Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Background of study

In modern society, it is impossible to imagine house or building without a fire accident detector.

Modern houses require a continuous installation of fire detector. Not only industry, but also in

the household. Take the case of a duplex that experience a fire accident without a detector that

means everything in that building will get burnt even human beings. But in a case whereby fire

alarm is installed that means everyone in that building will be alerted and also fire security

bodies will also be informed for quick security action. The same thing can also happen to our

offices and industries. In order to notify residence of any building in the presence of fire

accident, a fire alarm system is used. An automatic fire alarm system is designed to detect the

unwanted presence of fire by monitoring environmental changes associated with combustion. In

general, a fire alarm system is classified as either automatically actuated, manually actuated, or

both. Automatic fire alarm systems are intended to notify the building occupants to evacuate in

the event of a fire or other emergency, report the event to an off-premises location in order to

summon emergency services, and to prepare the structure and associated systems to control the

spread of smoke and fire.

Fire starts as a result of a process call ignition, this is when right and sufficient quantities of fuel

and oxygen mixture is expose heat or ambient temperature above the flash point of the mix. The

use and control of fire by humans can be traced back to about one million years ago. A control

fire is very important to humans as it allows us to cook, keep warm, and use as light in the night.

Uncontrolled fire is hazardous to human and can lead to destruction of lives and properties.

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Technological advancement, industrialization natural disasters and mankind dependence on

energy has exposed us uncontrolled fire also known as fire disaster. Fire disaster can occur

naturally in the case of lightening and volcanos or manmade through gas explosion, electric fault,

etc. This can occur in homes, farms, forest, industries and so on. The first step to control and

uncontrolled fire is to have knowledge of its existence.

Due to the fast development in telecommunication technologies, it is believed that wireless

communication is a good practice for remote sensing and automation in industrial and residential

locations. Nigeria, like any developing country, is witnessing an era of rapid economic and social

development. This development brings with it, new technologies, new materials, power sources

and telecommunication equipment. Modern industries are springing up housing volatile materials

and highly sophisticated equipment that increase the menace of fire. Concern for safety of lives

and properties calls for an efficient and dependable fire protection system. This has enhanced the

application of new technologies in the fire field. Sensors are able to consider certain dynamic and

static variables such as humidity, the type of fuel, slope of the land, the direction and the speed

of the wind, smoke, to mention a few.

The reports of most of the panel of enquiries on fire accidents in Nigeria, oral interview of some

fire experts and personal experience confirmed the fact that electrical fault is a major source of

fire accident. Hence, realization that a fire protection system capable of automatically switching

off electrical power supply to the affected area in addition to the traditional role of raising an

alarm and triggering a sprinkler or other automatic fire lighting system is going to be more

efficient than the existing systems which leaves that important role unaddressed. Now a day’s

automatic fire detection and control is becoming very essential to reduce the fire in the building

and industry. Automatic fire alarm system provides real-time surveillance, monitoring and

2
automatic alarm. A key aspect of fire protection is to identify a developing fire emergency in a

timely manner, and to alert the building's occupants and fire emergency organizations. This is the

role of fire detection and alarm systems. Generally, fire detectors are designed to respond at an

early stage to one more of the four major characteristics of combustion, heat, smoke, flame or

gas. No single type of detector is suitable for all types of premises or fires. Heat detectors

respond to the temperature rise associated with a fire and smoke detector respond to the smoke or

gas generated due to fire.

Thus, proposed in this project is the design and implementation of a fire alarm system with SMS

notification, this idea is economically efficient as well because the system proposed is intelligent

and reduces human intervention and labor extensively and execution can be gotten at a very low

cost providing extensive environmental, property and life safety.

1.2 Problem Statement

The Nigerian environment is considered to be hazards prone brought about by man-made and

natural disasters due to its geographic circumstance which is exposed to catastrophic, floods

droughts and fires. Based on the reports; devastations of these natural hazards and disasters

including fires have increased in recent years. Our lifestyle of negligence and adapting to

emerging technological solutions puts us at the risk of loss to fire and related occurrences as seen

in markets, homes and other public places. The risk of fire occurrence is high especially during

the dry season, Christmas and New Year celebration due to firecrackers. In the case where house

fires are prevalent, it has effect to derail the economic growth, destroy social and physical capital

including infrastructures, which resort to reallocation of ongoing programs to finance relief

operations to fatalities and inhabitants and reconstruction efforts which diverts funds to social

3
services. Fires are considered natural and manmade hazards. In fire prevention and fire

suppression; it requires the adoption of uniform fire safety standards, the incorporation of fire

safety, construction and provision of protective and safety devices in buildings and structures.

1.3 Objective of the study

The objective of the study is to design and construct an efficient and cost-effective system that

helps in minimizing the effect of fire disaster by sensing and detecting potential fire disaster in

real time and sending an alert via SMS for necessary emergency action to avoid or minimize loss

of life and properties.

1.4 Significance of the study

Fire emergencies occur anytime and anywhere, in many instances when the owners of the house

or location are not on site. The system alerts the owners of the house to take remote action that

can help in avoiding or minimizing the effect of fire disaster.

1.5 Scope and limitation of the study

The scope of this study is as follows

1. Design a system that will detect presence of fire at the slightest exposure using highly

sensitive smoke detector, temperature sensor and microcontroller.

