1

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF MICRO CONTROLLER-BASED THREE-PHASED FAILURE

PROTECTION SYSTEM FOR INDUCTION MOTOR
By
Ibrahim Yusuf
Ibrahimyusuf226@gmail.com
Works Department of Federal Polytechnic P.M.B. 05 Bali Taraba State, Nigeria.
Abstract
This work “Design and Construction of Micro Controller-based three-Phased Failure
Protection System for Induction Motor” The method adopted is Micro Controller-based fault
detection and protection of Induction motor. This construction work will provide a solution to
the problem of frequent three phase failure as well as subsided supply being experienced in
our industrial application. It will also evolve a robust, efficient, and low-cost protection system
for three phase induction motor. The protection system should protect the motor from voltage
unbalancing, single phasing, under voltage, and over voltage are being faced by IM’s during
their course of operation. This simple electronic device can be connected between the three
phase supply and the three phase load (intermediate) which can be typically used as a
protection to three phase load. This research tends to develop for protection of three phase
induction motor from over voltage, under voltage, and single phasing. The proposed system is
tested with the setting of various pre-set values of parameters (i.e. ≤190 - ≥240). From the
results, it is observed that the results are satisfactory, reliable, gives quick response, cost
effective and highly versatile. the protection device has to operate quickly in order to restrict
the extent of the damage as much as possible.
Key Words: Induction Motor, three Phase, Over Voltage, Under Voltage and microcontroller.
Introduction
Induction motor is the most widely used motor in the industry due to its simple and rugged
construction. It requires least maintenance as compare to the other electrical motors. The
protection of induction motor plays an important role in its long Service life. Despite the fact
of high reliability of induction motors, the operating conditions may expose the machine into
different fault conditions. This failure may lead to machine shut down, thus causing industrial
production losses. Introduction motor running with protection system will have the following
advantages: High efficiency, load factor improvement, the life span of the motor increases up
to three years, applicable for all types of induction motors and wide ratings, easily installed for
industrial applications and provides maximum protection.
The main objective of the work is to evolve a robust, efficient, and low-cost protection system
for three phase induction motor. The protection system should protect the motor from voltage
unbalancing, single phasing, under voltage, and over voltage.
The proposed design can be also used for speed control, improvement of efficiency under poor
power quality service manually by introduction of a single two-way switch. Many researches
has been done in this area but they are costly and unfeasible in my area. The overall cost of the
protection equipment should not be more than 15% of the total cost of the actual machine.
Keeping this in mind the design has been proposed using ATmega328 microcontroller, relay
switch, relays, step down transformer, so that the overall cost is low. But the efficiency of the
protection scheme should not be compromised.
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Under normal operation, the supply to three phase load has to be balanced. A Phase failure in
three phase supply can be catastrophic to the load especially three phase induction motors. If
the phase supply is subsided, either one of the phase is too low or too high with respect to the
other two phases, as such the supply is not balanced hence the function of such machines is
disrupted. These types of failure can lead to the damage of coil insulations, and over heat
which can melt rubber brushes, armature windings and spindle bearings.
The main objective of the work is to evolve a robust, efficient, and low-cost protection system
for three phase induction motor. The protection system should protect the motor from voltage
unbalancing, single phasing, under voltage, and over voltage.
Literature Review
Induction motors are used in household and industrial application. Different types of ac
induction motor are available in the market. In spite of that ac induction motor are simpler in
design then the dc motor but various types of electrical fault take place. For example,
overvoltage, over-current, under voltage, under-current, over-temperature Such fault occurs
due to most essential parameters current, voltage, temperature this fault damage the motor.
Single phasing: Stated that three phase induction motor can continue to run when one phase of
the supply gone out of service. This may be due to any fuse blowing or opening of protective
device of the motor, at step-down transformer or at feeder end. At this condition the threephase
induction motor continue to run but the motor will heat up quickly and it should be protected
by removing it from the service at the instant of single phasing. When phase opens at step down
transformer or at feeder end, the stator and rotor losses increase to ten times and the shaft output
power decreases to negligible [Kersting, 2005].
Effect of Single-Phase Reclosing on Industrial Loads described that the for single phase fault
the three phase re-closers are widely employed on distribution feeders. The majority faults are
single phase. Its negative effect occurs on the other two phase customers, because the
distribution line is mainly supplying the load to single phase customers. If three phase reclosers
did not open from the service, and the problem arises for three phase industry. On an average
single phase fault occurs at 70%, two phase fault occurs at 20% and three phase fault
occurrence is 10% [Sutherland 2016].
Protecting Method for Induction Motor against Faults Due to Voltage Unbalance and Single
Phasing, proposed a technique to save the three phase induction motor from single phasing. In
this technique, Microcontroller Atmega 328has been used to sample the values of each phase
and converted them to low voltage ac by means of transformer. The signals are converted to
digital value using ADC converter [Sudha & Anbalgan 2017].
Induction motors operating with a combination of unbalanced voltages and over or under
voltages Examines the three phase induction motor under the influence of under voltage and
over voltage. The voltage at motor terminals may be higher than the nominal value in a
complex industrial system and can be well below from nominal value in a heavily loaded
industrial system. IEEE, NEMA and other power communities have different defined the
voltage unbalance [Pillay, Hofmann & Manyage, 2012].
Designed and Implemented an Automatic three phase failure protection, they explained the
need for an Automatic three phase failure protection for failure, its importance over a manual
three phase failure. In their work they explained how a manual three phase failure operates i.e.
the three phase failure separates the source between the motor and phases supply. [Aminu et
al, 2017]. In view of the above manual three phase failure system that involves manpower to
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control its operation, the importance attached to cases of medical operations in industries,
airports and even in lift in order to save life as fast as possible makes it important for the
construction of an automatic three phase failure protection which would solve the problem of
manpower and the danger likely to be encountered during the process.
Also made his own contribution as thus, explaining that the project takes into consideration
practical or real-life situations. He explains that the process of manually three phase failure
often results in wasted time and sometimes machine damage occurs due to human errors. These
can cause significant financial losses. He finally advised people to take to the use of automatic
three phase failure protection system. [Adamu et al, 2017].
Design and Construction Procedures
System Description
The basic idea for the development of this work is to provide safety to the industrial
motor/pump/lift Motor etc. If any of the phases, out of the three phases is missing motor stops
immediately and is automatic resumption of the work when the three phases are available.
The block diagram of system is shown in figure 1. Microcontroller is ATMEGA328 is used
with programming code which drives the whole system according to their characteristics.

