Solution Document
Project Description :
Design and development of Rain Gauging System
Most of the rain gauges used in India are imported. In a bid to measure rainfall and distribute available water effectively it is mandatory to deploy rain gauges at all strategic locations. These locations are normally away from any transport connectivity and hardly anybody can maintain them regularly. The data must be available at a central location and the power is also not available. Under these hostile conditions the endogenously developed rain gauge must work. The range of the gauge will be 350 mm rainfall maximum. Some of the features of my project includes solar operated, long battery life, self cleaning, GPS enabled, local data logging system for backup in case of network failure up to six months, data transfer configurable as per the user requirement.
Requirements:
- Mechanical Design
1.1 Funnel
1.2 Water collection container
1.3 Solenoid Valve.
1.4 Water filter
1.5 IP66 water Proof casing
2. Data collection and transmission
2.1 Arduino
2.2 GSM module
2.3 HX711
2.4 Load cell with capacity of 5Kg
2.5 Micro SD module
3. Power Source
3.1 Solar Power
Key Components
Funnel:
A funnel of diameter 20 cm will be used to collect the water.
Water collection container :
Container will be placed in bottom with capacity of around 2.1 kg which will be able to measure 700 mm of rain without the need of draining water from it. It will have an inclined bottom so that all the water can be drained fast and no water will be left inside it.
Solenoid Valve:
This valve will be used to drain out the water once it reaches the certain limit. This Electronic valve will be controlled with the help of Arduino. The water will be drained when the reading from the Arduino will be high (2000ml ) .
IP66 water Proof casing:
It will be used to protect our electronic components from water.
Arduino microcontroller:
Arduino is an open source platform. It consists of both a physical programmable circuit board and a piece of software or IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that runs on your computer, used to write and upload computer code to the physical board. It is connected to the GSM module so that its output will be given to the module as input and they are transmitted.
GSM module:
Global System for Mobile communication is used for transmitting data at various frequencies. GSM uses a modem which can either be a mobile phone or a modem device which can be used to make a computer or any other processor communicate over a network. A GSM modem requires a SIM card to be operated and operates over a network range subscribed by the network operator. In here, we can use gsm to transmit the data obtained from the arduino controller. It also provides security to data.
Load cell
Load cell creates an electrical signal whose magnitude is directly proportional to the force being measured. It provides safety during load bearing and it helps in structural analysis.
HX711 amplifier:
HX711 Load cell amplifier makes it very easy to build our own scale with Arduino.It uses two wire interface for communication. It allows to read load cells to measure weight.
Micro SD card:
It will be used to store data so that even if not transmitted it can be physically retrieved even after a long time.
Power Source:
We will use a high capacity battery which will be able to sustain by itself for a long time.
It will supply power to Arduino , weight measuring machine and Solenoid valve.
We will use Solar Power to charge our battery and an alternate solutions is also present by using rainwater for generating power required.
- Solar Power:
Solar power is used to convert the sunlight into electricity either directly or indirectly.
We will need it to recharge our battery for lasting long time.
Major system components
Solar PV system includes different components that should be selected according to your system type, site location and applications. The major components for solar PV system are solar charge controller, inverter, battery bank, auxiliary energy sources and loads (appliances).
• PV module – converts sunlight into DC electricity.
• Solar charge controller – regulates the voltage and current coming from the PV panels going to
battery and prevents battery overcharging and prolongs the battery life.
• Inverter – converts DC output of PV panels or wind turbine into a clean AC current for AC
appliances or fed back into grid line.
• Battery – stores energy for supplying to electrical appliances when there is a demand.
• Load – is electrical appliances that connected to solar PV system such as lights, radio, TV, computer,
refrigerator, etc.
• Auxiliary energy sources - is diesel generator or other renewable energy sources.
Some important parameters that will be calculated:
- Battery Capacity (Ah) = Total Watt-hours per day used by appliances x Days of autonomy
(0.85 x 0.6 x nominal battery voltage)
- Solar charge controller rating = Total short circuit current of PV array x 1.3
Solar PV system sizing:
- Determination of power consumption
- Sizing PV modules
- Inverter Sizing
- Battery Sizing
- Solar charge controller sizing
2. Rainwater Harvesting for generating power
General idea is to built catchment tanks to collect rainwater but using rainwater harvesting techniques. This tanks have to built at minimum of 10 m height so that a minimum potential energy can be obtained to propel the turbines.
A simplified arrangement of pipes and turbines can made in order to propel the generator to produce power via the turbine at the ground level.
The power can only be generated during monsoons or may be used only when battery is to be charged when solar energy is not available that mostly in monsoon, rest of the time the tanks can be used to store water.
High Level Design
Low level Design
Data Processing Module:
Data storage and transmission will be handled with help of Arduino. Arduino is a microcontroller, it meet the requirements of our current project. Simple module can be easily integrated in it for our purpose.
Data Storage Module:
We will use a Micro SD card Module to store data in case if we are not able to transmit it. We can physically retrieve this data even after a long time.
Online Database:
With the help of GSM module we store data in online database. Database will be updated by data received and will be accessed from anywhere.
A report can be easily formed with help of data received telling us about the rain recorded in every day.
A report can be easily formed with help of data received telling us about the rain recorded in every day.
Power Consumption:
We will set Arduino to ideal mode for most of time and it will active for required period of time when it will do data collection and transmission. This will help us to save power by a large margin and we will be able to sustain for longer period of time with pur give source.
Tools and Technology
Arduino microcontroller :
It is very simple and effective in IoT projects like this.
Online Database :
It is used for storing and accessing data base. We will be using AWS for it.