2. Interface the microcontroller with a GSM module and SIM card (subscriber identification

module) to enable sending of SMS when fire is detected.

3. Blow or make an audible alarm to attract the attention of people in proximity with the fire

incident.

However, the limitations of the study are

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 1. This system only sends an SMS and sounds an alarm, it does not activate an automatic

sprinkler or switch off electrical power supply when there is fire.

2. The system utilizes a one-way mode communication.

1.6 Organization of the report

Chapter 1: This covers the introduction, background of study, problem statement and other

preliminary aspect of the study.

Chapter 2: This chapter includes the theory behind the study as well as literature review of past

similar research.

Chapter 3: Chapter 3 has to do with methodology of the research, design calculations and data

sheets of some components selected for implementing the project.

Chapter 4: This covers the methods adopted in testing the system, test result, casing and

packaging information.

Chapter 5: This chapter outlines the observations, recommendation and conclusion.

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 Chapter Two: Literature Review

2.0 Introduction

Fire accident as an unplanned and undesirable event that brings damages to social wealth and

human life needs to be prevented at all cost. In order to prevent losses accrued from fire

accidents, various alarm systems have been developed such as smoke detectors, temperature

sensor-based systems etc. With the advancement of technology more automated fire gadgets are

now available among which is this design. The availability of GSM technology is now

incorporated into the fire alarm system in order to combat and prevent the menace that could be

caused by fire accident. This project presents the design and implementation of a cost-effective

and reliable automated GSM based fire alarm system. The device will be able to monitor the

temperature of the environment, the smoke level, send SMS alert to an inbuilt GSM number

when necessary.

2.1 GSM Architecture

Figure2.1 Picture of a GSM module

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GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Group especial Mobile), is a standard

developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). It was created to describe

the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile phones and is now

the default global standard for mobile communications – with over 90% market share, operating in

over 219 countries and territories. GSM system was developed as a digital system using time division

multiple access (TDMA) technique for communication purpose. A GSM digitizes and reduces the

data, then sends it down through a channel with two different streams of client data, each in its own

particular time slot. The digital system has an ability to carry 64 kbps to 120 Mbps of data rates.

A GSM network consists of the following components:

 A Mobile Station: It is the mobile phone which consists of the transceiver, the display

and the processor and is controlled by a SIM card operating over the network.

 Base Station Subsystem: It acts as an interface between the mobile station and the

network subsystem. It consists of the Base Transceiver Station which contains the radio

transceivers and handles the protocols for communication with mobiles. It also consists

of the Base Station Controller which controls the Base Transceiver station and acts as a

interface between the mobile station and mobile switching center.

 Network Subsystem: It provides the basic network connection to the mobile stations.

The basic part of the Network Subsystem is the Mobile Service Switching Centre which

provides access to different networks like ISDN, PSTN etc. It also consists of the Home

Location Register and the Visitor Location Register which provides the call routing and

roaming capabilities of GSM. It also contains the Equipment Identity Register which

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 maintains an account of all the mobile equipment wherein each mobile is identified by

its own IMEI number. IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity.

2.2 Messaging Over GSM Network

GSM is the world’s most popular standard for mobile telephony systems. GSM is used by over 3

billion people all over the world. GSM also pioneered the low-cost implementation of the Short

Message Service (SMS) which allows parties to exchange delay tolerant short text messages. The

popularity and coverage of cellular networks allows the use of SMS service.

According to the analysis of real data taken from a real GSM network in India, SMS delivery success

rate is found to be 94.3%. Of these successfully delivered messages, 73.3 arrived to their destination

within 10 seconds. About 5% of them required more than 1 hour to reach the destination.

Using SMS for AMR will certainly increase the flow of messages tremendously. GSM uses several

cryptographic algorithms for security. The development of UMTS introduces an optional Universal

Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), which uses a longer authentication key to give greater security, as

well as mutually authenticating the network and the user.

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 Fig. 2.2 GSM Network Structure

2.3 Fire and Fire Alarm Systems

Fire is a self-sustaining, chemical chain reaction with varying degrees of light and heat.

Temperature and smoke sensing alert system is motivated to sense the temperature and smoke

and send the alert in an intelligent fashion in case of emergency situation due to fire blow. In

every country in the world the fire alarming system is considered to be essential for lots of

physical structures including industries, shopping malls and private houses.

Fire is made up of four components:

 Fuel

 Oxygen

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  Heat

 Chemical Chain Reaction

By removing one of these four components the fire will go out. Fire extinguishers are designed

to do just that.

Figure2.3 Fire Tetrahedron

A fire alarm system is used primarily to evacuate the premises in the event of occurrence of a fire

condition and then secondarily to report the fire to the proper authorities. The fire alarm system

recognizes four different states or conditions: normal, alarm, trouble and supervisory.

Simplistically speaking, a basic system consists of a fire alarm control panel (FACP) to which

are connected initiating (input) devices, notification (output) appliances, and a source of

operating power, and a source of standby power in the event the operating power should fail. As

seen in the figure below. The function of a fire alarm control panel is basically threefold:

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1) Accept an alarm or supervisory input from an initiating device.

2) Provide an alarm output to the notification appliance(s).