Figure: 1 Block Diagram of the Study

Block diagram Description The block diagram of proposed system is above shown. It consists
of different units such as sensing, signal conditioning, controller, relay circuit, Liquid Crystal
display (LCD) and load unit. In the proposed system variable resistance (preset) is used for
adjusting reference voltages for different parameters such as over voltage, under voltage, single
phasing. The values are set for the max. 230/400 v, current 4.6/2.65 amp, temperature 50ºC. If
the value of any parameter goes beyond the reference value than the relay unit releases the
contact of the motor from the circuit. Hence the motor automatically turned–off. This is how
the Induction Motor can be protected easily from the faults using this ATmega 328 protection
system. This system can be tested with various different rated Induction Motors
Working Principle of Three Phase Induction Motor Protection System Using ATmega 328
This three phase induction motor protection system using pic microcontroller, works on the
principle of voltage and current measurements. For measuring the minimum and maximum
values of current and voltages, there are three phase voltage and current transformers are
installed within this system which are interfaced with current and voltage sensing circuits.
Similarly, these circuits are interfaced with microcontroller which is the main intelligent
controller of this three phase induction motor protection system. It is powered up with power
supply unit and is interfaced with LCD display and relay contactor unit. It is programmed in c
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language with the help of mikro/c software. The minimum and maximum values of current and
voltages are converted into digital values with the help of current, voltage sensing circuit and
then these values are given to microcontroller. These minimum and maximum values of current
and voltages are set by the user. After setting, the microcontroller continually checks the set
values if these are exceeded or below then it gives the trip signal to relay contractor unit. Which
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is connected in series with three phase induction motor. Then this relay contactor unit turned
off the three phase induction motor. Same work is done by this three phase induction motor
protection system during over temperature and vibration. In this whole system the LCD display
shows all condition during any fault occur 1) AVR Microcontroller:
The AVR has Harvard Architecture where program and data memory are separately placed
with an 8-bit RISC single chip microcontroller. It is the heart of the agricultural robot here. It
is one of the first microcontroller families to use on-chip flash memory for program storage
while other controllers used programmable ROM, EPROM or EEPROM. RISC-Reduced
Instruction Set Computing, this is a CPU designed strategy based on the insight that simplified
instruction can provide higher performance. AVR is most appropriate for battery powered
appliances. The main advantages of using this ATmega32 are its 8-bit high performance with
low power consumption and that it is based on enhanced RISC architecture with 131 powerful
instructions of which most of the instructions execute in one machine cycle. Highly Developed
RISC Architecture: 131 Efficient and Powerful Instructions, Most Execution in 1(Single)
Clock Cycle, 32x8 Working Registers for General Purpose, Completely Static Operation 2)
Switching Unit:
The relays implemented in this protection scheme are capable to pass 7A current at 300V AC.
6V are minimum required to operate the relay. switching: A relay is an electrically operated
switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to mechanically drive a switch, but added operating
principles also are used, such as solid-state relays. Relays are employed where it is essential to
switch a circuit through an independent low power signal, or when many circuits must be
switched by a single signal. Initially relays were installed in long distance telegraph circuits as
amplifiers: these relays repeated the signal entering in from a circuit and re-sending it to a
different circuit.
3) LCD Display: - LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display module and