Load cell:
We will be using load cell to measure the weight of container to know the volume of the water present . It is used as it is easy to integrate with Arduino. Its least count can be adjusted easily.
GSM :
It is used for connecting our system to internet for data logging.
Required Proof of Concepts
We have observed that the individual module used in our project (GSM, Micro SD, Load cell ) can be easily integrated with Arduino and there are various project done in that.
We are trying to integrate them all together, to get the best possible outcome from it for our project.
The fact that all the module are integrated individually , we will be able to integrate them all for our project.
We are trying to integrate them all together, to get the best possible outcome from it for our project.
The fact that all the module are integrated individually , we will be able to integrate them all for our project.
Deliverables
When the project will be implemented we will be able to get more accurate information.
Now we have a possibility of recording rainfall at places where we were not able to record earlier because at least one person is required for it. Now there will not be any compulsion.
Now we have a possibility of recording rainfall at places where we were not able to record earlier because at least one person is required for it. Now there will not be any compulsion.
With our project we will be able to deliver a product that will be simple to use from the user. Its installation will be only thing that the user need to take care of.
Quality assurance and Quality control
Quality assurance is providing a quality management mainly rapted on affording confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled and it includes all the planned and systematic activities implemented in a quality system. Weighing bucket gauge provides the maximum accuracy that is expected.
Quality control can be designated to be affording requirements that includes all the operational techniques and activities. The gauges operational techniques are quality controlled.
Quality control can be designated to be affording requirements that includes all the operational techniques and activities. The gauges operational techniques are quality controlled.
Third Party System
We will be using only one third party System:
Online Database :
We will be using online database which will be a third party system.
We will be using Amazon web services for our project.
Supporting Artifacts
GitHib Projects :
https://github.com/MarcoMartines/GSM-GPRS-GPS-Shield
Acknowledgement and References
Websites:
1.https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/reducing-arduino-power-consumption
2. http://theconstructor.org/water-resources/types-of-rain-gauges/12801/
3.https://www.arduino.cc/
4.https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/reducing-arduino-power-consumption
5.http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/gsm-gprs-modules
7.http://www.leonics.com/support/article2_12j/articles2_12j_en.php
IP Protection
We hereby declare that we are not violating any third party intellectual property rights
while producing this document or while producing any document supporting this
document.
Also we declare that no third party copyright was violated while producing this
document or while producing any documents supporting this document.
Project Plan Document
Project Description :
Design and development of Rain Gauging System
Most of the rain gauges used in India are imported. In a bid to measure rainfall and distribute available water effectively it is mandatory to deploy rain gauges at all strategic locations. These locations are normally away from any transport connectivity and hardly anybody can maintain them regularly. The data must be available at a central location and the power is also not available. Under these hostile conditions the endogenously developed rain gauge must work. The range of the will be 350 mm rainfall maximum. Some of the features solar operated, long battery life, self cleaning, GPS enabled, local data logging system for backup in case of network failure up to six months, data transfer configurable as per the user requirement.
System Implementation Scope
Weighing rain gauge is excellent tool to measure all types of precipitation within wide temperature range, harsh wind and snow conditions. Simple mechanical construction together with very sophisticated firm -ware can guarantee perfect performance. A battery of high capacity is connected with solar power. Solar power is used as a source of energy to be given to rain gauge. With the help of solar power, the abundant sunlight is converted to electricity and gives the energy to run the system. During rain, the water is collected by the funnel of the rain gauge. It is then stored in the container provided. Since the container is weighed in ‘grams’(gms), it provides the volume stored in centimeters. The weight module will measure the weight of the container providing the amount of water collected through the funnel.
When the water collected reaches certain level, the solenoid valve will open with Arduino. The arduino receives it as input and processes it and transmits it to GSM. GSM modem is a specialized type of modem which accepts a SIM card, and operates over a subscription to a mobile operator. In modem we can use its RS232 port to communicate and develop embedded applications. Applications like SMS Control, data transfer, remote control and logging can be developed easily.
This GSM modem is a highly flexible plug and play quad band SIM900D GSM modem for direct and easy integration to RS232 applications. GSM dispatches the content to be stored in online database. From the database, we can access the content from anywhere and use it in our stuffs.
Milestone and Deliverables
Day 1-2: Understanding every components to be used in projects
Day 3-10: Integration of modules used and start making body part of project.
Day 11-17: Combining the every part including Mechanical and Electronics .
Day 3-10: Integration of modules used and start making body part of project.
Day 11-17: Combining the every part including Mechanical and Electronics .
Day 16: We can deliver the product.
Risk and Mitigations
The need for water management has become increasingly urgent but the manufacturers working on today’s solutions are innovating around a concept that has been in existence for quite some time. The risks that can possibly occur is that, in case, if solar power can not be obtained and if it rains, it would become a major drawback. But, we can use hydro electric power as an alternate source of energy in case if the place in which we are placing the gauge has that capability.
Acknowledgement and References
Websites:
1.https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/reducing-arduino-power-consumption
2. http://theconstructor.org/water-resources/types-of-rain-gauges/12801/
3.https://www.arduino.cc/
4.https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/reducing-arduino-power-consumption
5.http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/gsm-gprs-modules
6.https://measurementsensors.honeywell.com/Pages/category.aspx?category=PRODUCTTYPES-LOAD
Third Party IP and Copyright Protection
We hereby declare that we are not violating any third party intellectual property rights
while producing this document or while producing any document supporting this
document. Also we declare that no third party copyright was violated while producing
this document or while producing any documents supporting this document.
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