3) Monitor the integrity of the panel itself and also the wiring to the above devices.

Fig. 2.4 Basic Conventional Fire Alarm System

Fire alarm systems have changed dramatically over the past few years, primarily due to the

advent of the low-priced microprocessor. Basically, there are two different approaches used for

the fire alarm control panel, conventional and addressable.

The minimum basic components of a conventional system are:

1. A locked fire alarm control panel listed for the purpose by a Nationally Recognized

Testing Laboratory, (NRTL) as recognized by OSHA. The standard governing fire alarm

control panels is ANSI/UL Standard 864, currently entering its ninth edition. OSHA

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 currently recognizes Underwriters Laboratories, Factory Mutual Approvals and ETL-

Semko as certified to test equipment per this standard.

2. A primary operating power supply (120 VAC).

3. A secondary or standby power supply. This is most often a rechargeable storage battery,

although generators are permitted subject to certain conditions.

4. At least one initiating device circuit to which is wired at least one manual station,

automatic heat or smoke detectors, water-flow switch activated by a sprinkler system, etc.

These devices are located in one area, or zone, so an alarm condition in this zone can

direct fire-fighting personnel to the source of the alarm. Typically, a zone usually consists

of a floor of a small building, or wing of a larger building, etc. with area limitations

defined in the National Fire Alarm Code (NFPA 72).

5. At least one (output) notification appliance circuit to which is wired at least one horn,

bell, and strobe, if required.

Fig. 2.5 A Manual Pull Station Cover

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2.4 Classes of Fire

There is a universal system to describe different types of fires. This system incorporates the use

of letters, colors and symbols to help users select an extinguisher suitable for the type of material

involved in the fire.

1. Class A: Ordinary combustibles, such as wood, cloth, paper, rubber, many plastics, and

other common materials that burn easily.

2. Class B: Flammable liquids. Includes gasoline, oil, grease, tar, oil-based paint, lacquer,

and flammable gas.

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 3. Class C: Electrical equipment, such as wiring, fuse boxes, circuit breakers, machinery

and appliances.

4. Class D: Combustible metals. Includes magnesium, aluminum, lithium, and other

combustible metals or metal dust.

2.5 Causes of Fire

The dominant part of flames took care of by safeguard administrations are caused in non-private

structures, with a significant number of these being recorded as working environment episodes.

There are numerous components that can improve the probability of a fire being caused.

Notwithstanding you can take measures to stay away from flame in home and guarantee the

wellbeing of your family. The following are the absolute most normal reasons for house flames,

and a few hints to play it safe.

 Cooking Equipment

 Heating

 Smoking in bedrooms

 Electrical Equipment.

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  Candles

 Curious Children

 Faulty Wiring

 Barbeques

 Flammable Liquids

 Lighting.

2.6 Types of Fire Extinguishers

Labeling on the fire extinguisher identifies which class of fire it is appropriate for; Class A, B,

C, D or K and instructions on how to use it.

 Dry Chemical: Dry Chemical is the most widely used type of fire extinguisher and is also

recognized as a multi-purpose ABC fire extinguisher. The agent works by interrupting

the chemical chain reaction. Also, on a class A fire it creates a barrier between the fuel

and the oxygen.

 Carbon Dioxide: Works by separating oxygen and heat. Usually ineffective against class

A fires.

 Water/Foam: Works by cooling the fire and coating the fuel. Foam extinguishers create a

foam barrier preventing the fuel from coming in contact with oxygen, can cause shock

hazard on class C fires, can cause liquids in class B fires to spread and effective on class

A fires.

 Dry Powder: Works by separating fuel from oxygen and/or removing heat. Effectiveness

is based on the type of class D fire it is designed to extinguish. Ineffective on class A, B,

C fires (metal fires) only.

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  Wet Chemical: Works by forming a soapy foam blanket over the burning material and

cooling it below its ignition temperature. Designed for restaurant type kitchens.

 Clean Agent: Works by interrupting the chemical chain reaction.

Fig. 2.6 Types of Fire Extinguishers

2.7 Review of Related Works

A number of efforts have been put recently into designing systems that can detect and control

fire outbreaks.

Burchan et al. (2019), examines the potential use of fire extinguishing balls as part of a proposed

system, where drone and remote-sensing technologies are utilized cooperatively as a supplement

to traditional fire fighting methods. The system consists of courting unmanned aircraft system

(UAS) to detect spot fires and monitor the risk of wildfire approaching a building via remote

sensing, communication UAS to establish and extend the communication channel between

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scouting UAS and fire-fighting UAS, and a fire-fighting UAS. One has to be very skilful in

controlling drones and also the system is very complex which makes the system unreliable.

Qin et al. (2018). Designed an intelligent smoke alarm system with wireless sensor network

using ZigBee. The system consists of a smoke detection module, a wireless communication

module, and intelligent identification and data visualization module. The disadvantage of his

system is that it is very expensive and complex to design.

Izang et al. (2018). Designed an SMS Based Fire Alarm and Detection System. The system

works when fire or gas is detected by the sensors, the Arduino will trigger the GSM module to

send SMS, sound the alarm system and trigger the servo motor. The disadvantage of this system

is that the servo motor works at an angle of 170 degrees and hence cannot reduce fire outbreak as

compared to using a pump motor.