find a wide range of applications. A 16x2 LCD display is very basic module and is very
commonly used in various devices and circuits. A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16 characters
per line and there are 2 such lines. In this LCD each character is displayed in 5x7 pixel matrix.
This LCD has two registers, namely, Command and Data
System Flowchart of the Study
The system software design is programmed such that the microcontroller constantly reads the
inputs signals from the star-connected three phase voltage divider circuits shown in figure 2.
When wrong sequence is detected, the controller turns the motor off via a switching circuit. A
sixty second delay is generated before another test is carried out. After sixty seconds delay, the
motor is turned on if the correct sequence is detected or remains off again for sixty seconds if
the wrong sequence or phase failure still persists.
Steps are given below of protection unit: Step
1: Start/ initial the port.
Step 2: Display: “Design and Construction of Micro Controller-based three-Phased Failure
Protection System for Induction Motor” by: Yusuf Ibrahim of Works Department of
Federal Polytechnic P.M.B. 05 Bali Taraba State Nigeria.
Step 3: Values of the Voltage are taken from the Voltage transformer.
Step 4: This value is given to the input of the ADC port of the ATMega328.
Step 5: ATMega328 convert the ADC input into calibrated programmed values.
Step 6: ATMega328 compares the values of voltages and current with the prescribed limits.
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Step 7: If the value goes beyond the prescribed limit, it will wait 300ms and then again check
the ADC input values.
Step 8: If the values are still beyond the prescribed limit, it will send 5V signal to the Relay
switch else 0V to relay switch.
Step 9: When relay switch will get the 5V signal, they close the circuit across the relay
Step 10: When the relay energizes, they will open the circuit between 3 phases R, Y, B and
three phase induction motor.
Step 11: Start from Step 3

Figure: 2 Flow Chart of the Study

Implementation of the Study

Figure: 3 Complete Circuit of the Study

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Performance Evaluation
The system was first tested on a breadboard before assembling on an overboard PCB and
performance of the system the system is expected to trip off whenever any of the following
conditions is met:
1. Single phase
2. Over voltage
3. Under voltage

Tests, Results and Discussions

The ability of the system to perform the above-mentioned tasks was tested and confirmed
satisfactory. In order to verify the correct functionality of the system, each component had to
be tested individually. To achieve the effective testing of these various components, the
following tools were used: Digital multimeter, Bread board, Light emitting diodes, MPLAB
simulation software. The testing was done on each and every component/section that make up
the circuit to ensure proper and satisfactory operation of the safe lock. The debugging was done
using the MPLAB; Each and every section of the code was debugged properly to ensure proper
functionality thus a step debugging was done. This is a facility in the MPLAB that enables you
step into program and at the same Time views the registers and flag settings.
Test on power supply:When terminal 1 is positive with respect to 2, diodes D1 and D3 conduct.
When terminal 2 is positive with respect to 1, diodes D2 and D4 would conduct, thereby giving
a pulsating D.C output as shown below:
Voltage , V

D1 & D3 D2 & D4
Time , t

Figure 4: Rectifier Output

The function of the filter is to smooth the pulsations present in the output voltage supplied by
the rectifier. In practice, no filter gives output voltage that is as ripple-free as that of a battery,
but it considerably reduces the ripple to certain extent. A capacitor is used to achieve the
filtering as shown below:
Voltage , V

Time , t

Figure 5: Rectified and Filtered Output

The power supply unit of +5V and +12V were tested for the output voltage under no-load and
full-load conditions.
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Under no-load, the voltage of +5V supply section was measured to be 4.96V while that of the
+12V supply was measured to be 11.95V. At full-load, the respective voltages were measured
as 4.85V and 11.82V.

