicator

Driver Circuit

Relay

Step down T/F

Bridge Rectifier

Filter Circuit

Regulato r

Power supply to all sections

POWER SUPPLY DESIGN

POWER SUPPLY: The input to the circuit is applied from the regulated power supply. The a.c. input i.e., 230V from the mains supply is step down by the transformer to 12V and is fed to a rectifier. The output obtained from the rectifier is a pulsating d.c voltage. So in order to get a pure d.c voltage, the output voltage from the rectifier is fed to a filter to remove any a.c components present even after rectification. Now, this voltage is given to a voltage regulator to obtain a pure constant dc voltage.

FILTER 230V AC 50Hz

D.C Output

Step down transformer

Bridge Rectifier

Fig 4: Power supply

H F

Regulator

Transformer: Usually, DC voltages are required to operate various electronic equipment and these voltages are 5V, 9V or 12V. But these voltages cannot be obtained directly. Thus the a.c input available at the mains supply i.e., 230V is to be brought down to the required voltage level. This is done by a transformer. Thus, a step down transformer is employed to decrease the voltage to a required level.

Fig 5: Transformer Rectifier: The output from the transformer is fed to the rectifier. It converts A.C. into pulsating D.C. The rectifier may be a half wave or a full wave rectifier. In this project, a bridge rectifier is used because of its merits like good stability and full wave rectification.

Fig 6: Rectifier The Bridge rectifier is a circuit, which converts an ac voltage to dc voltage using both half cycles of the input ac voltage. The Bridge rectifier circuit is shown in the figure. The circuit has four diodes connected to form a bridge. The ac input voltage is applied to the diagonally opposite ends of the bridge. The load resistance is connected between the other two ends of the bridge. For the positive half cycle of the input ac voltage, diodes D1 and D3 conduct, whereas diodes D2 and D4 remain in the OFF state. The conducting diodes will be in series with the load resistance RL and hence the load current flows through RL. For the negative half cycle of the input ac voltage, diodes D2 and D4 conduct whereas, D1 and D3 remain OFF. The conducting diodes D2 and D4 will be in series with the load resistance RL and hence the current flows through RL in the same direction as in the previous half cycle. Thus a bi-directional wave is converted into a unidirectional wave.

Fig 7: Bridge rectifier

Filter: Capacitive filter is used in this project. It removes the ripples from the output of rectifier and smoothens the D.C. Output received from this filter is constant until the mains voltage and load is maintained constant. However, if either of the two is varied, D.C. voltage received at this point changes. Therefore a regulator is applied at the output stage. Voltage regulator: As the name itself implies, it regulates the input applied to it. A voltage regulator is an electrical regulator designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage level. In this project, power supply of 5V and 12V are required. In order to obtain these voltage levels, 7805 and 7812 voltage regulators are to be used. The first number 78 represents positive supply and the numbers 05, 12 represent the required output voltage levels. The L78xx series of three-terminal positive regulators is available in TO-220, TO-220FP, TO-3, D2PAK and DPAK packages and several fixed output voltages, making it useful in a wide range of applications. These regulators can provide local on-card regulation, eliminating the distribution problems associated with single point regulation. Each type employs internal current limiting, thermal shut-down and safe area protection, making it essentially indestructible. If adequate heat sinking is provided, they can deliver over 1 A output current. Although designed primarily as fixed voltage regulators, these devices can be used with external components to obtain adjustable voltage and currents.

Comparator

In electronics, a comparator is a device that compares two voltages or currents and switches its output to indicate which is larger. They are commonly used in devices such as Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). An operational amplifier (op-amp) has a well balanced difference input and a very high gain. This parallels the characteristics of comparators and can be substituted in applications with low-performance requirements. In theory, a standard op-amp operating in open-loop configuration (without negative feedback) may be used as a low-performance comparator. When the non-inverting input (V+) is at a higher voltage than the inverting input (V-), the high gain of the op-amp causes the output to saturate at the highest positive voltage it can output. When the non-inverting input (V+) drops below the inverting input (V-), the output saturates at the most negative voltage it can output. The op-amp's output voltage is limited by the supply voltage. An op-amp operating in a linear mode with negative feedback, using a balanced, split-voltage power supply, (powered by VS) its transfer function is typically written as: Vout = Ao(V1 V2). However, this equation may not be applicable to a comparator circuit which is non-linear and operates open-loop (no negative feedback). In practice, using an operational amplifier as a comparator presents several disadvantages as compared to using a dedicated comparator: Op-amps are designed to operate in the linear mode with negative feedback. Hence, an op-amp typically has a lengthy recovery time from saturation. Almost all op-amps have an internal compensation capacitor which imposes slew rate limitations for high frequency signals. Consequently an op-amp makes a sloppy comparator with propagation delays that can be as slow as tens of microseconds. Since op-amps do not have any internal hysteresis an external hysteresis network is always necessary for slow moving input signals.