Jinan (2018) Designed and Implemented a Factory Security System that consist of a smoke

sensor, a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) module and a sound module. When

the gas leakage is detected, an SMS will be sent to a number. The disadvantage of the system is

that there is no device that can stop the gas leakage and hence, when there is fire outbreak the

necessary device to extinguish the fire is not included in the system which may cost loss of

properties.

Poonam et al. (2014). Designed an Intelligent Fire Extinguisher System. the features are

intelligent fire detection and suppression, locate the position of fire origin, effective power

control of electricity, reporting through an SMS or email and effective usage of water supply,

among the sensors used is a gas sensor which detect any type of smoke, this can send a false

alarm and hence not reliable.

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 Fire, being an important process that affects ecological systems across the globe has both

positive and negative effects. However, soil erosion, atmospheric pollution and hazard to life and

property are majorly the negative effects. Fire accident creates serious health and safety hazard

in developing countries, which also resulted into catastrophic situation. This huge loss is

inestimably enormous; hence this study proposes the development of a GSM -based fire detector

system. A cost-effective system that detects fire or smoke and sends alert information to a mobile

phone for quick and immediate action thereby, avoiding unnecessary and costly industrial and

domestic breakdown. The fire alert design was built around techniques for digitalizing analogue

signals obtained from transducers used to monitor temperature of the room and the light intensity

of the room. The room temperature to be monitored, being analogue, is measured through the use

of a thermistor, while the light intensity of the room is detected using Light Dependent Resistor

(LDR). The LDR's resistance increases with reduced light intensity causing the voltage input into

the inverting input of the comparator used to be higher than the reference voltage set at the non-

inverting input of the comparator which makes the comparator to output a LOW. The thermistor

resistance decreases with increase in temperature and this would cause a decrease in the voltage

input to the non-inverting input of the comparator thereby causing the voltage reference set at the

inverting input to be greater. In this state the comparator outputs a LOW, to indicate high

temperature (i.e., fire). The two LOW outputs were ORed and coupled to the astable stage of the

circuitry.

The system developed has come to light through the way of inspiration to develop a compact

system, based on the fundamental ideas of safety, security and control. Once this system is

installed to operation specifying temperature and smoke threshold, in case of any emergency

situation due to increasing temperature and/or smoke at place surpassing the threshold, the

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system immediately sends automatic alert-notifications to the users, concerned with the

situations. The user gets total control over the system through mobile SMS, even from the distant

location, that to change the threshold, turn on/off the feature of sending ‘alert notification’ and

also to reset the system after the emergency situation is overcome. Before executing any

command (through SMS) from the user, the system asks for the preset password to verify an

authorized user. The security issues have been considered with utter attention in this system to

ensure its applicability in industries and business organizations, where security is an important

concern. Hence, the fundamental ideas of safety, security and control have been entirely ensured

through the system, which have definitely worked as the gear moving factor to look for a new

dimension of an ‘Intelligent Fire Alert System’. Multiple temperature and smoke sensors are

incorporated in the system to cover a wide range of area, which are connected to Atmega32

microcontroller interfaced with a GSM module. The alert notification can be sent to multiple

users and the corresponding mobile numbers can be set/reset by the user in the server mobile

through the user interface of the program, running on the computer.

In chapter five, the design has been developed since the social and economic cost of natural

disasters which has increased in recent years due to population growth, change in land use

patterns, migration and unplanned urbanization, environmental degradation and global climate

change. Catastrophic disasters include fires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tropical cyclones,

floods, and droughts. Fire considered being natural or manmade, thus the management shall

provide safety of the building occupant. The design consists of five major circuits to compensate

the system operation. It includes Detection and Initiating Devices (DEADS), Notification

Devices (NODES), Central Station Monitor (CSM), Annunciation Devices (ANODES) and the

Suppression Circuitry. The DEADS is composed of a smoke detector and smoke ionization

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sensors which transmit initiated signal to CSM. The NODES are active devices like smoke

alarms, and speakers attached to every room designed to give alarms to the room occupants. The

Central Station Monitor designed with Arduino Uno as the Microcontroller served as the brain of

the system interfaced with PHP & MySQL. The ANODES works once fire cannot be suppressed

by the system itself, thereby when the fire department and other incident team needs to be

contacted. The suppressor composed of robotic-arm connected to the water supply, fire hydrants,

and sprinkler heads. The methodologies described in this paper heavily rely on integration of

web science to an embedded system. Compared with traditional or conventional fire alarm

system, this design reduces energy consumption, reduction of maintenance and service operation

costs, improved security services, and increase the satisfaction of building occupants.

Today fire accident is most often occurring every day. A remedy to reduce the death loss

occurring due to fire accidents in everyday situation is presented. When these accidents are

occurring in remote areas or during night times the loss or damage being caused is at higher

rates. The damage is heavier due to improper reach of service at right time due to improper

communication. This time delay is causing heavier damage. Thus, eliminating the time between

when an accident occurs and when first responders are dispatched to the scene decreases the

damage. This project helps in notifying the properties owners and emergency services. The

project consists of a microcontroller which is interfaced with the GPS module, GSM modem and

fire sensors. Once the sensors attached in the compartments of property senses the smoke

detection, it assumes a fire accident. The controller assumes it as an emergency and starts the

buzzer, LCD display and GSM modem in the engine sending the latitude and longitude

information to the specified mobile number and emergency services, by fetching the information

from the GPS.