Voltage Regulation (V.R) is given a × 100

For the units operating on +5V,

For the units operating on +12V

= 1.0
Switching Characteristics Over operating voltages range (unless otherwise noted)
PARAMETER TEST CONDITIONS MIN. TYP MAX. UNIT VDD = 5 V, 10-mV input over
divert r Output rise time 2.2 µs RP = 10 kΩ, VO = (0.1 to 0.9) × VDD = 5 V, 10-mV input
over divert f Output fall time 0.22 µs.
MPLAB Result: Parameter Test Conditions Min TYP Max Unit VDD = 5 V, 10-mV input
overdrive,t r Output rise time 2.2 µs RP = 10 kΩ, VO = (0.1 to 0.9) × VDD VDD = 5 V, 10mV
input overdrive,t f Output fall time 0.22 µs.

Figure 6: Result of outgoing

4.1.1 Single Phasing Test

The single phasing protection is available; system was tested for it capability to trip OFF when
one of the three phase power supply is not available as shown below in the table. Table 1:
Single Phasing Test
S/N Phase Voltage (V) Three Phase Load
1. Red, Yellow, Blue  ON
Yellow, Red, Blue  ,,
Blue, Yellow, Red  ,,
2. xxx, Yellow, Blue Red, ×OFF
xxx , Blue ×,,
Red , Yellow, xxx ×,,
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1. The protection system is ON or no tripping OFF the circuit. When R, Y, B phase’s

voltage values ranges between (≤190 - ≥240).
2. The protection system is tripping OFF the circuit. Whenever R or Y or B phase’s
voltage value is 0 - ˂190, the microcontroller identified one of the three phases is zero
voltage value, then relay tripped OFF the circuit, showing on LCD: R PHASE FAIL or
Y PHASE FAIL or B PHASE FAIL, as shown in Plate 1:
4.1.2 Over Voltage Test
The system was tested for its capability to trip OFF when over voltage is experience; the result
is as shown in table below.
Table 2: Over Voltage Test
S/N Main Voltage (V) Three Phase Load
1 ˂240 ×OFF
2 ≤190 - ≥240 ON

1. Whenever R or Y or B phase’s voltage become more than rated value (i.e.˂240), the
system identified then tripped OFF the circuit. And at that time showing on LCD R or
Y or B PHASE OVER VOLTAGE.
2. Whenever R or Y or B phase’s voltage within the range of the rated value (i.e ≤190 -
≥240), the system identified normal and then tripped ON the circuit, as shown in Plate
1:
4.1.3 Under Voltage Test
The system was tested for its capability to trip off when under voltage is experience; the result
is as shown in table below.
Table 3: Under Voltage Test
S/N Main Voltage (V) Three Phase Load
1. ˂190 ×OFF
2. ≥190 ON

1. Whenever R or Y or B phase’s voltage become Less than rated value (i.e.˂190), the
system identified then tripped OFF the circuit. And at that time showing on LCD R or
Y or B PHASE OVER VOLTAGE.
2. Whenever R or Y or B phase’s voltage is greater than or equal to the rated value (i.e
≥190), the system identified normal and then tripped ON the load.
From the results obtained, it can be seen that the microcontroller based Positioning System is
working efficiently and the results are satisfactory. As shown in Plate 2:
Experimental Setup: Hardware presented in the experimental setup is hard framed to protect it
from any mechanical damage and provide robustness. The base of setup was made up of hard
wood to provide mechanical strength and upper layer with black sheet is used. As shown in
Plate 1
Liquid crystal display:The LCD was used to interact with the user and at every point in time to
display the status of the system. The interfacing of the LCD to the device control unit is shown
below in Plate 2:
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Plate 1: Experimental Setup of Squirrel Cage Three Phase Induction running with protection
system

Plate 2: LCD display showing the motor voltages

Plate 3: System Testing with Squirrel Cage Three Phase Induction Motor
Discussion of Results: From the results obtained, it can be seen that the microcontroller based
Positioning System is working efficiently and the results are satisfactory.

5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

Protection of three phase induction motor from over voltage, under voltage, and single phasing
provide the smooth running of motor protection system increase its lifetime and efficiency.
Generally, these faults generated when supply system is violating its rating. In three phase
induction motor when running at rated voltage value and load these faults are not generated.
This work has come up with the technology of micro controller-based three phase failure
protection system. Consequently, using this protection system for industries, laboratories,
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money in banks and surgery is hospital. It can also be seen that three phase failure protection
system can save life and also reduce stress encountered when a manual three phase failure
protection system is used.

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