The quiescent current specification of an op-amp is valid only when the feedback is active. Some op-amps show an increased quiescent current when the inputs are not equal.

A comparator is designed to produce well limited output voltages that easily interface with digital logic. Compatibility with digital logic must be verified while using an op-amp as a comparator.

Some multiple-section opamps may exhibit extreme channel-channel interaction when used as comparators.

Many opamps have back to back diodes between their inputs. Opamp inputs usually follow each other so this is fine. But comparator inputs are not usually the same. The diodes can cause unexpected current through inputs.

Rechargeable battery

Rechargeable battery
A rechargeable battery or storage battery is a group of one or more electrochemical cells. They are known as secondary cells because their electrochemical reactions are electrically reversible.

Rechargeable batteries come in many different shapes and sizes, ranging anything from a button cell to megawatt systems connected to stabilize an electrical distribution network. Several different combinations of chemicals are commonly used, including: lead-acid, nickel cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-ion), and lithium ion polymer (Li-ion polymer). Rechargeable batteries have lower total cost of use and environmental impact than disposable batteries. Some rechargeable battery types are available in the same sizes as disposable types. Rechargeable batteries have higher initial cost, but can be recharged very cheaply and used many times.

Rechargeable batteries are used for automobile starters, portable consumer devices, light vehicles (such as motorized

wheelchairs, golf carts, electric bicycles, and electric forklifts), tools, and uninterruptible power supplies. Emerging applications in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles are driving the technology to reduce cost and weight and increase lifetime.

Normally, new rechargeable batteries have to be charged before use; newer low self-discharge batteries hold their charge for many months, and are supplied charged to about 70% of their rated capacity. Grid energy storage applications use rechargeable batteries for load leveling, where they store electric energy for use during peak load periods, and for renewable energy uses, such as storing power generated from photovoltaic arrays during the day to be used at night. By charging batteries during periods of low demand and returning energy to the grid during periods of high electrical demand, load-leveling helps eliminate the need for expensive peaking power plants and helps amortize the cost of generators over more hours of operation. The US National Electrical Manufacturers Association has estimated that U.S. demand for rechargeable batteries is growing twice as fast as demand for nonrechargeables.

CHARGING AND DISCHARGING During charging, the positive active material is oxidized, producing electrons, and the negative material is reduced, consuming electrons. These electrons constitute the current flow in the external circuit. The electrolyte may serve as a simple buffer for ion flow between the electrodes, as in lithium-ion and nickel-cadmium cells, or it may be an active participant in the electrochemical reaction, as in lead-acid cells.

Fig21: charging of a secondary cell battery.

Fig22: Battery charger

Fig23: A solar-powered charger for rechargeable batteries

The energy used to charge rechargeable batteries usually comes from a battery charger using AC mains electricity. Chargers take from a few minutes (rapid chargers) to several hours to charge a battery. Most batteries are capable of being charged far faster than simple battery chargers are capable of; there are chargers that can charge consumer sizes of NiMH batteries in 15 minutes. Fast charges must have multiple ways of detecting full charge (voltage, temperature, etc.) to stop charging before onset of harmful overcharging. Rechargeable multi-cell batteries are susceptible to cell damage due to reverse charging if they are fully discharged. Fully integrated battery chargers that optimize the charging current are available. Attempting to recharge non-rechargeable batteries with unsuitable equipment may cause battery explosion Flow batteries, used for specialised applications, are recharged by replacing the electrolyte liquid. Battery manufacturers' technical notes often refer to VPC; this is volts per cell, and refers to the individual secondary cells that make up the battery. For example, to charge a 12 V battery (containing 6 cells of 2 V each) at 2.3 VPC requires a voltage of 13.8 V across the battery's terminals. Non-rechargeable alkaline and zinc-carbon cells output 1.5V when new, but this voltage gradually drops with use. Most NiMH AA and AAA batteries rate their cells at 1.2 V, and can usually be used in equipment designed to use alkaline batteries up to an end-point of 0.9 to 1.2V

Reverse charging Subjecting a discharged cell to a current in the direction which tends to discharge it further, rather than charge it, is called reverse charging; this damages cells. Reverse charging can occur under a number of circumstances, the two most common being: When a battery or cell is connected to a charging circuit the wrong way round. When a battery made of several cells connected in series is deeply discharged.