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 CHAPTER THREE

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE

3.0 Methodology

The method used in the execution of this project comprises the combination of serial

communication protocol, signal processing, programming logics with embedded system. In other

to establish the aim of the project these method were combined from the design stage to the

construction and performance results of the system. Using carefully selected materials and

software implementation to drive the complete system as seen in the final construction.

This chapter entails the design procedure of the system detailing the theoretical analysis, choice

of components and values and construction and packaging materials. Indicating calculations,

schematics and drawing.

3.1 Hardware Design Analysis

The circuit is divided into 5 segments: the regulated power, communication unit, microcontroller

unit, display and smoke detector unit. The block diagram of the system is presented in the figure

below, showing the basic units of the system circuitry.

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 POWER SUPPLY

SMOKE
DETECTOR LED INDICATORS
MODULE
PROCESSOR

GSM MODULE

Fig. 3.1 System block diagram

3.1.1 Power supply

The power supply of the fire alarm unit is designed to suit the specification of the component

units of the system. A power transformer, rectification and regulation method is applied to derive

the appropriate voltage levels of the unit as seen in the circuit below.

Fig. 3.2 Regulated power supply

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3.1.2 The transformer

The transformer gets power from AC mains supply of 220V. However most electronic circuitries

are powered with DC supply which brings about the stepping down of an AC supply of 220V to

12V DC with the use of a step down transformer.

transformer, device that transfers electric energy from one alternating-current circuit to one or

more other circuits, either increasing (stepping up) or reducing (stepping down) the voltage.

Transformers change voltage through electromagnetic induction; i.e., as the magnetic lines of

force (flux lines) build up and collapse with the changes in current passing through the

primary coil, current is induced in another coil, called the secondary. The secondary voltage is

calculated by multiplying the primary voltage by the ratio of the number of turns in the

secondary coil to the number of turns in the primary coil, a quantity called the turns ratio.

3.1.3 Bridge rectifier

The rectifier circuit is used to convert the AC (Alternating Current) into DC (Direct Current).

Rectifiers are mainly classified into three types namely half-wave, full-wave, and bridge

rectifier. The main function of all these rectifiers is the same as the conversion of current but

they not efficiently convert the current from AC to DC. The center tapped full wave rectifier as

well as bridge rectifier converts efficiently. A bridge rectifier circuit is a common part of the

electronic power supplies. Many electronic circuits require a rectified DC power supply for

powering the various electronic basic components from available AC mains supply. We can find

this rectifier in a wide variety of electronic AC power devices like home appliances, motor

controllers, modulation process, welding applications, etc. This project makes use of a bridge

rectifier to convert AC to DC.

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 Fig 3.3 Bridge rectifier Circuit

3.1.4 Filtering capacitor

In a power supply, a capacitor is used to filter the pulsating DC output after rectification so that

an almost stable DC voltage can be supplied to the load. The raw DC supplied by a diode

rectifier on its own would consist of a series of half sine waves with the voltage varying between

zero and √2 times the RMS voltage (ignoring any diode and other losses).

A waveform of this nature would not be of any use for powering circuits because any analogue

circuits would have the huge level of ripple superimposed on the output, and any digital circuits

would not function because the power would be removed every half cycle. To smooth the output

of the rectifier a reservoir capacitor is used - placed across the output of the reciter and in parallel

with the load. The smoothing works because the capacitor charges up when the voltage from the

rectifier rises above that of the capacitor and then as the rectifier voltage falls, the capacitor

provides the required current from its stored charge.

In this way the capacitor is able to provide charge when it is not available from the rectifier, and

accordingly the voltage varies considerably less than if the capacitor were not present. The

capacitor smoothing will not provide total voltage stability; there will always be some variation

in the voltage. In fact the higher the value of the capacitor, the greater the smoothing, and also

the less current that is drawn, the better the smoothing.

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 Fig 3.4 Filtering capacitor

3.1.5 LM317T Voltage regulator

The LM317 device is an adjustable three-terminal positive-voltage regulator capable of

supplying more than 1.5A over an output-voltage range of 1.25 V to 37 V. It requires only two

external resistors to set the output voltage. The device features a typical line regulation of 0.01%

and typical load regulation of 0.1%. It includes current limiting, thermal overload protection, and

safe operating area protection. Overload protection remains functional even if the ADJUST

terminal is disconnected. The output voltage of the LM317T is determined by ratio of the two

feedback resistors R1 and R2 which form a potential divider network across the output terminal

as shown below.

Fig. 3.5 Diagram of LM317T

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The voltage across the feedback resistor R1 is a constant 1.25V reference voltage, V ref produced

between the “output” and “adjustment” terminal. The adjustment terminal current is a constant

current of 100uA. Since the reference voltage across resistor R1 is constant, a constant

current i will flow through the other resistor R2, resulting in an output voltage of:

V OUT = 1.25 1+
( )
R2
R1

Then whatever current flows through resistor R1 also flows through resistor R2 (ignoring the

very small adjustment terminal current), with the sum of the voltage drops

across R1 and R2 being equal to the output voltage, V out .Obviously the input voltage, Vin must

be at least 2.5 volts greater than the required output voltage to power the regulator.

