MICROCONTROLLER BASED MULTIPOINT MONITORING SYSTEM

By Nikhil U. Bodhankar Hrishikesh S. Salvekar Piyush H. Patil

Modern Education Societys College of Engineering, Pune University , India.

Introduction
The problem:

Less number of Air conditioning units could be monitored by a single PC. Large Number of controllers introduce overloading. Limited distance prohibits connection of devices with long distance.

Aim of the project:

To overcome the shortcomings previously discussed, the project is mainly targeted towards the following points: -Monitoring maximum no. of units (up to 64) . -Reliable Data communication between computer and control unit. -Easy Fault detection and troubleshooting for User.

Specifications:

Serial communication using RS 485 with distance up to 1.1Km. Monitoring up to 64 units. The 64 units are divided into 4 groups of 16 each. Connectivity with PC using RS-232 serial port. Microcontroller used: ATMEL 89C52. Memory: 62C256 CMOS static RAM for intermediate data storage. Flexible Scanning even for small number of connected units to save time.

RS 485

AC Controller Unit

Visual indication of values using 16X2 alphanumeric type LCD with Backlight. Required power supply is +5V.

Block Diagram
MEMORY

CPU card

PC system

RS-232

MICROCONTROLLER 89C52

TX

BUFFER DECODER BUFFER BUFFER LCD BUFFER

RS485
E

RX

RS485 RS485 RS485

Block Diagram Description:

Instead of using a dedicated PC for controlling and monitoring large no. of application units, we have implemented a single unit named as a CPU card/Data unit which will reside between the computer and the applications. Main functions to be carried out by the CPU card: - Selection of particular unit through decoder. - Scanning I/Ps and storing data into memory. - To Send the data stored in memory to the computer after scan cycle. - Display the data on LCD.

Microcontroller 89C52 scans 64 units and communicates with the PC. this is achieved by serial communication. RS-485 can support up to 32 nodes maximum. considering safety factors and after several tests we found that max 20 nodes can be driven satisfactorily. Thus we have divided the 64 units into 4 groups, each having 16 nodes. Each control unit to be monitored is provided with a Unique unit ID. This ID can be changed from the AC controller unit.

Information of each unit is stored in a file of size 122 byte. Microcontroller receives the information from each unit and stores it into RAM IC62256. Once all the 64 units are scanned the total file of size 122 X 64 is sent to the PC on RS-232 port. The decoder (IC74138) is used to select the group of control units like 0-15,16-31,32-44,45-63. It gives signal to buffer for selection of group. Since it is a decoder only one line will be selected at a time which will not be the case if port pin of 89C52 were used directly.

Buffer(IC74244) serves purpose of isolation and selection of particular group. The received data will show various parameters like blower, heater and compressor run hours and Faults if present. These parameters are displayed on alphanumeric LCD display.

Advantages of Microcontroller over Microprocessor

CPU

General purpose Microprocessor

I/O RAM ROM PORT

TIMER

SERIAL COM PORT

General purpose microprocessor system

CPU

RAM

ROM

I/O

Serial TIMER COM Port Microcontroller

Microcontroller 89C52

The major functions of microcontroller are Serial communication with the application devices. Storing the collected data into RAM. Displaying the data on LCD. Features: 8-bit microcontroller. 8 Kb of In-system Reprogrammable Flash memory. Endurance: 1000 Write/Erase Cycles. Fully Static operation: 0Hz to 24 MHz.

Three-level program memory clock. 256 x 8 bit internal RAM. 32 Programmable I/O lines. Three 16 bit Timers/counters. 8 Interrupt Sources. Programmable serial channel. Low Power Idle and power down modes.

Communication standards

RS 485
Supports 32 drivers and 32 receivers Can be connected in a 2 wire or 4 wire mode Typical use is a single PC connected to several addressable devices that share the same cable

RS 232
supports one driver and one receiver Signals are represented by voltage levels with respect to system common ground Typical use for point to point communication at low data transmission rates.

Components

Optocouplers: MCT6,MCT2E MAX-232 RS-485 RAM 62256 Decoder 74138 Buffer 74244 Latch 74373 Bidirectional Transcreceiver 75176

Flow Charts
Send data
Start

Initialize serial port settings

Transfer data

End

START

Receive data

Initialize serial port settings

Send request to receive data

Start receiving the data

NO If data is received i.e. if unit is present YES Receive=true If timer count is timeout NO If received bytes==122 && Received = true YES Display the data YES End

Incrementing timer count

NO

End

Future Enhancements

Development of software on PC side, i.e. it will give various details of parameters which have been monitored, directly on the screen of PC. The software for controlling the parameters through PC. User interface of CPU card through SMS, email after a fixed time interval.