When one cell completely discharges ahead of the rest, the live cells will apply a reverse current to the discharged cell ("cell reversal"). This can happen even to a "weak" cell that is not fully discharged. If the battery drain current is high enough, the weak cell's internal resistance can experience a reverse voltage that is greater than the cell's remaining internal forward voltage. This results in the reversal of the weak cell's polarity while the current is flowing through the cells.[3][4] This can significantly shorten the life of the affected cell and therefore of the battery. The higher the discharge rate of the battery needs to be, the better matched the cells should be, both in kind of cell and state of charge. In some extreme cases, the reversed cell can begin to emit smoke or catch fire. In critical applications using Ni-Cad batteries, such as in aircraft, each cell is individually discharged by connecting a load clip across the terminals of each cell, thereby avoiding cell reversal, then charging the cells in series.

Transistor as Switch

The circuit resembles that of the Common Emitter circuit we looked at in the previous tutorials. The difference this time is that to operate the transistor as a switch the transistor needs to be turned either fully "OFF" (Cut-off) or fully "ON" (Saturated). An ideal transistor switch would have an infinite resistance when turned "OFF" resulting in zero current flow and zero resistance when turned "ON", resulting in maximum current flow. In practice when turned "OFF", small leakage currents flow through the transistor and when fully "ON" the device has a low resistance value causing a small saturation voltage (Vce) across it. In both the Cutoff and Saturation regions the power dissipated by the transistor is at its minimum.

To make the Base current flow, the Base input terminal must be made more positive than the Emitter by increasing it above the 0.7 volts needed for a silicon device. By varying the Base-Emitter voltage Vbe, the Base current is altered and which in turn controls the amount of Collector current flowing through the transistor as previously discussed. When maximum Collector current flows the transistor is said to be Saturated. The value of the Base resistor determines how much input voltage is required and corresponding Base current to switch the transistor fully "ON".

Because a transistor's collector current is proportionally limited by its base current, it can be used as a sort of current-controlled switch. A relatively small flow of electrons sent through the base of the transistor has the ability to exert control over a much larger flow of electrons through the collector.

Suppose we had a lamp that we wanted to turn on and off with a switch. Such a circuit would be extremely simple as in Figure below(a).

For the sake of illustration, let's insert a transistor in place of the switch to show how it can control the flow of electrons through the lamp. Remember that the controlled current through a transistor must go between collector and emitter. Since it is the current through the lamp that we want to control, we must position the collector and emitter of our transistor where the two contacts of the switch were. We must also make sure that the lamp's current will move against the direction of the emitter arrow symbol to ensure that the transistor's junction bias will be correct as in Figure below(b).

(a) mechanical switch, (b) NPN transistor switch, (c) PNP transistor switch.

A PNP transistor could also have been chosen for the job. Its application is shown in Figure above(c).

The choice between NPN and PNP is really arbitrary. All that matters is that the proper current directions are maintained for the sake of correct junction biasing (electron flow going against the transistor symbol's arrow).

Going back to the NPN transistor in our example circuit, we are faced with the need to add something more so that we can have base current. Without a connection to the base wire of the transistor, base current will be zero, and the transistor cannot turn on, resulting in a lamp that is always off. Remember that for an NPN transistor, base current must consist of electrons flowing from emitter to base (against the emitter arrow symbol, just like the lamp current). Perhaps the simplest thing to do would be to connect a switch between the base and collector wires of the transistor as in Figure below (a).

Transistor: (a) cutoff, lamp off; (b) saturated, lamp on.

If the switch is open as in (Figure above (a), the base wire of the transistor will be left floating (not connected to anything) and there will be no current through it. In this state, the transistor is said to be cutoff. If the switch is closed as in (Figure above (b), however, electrons will be able to flow from the emitter through to the base of the transistor, through the switch and up to the left side of the lamp, back to the positive side of the battery. This base current will enable a much larger flow of electrons from the emitter through to the collector, thus lighting up the lamp. In this state of maximum circuit current, the transistor is said to be saturated.

Of course, it may seem pointless to use a transistor in this capacity to control the lamp. After all, we're still using a switch in the circuit, aren't we? If we're still using a switch to control the lamp -- if only indirectly -- then what's the point of having a transistor to control the current? Why not just go back to our original circuit and use the switch directly to control the lamp current?