3.2 The microcontroller unit

The microcontroller is the heart of the project; it controls all the activities of the entire system.

The criteria for choosing the microcontroller are:-

 Meet the computation needs of task at hand efficiently and cost effectively

 Availability of software development tools such as compiler, assemblers and debuggers

and widely availability and reliability source of the microcontroller.

For these reason the ATmega 328P microcontroller is chosen. It is further discussed below.

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 Fig. 3.6 ATmega 328P pin configuration

ATmega328P is one of the high performances AVR technology microcontrollers with a large

number of pins and features. It is designed by 8-bit CMOS technology and RSIC CPU which

enhance its performance and its power efficiency get improved by auto sleeps and internal

temperature sensor. This ATmega328P IC comes with internal protections and multiple

programming methods which helps the engineers to priorities this controller for different

situations. The IC allows multiple modern era communications methods for other modules and

microcontrollers itself, which is why the microcontroller ATmega328P usage has been

increasing every day.

Digital input/output pins

This microcontroller has three digital ports (B, C, and D) such as PORTB, PORTC, and PORTD.

All these pins can be used as digital input/output. On top of that, each port can be used for other

purposes. To use them as output/input or for any other function it should be defined first

27
otherwise there won’t be any default function by all I/O pins. Digital I/O pins of the controller

are:

 PB0 – GPIO14

 PB1 – GPIO15

 PB2 – GPIO16

 PB3 – GPIO17

 PB4 – GPIO18

 PB5 – GPIO19

 PB6 – GPIO9

 PB7 – GPIO10

 PC0 – GPIO23

 PC1 – GPIO24

 PC2 – GPIO25

 PC3 – GPIO26

 PC4 – GPIO27

 PC5 – GPIO28

 PC6 – GPIO1

 PD0 – GPIO2

 PD1 – GPIO3

 PD2 – GPIO4

 PD3 – GPIO5

 PD4 – GPIO6

 PD5 – GPIO11

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  PD6 – GPIO12

 PD7 – GPIO13

Interrupt pins

Most of the electrical functions required an interrupt system to operate like AC dimmer, etc.

ATmega328P gives the support of 2 interrupts within the controller which can be used to get the

attention of the CPU at any instant. Interrupt pins of ATmega328P are given below:

 IN0 – GPIO4

 IN1 – GPIO5

ATmega328P UART Communication Module

Although there are multiple kinds of communication systems within the devices and modules but

the most common one is USART. It is one of the simplest and easiest method for implement and

understanding by most of the developers and systems. In this method, two wires used to send and

receive the data. The USART pins of microcontroller ATmega328P are:

 RX – GPIO2

 TX – GPIO3

The data can be sent by specified the sending rate within the controllers but it can also use the

external clock pin to keep the data sync.

 XCK – GPIO6

USART/UART communication system ca be used to program the microcontroller.

Analog to digital converter channels

In ATmega328P there are 6 ADC channels that can be used to convert the analog signal to

digital. The analog converter needs to be activated first by its power pin (AVCC). The ADC

29
channels use power supply voltage as a reference to differentiate the different levels of the

analog signal. The analog pins of the controller are:

 ADC0 – GPIO23

 ADC1 – GPIO24

 ADC2 – GPIO25

 ADC3 – GPIO26

 ADC4 – GPIO27

 ADC5 – GPIO28

 AVCC – Pin20

AREF Pins

Sometimes the analog signal voltages are fluctuating but it kept measuring by the controller

according to the power input of the controller. To measure it by any other power input or by the

power of analog signal generating device, an analog voltage reference AREF will be used. This

pin will detect the maximum value of the analog signal and then it will be able to give the proper

output. AREF pin in ATmega328P is:

 AREF – GPIO21

Reset

In ATmega328 there is some reset to restart the microcontroller in some conditions. In all of

these resets there is an external reset to reset the device using an external signal:

 RESET – GPIO1

Power

Every controller needs the power to operate and it always has a power input pin. In

ATmega328P the power pins are three in number. One pin is for voltage and the remaining two

30
are for common ground. Both of these ground pins are connected internally, it doesn’t matter

which one is used. The power pins of the microcontroller are:

 VCC – Pin7

 GND – Pin8, Pin22

Oscillator

The controller comes with 8MHz changeable oscillator. However, it can also use the external

oscillator up to 40MHz. To use the external oscillator, oscillation pins will be required for input

and output of the signal. Those pins are given below:

 XTAL1 – GPIO9

 XTAL2 – GPIO10

Fig. 3.7 ATmega 328P Block diagram

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3.3 Interfacing the SIM800L GSM modem with microcontroller

Modems are devices that let computers transmit information over ordinary telephone lines.

Modems is an acronyms for “Modulation/Demodulation.” Modems translate a stream of

information into series of tones (modulation) at one end of the telephone line, and translate the

tones back into serial stream at the other end of the connection (demodulation). Most modems

are bidirectional, so a data transfer can take place in both directions simultaneously.

A GSM modem could also be a standard GSM mobile phone with the appropriate cable and

software driver to connect to a serial port on your computer. Phones such as the Nokia 7110 with

a DLR-3 cable, or various Ericsson phones, are often used for this purpose.