Two points can be made here, actually. First is the fact that when used in this manner, the switch contacts need only handle what little base current is necessary to turn the transistor on; the transistor itself handles most of the lamp's current. This may be an important advantage if the switch has a low current rating: a small switch may be used to control a relatively high-current load. More important, the current-controlling behavior of the transistor enables us to use something completely different to turn the lamp on or off. Consider Figure below, where a pair of solar cells provides 1 V to overcome the 0.7 VBE of the transistor to cause base current flow, which in turn controls the lamp.

Solar cell serves as light sensor.

Or, we could use a thermocouple (many connected in series) to provide the necessary base current to turn the transistor on in Figure below.

A single thermocouple provides 10s of mV. Many in series could produce in excess of the 0.7 V transistor VBE to cause base current flow and consequent collector current to the lamp.

Even a microphone (Figure below) with enough voltage and current (from an amplifier) output could turn the transistor on, provided its output is rectified from AC to DC so that the emitter-base PN junction within the transistor will always be forward-biased:

Amplified microphone signal is rectified to DC bias the base of the transistor providing a larger collector current.

The point should be quite apparent by now: any sufficient source of DC current may be used to turn the transistor on, and that source of current only need be a fraction

of the current needed to energize the lamp. Here we see the transistor functioning not only as a switch, but as a true amplifier: using a relatively low-power signal to control a relatively large amount of power. Please note that the actual power for lighting up the lamp comes from the battery to the right of the schematic. It is not as though the small signal current from the solar cell, thermocouple, or microphone is being magically transformed into a greater amount of power. Rather, those small power sources are simply controlling the battery's power to light up the lamp. REVIEW: Transistors may be used as switching elements to control DC power to a load. The switched (controlled) current goes between emitter and collector; the controlling current goes between emitter and base. When a transistor has zero current through it, it is said to be in a state of cutoff (fully nonconducting). When a transistor has maximum current through it, it is said to be in a state of saturation (fully conducting).

RELAY

RELAYS: A relay is an electrically controllable switch widely used in industrial controls, automobiles and appliances. The relay allows the isolation of two separate sections of a system with two different voltage sources i.e., a small amount of voltage/current on one side can handle a large amount of voltage/current on the other side but there is no chance that these two voltages mix up.

Inductor

Fig: Circuit symbol of a relay Operation: When current flows through the coil, a magnetic field is created around the coil i.e., the coil is energized. This causes the armature to be attracted to the coil. The armatures contact acts like a switch and closes or opens the circuit. When the coil is not energized, a spring pulls the armature to its normal state of open or closed. There are all types of relays for all kinds of applications.

Fig: Relay Operation and use of protection diodes

Transistors and ICs must be protected from the brief high voltage 'spike' produced when the relay coil is switched off. The above diagram shows how a signal diode (eg 1N4148) is connected across the relay coil to provide this protection. The diode is connected 'backwards' so that it will normally not conduct. Conduction occurs only when the relay coil is switched off, at this moment the current tries to flow continuously through the coil and it is safely diverted through the diode. Without the diode no current could flow and the coil would produce a damaging high voltage 'spike' in its attempt to keep the current flowing. In choosing a relay, the following characteristics need to be considered: 1. The contacts can be normally open (NO) or normally closed (NC). In the NC type, the contacts are closed when the coil is not energized. In the NO type, the contacts are closed when the coil is energized.

2. There can be one or more contacts. i.e., different types like SPST (single pole single throw), SPDT (single pole double throw) and DPDT (double pole double throw) relays. 3. The voltage and current required to energize the coil. The voltage can vary from a few volts to 50 volts, while the current can be from a few milliamps to 20milliamps. The relay has a minimum voltage, below which the coil will not be energized. This minimum voltage is called the pull-in voltage. 4. The minimum DC/AC voltage and current that can be handled by the contacts. This is in the range of a few volts to hundreds of volts, while the current can be from a few amps to 40A or more, depending on the relay.

Applications

Applications

Power saving Used in cars

CONCLUSION

Conclusion:
The project REAL TIME CAR BATTERY
AND

LOW VOLTAGE ALERT SYSTEM is successfully tested

and implemented which is the best economical, affordable energy solution to common people. This can be used for many applications in rural areas where power availability is less or totally absence.

REFERENCE

REFERENCE

Text Books: Analog Devices and Design By Donald NC Wich Sensor Applications with GSM By Morris Hamington

Website: www.howstuffworks.com www.answers.com www.radiotronix.com www.WineYardProjects.com

Magazines: Electronics for you Electrikindia