Fig 3.8 SIM800L GSM/GPRS Module

The SIM800L is a complete Quad-band GSM/GPRS solution in a SMT module which can be

embedded in several applications; it delivers GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900MHz performance

for voice, SMS, data, and with low power consumption.

 SIM800L is designed with a very powerful single-chip processor

 Quad–band GSM/GPRS module with a size of 24mm x 2mm x 3mm

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  SMT type suit for customer application

 An embedded powerful TCP/IP protocol stack

The GSM modem is configured via COM PORTS of a computer using the RS232 cable. The

GSM modem understands a set of instructions called the AT (Attention) commands. This is used

to send queries and receive response from the GSM modem. The table below describes the basic

AT commands. [12]

Table 3.1 AT command and response

QUERY AT COMMAND RESPONSE

Text command AT+<X>=? The mobile equipment return list of

parameters and values ranges set with the

corresponding write command.

Read command AT+<X>? The command returns the currently set value

of the parameters.

Write command AT+<X>=<…> This command sets the user defined

parameters values.

Execution Command AT+<X> The execution command reads non-variable

parameters affected by internal processes in

the GSM modem.

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3.4 Flame detector Module

A Flame Sensor is a device that can be used to detect presence of a fire source or any other bright

light sources. There are several ways to implement a Flame Sensor but the module used in this

project is an Infrared Radiation Sensitive Sensor. This particular flame sensor is based on

YG1006 NPN Photo Transistor. The black object at the front of the module is this Photo

Transistor.

The YG1006 Photo Transistor looks like a black LED but it is a three terminal NPN Transistor,

where the long lead is the Emitter and the shorter one is the collector (there is no base terminal as

the light it detects will enable the flow of current). This photo transistor is coated with black

epoxy, making it sensitive to Infrared radiations and this particular Photo Transistor (YG1006) is

sensitive to Infrared Radiation in the wavelength range of 760nm to 1100nm. Using this

particular type of Flame Sensor, you can detect Infrared Light up to a distance of 100cm within

its 60 degrees of detection angle.

There are two types of implementations of Flame Sensors using YG1006 Photo Transistor: one is

with both Analog Output and Digital Output while the other is with only the Digital Output. Both

these implementations require same components but the difference is that one module (the one

with the Analog Output) provides the Sensor output as Analog Output. The Flame Sensor used in

this project has only Digital Output.

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Fig. 3.9 Flame sensor module

35
3.5 Circuit diagram of the system

+5V

PD2
PD3

PD4
+5V

U2
7805
TR1 D1 D4
1 3
VI VO

GND
DIODE DIODE
RX TX VCC GND RST
D2 D3

2
C4 C5
1000u 10u
DIODE

TRAN-2P2S DIODE SIM800L

Fig. 3.10 The power supply section Fig. 3.11 SIM800L connection

U1
PD2 2
PD0/RXD/PCINT16 PB0/ICP1/CLKO/PCINT0
14 MOSI
3 15
4
PD1/TXD/PCINT17 PB1/OC1A/PCINT1
16 MISO
MISO +5V
PD2/INT0/PCINT18 PB2/SS/OC1B/PCINT2
PD3 5
PD3/INT1/OC2B/PCINT19 PB3/MOSI/OC2A/PCINT3
17 SCK
6 18 C1
PD4/T0/XCK/PCINT20 PB4/MISO/PCINT4
11 19
PD5/T1/OC0B/PCINT21 PB5/SCK/PCINT5
PD4 12
PD6/AIN0/OC0A/PCINT22 PB6/TOSC1/XTAL1/PCINT6
9
13 10 22p
PD7/AIN1/PCINT23 PB7/TOSC2/XTAL2/PCINT7
PD5 C2
+5V 21 23 100p SCK MOSI
20
AREF PC0/ADC0/PCINT8
24 C3
AVCC PC1/ADC1/PCINT9
PC2/ADC2/PCINT10
25 16MHz
7 PC3/ADC3/PCINT11
26
27 22p
PC4/ADC4/SDA/PCINT12
8 PC5/ADC5/SCL/PCINT13
28
PC6/RESET/PCINT14
1
Reset
ATMEGA328P
RST
ICSP HEADER

Fig. 3.12 The ATmega 328 connection section

+5V

PD5

Flame Sensor

Fig. 3.13 Flame sensor connection

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3.6 Selection of materials

In the construction of this project, the materials used were carefully selected to suit every part of

the design as well as perform at the required operational standards. Below are a few criteria for

choosing the components:

 Electrical characteristics

 Power consumption

 Portability

 Durability

 Current

 Heat dissipation etc.

When selecting a capacitor the important parameters are; the capacitance, working voltage and

percentage ripple. The criteria for choosing the microcontroller are:-

 Meet the computation needs of task at hand efficiently and cost effectively.

 Availability of software development tools such as compiler, assemblers and debuggers

and widely availability and reliable source of the microcontroller.

 Memory space and space.

3.7 Construction procedure

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Before the construction of the system, it was first designed and test on a breadboard and

simulated using proteus 8 circuit designs and simulation software, this was done to see the

behavior of the system in real time situations when fully completed. On performing the desired

aim the construction process began by carefully soldering each component on a veroboard as

shown in the circuit diagram. During the soldering care was taken to ensure there is no bridge

between any leg of the IC’s and also ensure that the interconnection of the work is done as it is in

the circuit diagram.

Chapter Four: Results and Discussion

38
4.1 Installation of the completed design

This project helps to give information whenever there is a fire outbreak in an environment that

can cause hazard to life and property by sending an SMS which will enable the owner of the

property to call the attention of fire service to quench the fire and in all ways reduce the damage

fire outbreak can cause to the society because the early information will help to take action so

fast in order to deal with the situation of hazard about to occur.

The system has a flame sensor to sense the presence of a fire source or any other bright light

sources which then give an output which is connected as the input to the PD5 (Pin 12) of

microcontroller ATmega 328, and the microcontroller process the whole information based on

the code burn in it and push in a certain message as an output to be delivered by the system to

give the state of the environment. The message can be read using LCD 16 x 2 display but

because of the project advancement, SIM800L module is used which a GSM/GPRS module to

transfer information to the internet and it is done with the use of a SIM card to allow the

information to be delivered successfully to any number that was stored in the program memory

of the chip.

4.2 Construction Procedure and Testing

The procedures follows in building this project are listed below.

i. Components needed to achieve the aim of the project was carefully selected

and tested before the project finalization.

ii. Ratings of each of the component used were properly checked to see if it can serve the

purpose of building this project.

39
iii. Drafting out a schematic diagram or how to arrange the materials / components.

iv. Testing the completed system to see if the design works and

v. Finally, implementation of design of the project.

After the whole procedure of component selection for the project, it was first of test by

interconnecting it on a breadboard to see its behavior after then was transfer to a Vero board for

soldering.

4.3 Casing and Packaging

The casing of this project was done by putting some of the component inside the box and some

are arrange outside the box, some of the component outside the box are connectors and switch.

4.5 Testing of System Operation

The system was tested by powering ON the circuit and fire was brought near the flame sensor

and immediately the microcontroller activated the SIM800l module and a message was received

by two numbers programmed in the program memory of the ATmega328P. And when the fire

was removed from the flame sensor the system stop responding to the activity of alerting or

sending out messages.

4.6 Problem Encountered

All engineering work has its own challenges that come with it which make research to keep

going for stability of all invention. The main problem encounter in this project was the

programming aspect of it because it has to do with writing codes which are set of instruction that

will enable the project to perform has expected. This in turn brings a lot of troubleshooting in

40
locating where some command are not properly declared which cause the system not to work has

expected.

4.7 Project Plate

Plate 4.1 Inside view of packaging housing design component

41
Plate 4.2 Inside view with flame sensor

Plate 4.1 Complete project view

42
 Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Conclusion

In conclusion, this project has demonstrated the easy way of preventing fire hazard in the society

by using IOT method in responding quickly to any such event in which it can serve has a safety

measure to life and property of people in the our society especially for businesses and companies

which can loss asset or goods worth billions of naira in the event of wire outbreak. Since fire

outbreak cannot be predicted when it will happen it is very important to be at alert by using the

fire detector system in the building to help easily raise alarm for quick response to any stop the

incident.

5.2 Recommendation

This project is recommended to help reduce the rate at which fire destroy properties in the

community. Industries, Production companies and Goods stock owner are advice to get this type

of system near their investment to help monitor the present of fire hazard in the environment.

This project is essential in our modern world and it can be improved to perform more function by

raising sound alarm in the premises where there is fire outbreak and also by sending messages to

fire service station to directly inform them of fire outbreak incident and also including the

location of where the event occur.

43
Reference

1. The ABC’s of Fire Alarm System I, By Anthony J. Shalna, 2009, Principal IMSA

Representative to the Automatic Firm Alarm Association.

2. Fire Service Features of Buildings and Fire Protection systems Occupational Safety and

Health Administration (OSHA) U.S. Department of Labor.

3. Development of A GSM – Based Fire Detector System: Oke A.O, Falohun A.S and

Adetunji A.B. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol I WCE

2015, July 1 – 3, 2015, London, U.K.

4. An Intelligent Fire System Using Wireless Mobile Communication Mahdi Nasrullah

Al-Ameen, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Texas at

Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA

5. Design and in Prototype Implementation of Fire Detection and Intelligent Alarm System:

Daniel D. Dasig, Jr, Proceedings of the Intl. Conf. on Advances in Computing, Control

and Networking – ACCN 2015. Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA.

ISBN: 978-1-63248-038-5 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-038-5-105

6. Fire Detection and Notification System in Trains: Kuncham Viswa Teja, Suresh Angadi,

Dept. of ECE, K L University, Vaddeswaram, A.P, India: International Journal of

Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology. Vol. 2, Issue 4, April 2013

7. GSM Modems, http://www/nowsms.com/doc/configuring-smsc-connections/gsm-

modems

8. 2W005G 2.0A Glass Passivated Bridge Rectifier, Diodes, Incorporated.

www.fairchildsemi.com

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9. SIM800L GSM Module application notes GSM/GPRS Modems Working Operations

https://lastminuteengineers.com/sim800l-gsm-module-arduino-tutorial/

10. Flame Sensor working and its application https://www.elprocus.com/flame-sensor-

working-and-its-applications/

11. ATmega 328P Data Sheet, www.datasheetpdf.com/atmega328.

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