International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology

Volume No.3 Issue No.9, pp : 1225-1229

(ISSN : 2277-1581)
1 Sep 2014

Development of a Low Cost Microcontroller Based Under and Over Voltage

Protection Device
1

Ponnle A. A1, Omojoyegbe M. O.2

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
2
Works and Physical Planning Department, Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Nigeria
E-mail: ponnleakinlolu@yahoo.co.uk, meritolutosine@yahoo.com

Abstract This paper presents the design and construction of

a low cost under and over voltage protective device, which was
fabricated using a microcontroller, transistor, IC and other
discrete components. A microcontroller PIC16F877 is at the
heart of the device which performs the major control of the
device. The device is simple and of low cost. It can withstand
loads up to 2KVA and the required set voltage range for the
device to allow supply to the connected load at the output
varies from 200 240 Volts. It can be used to protect loads
such as refrigerator, T.V., VCR/DVD players etc. from
undesirable over and under voltages, as well as surges caused
due to sudden failure/resumption of mains power supply.
This device can be used directly as a standalone equipment
between the mains supply and the load, or it may be inserted
between an existing automatic/manual stabilizer and the load.
The over/under voltage cut-off with time delay provides
over/under-voltage protection, and protection against
transients.
Keywords microcontroller, over voltage, under voltage,
protection.

I.

Introduction

Voltage irregularities are one of the greatest power quality

issues facing industry and home today and often times, is
responsible for damaging valuable electrical equipment.
Electrical Power System protection is required for protection of
both user and the system equipment from fault, hence electrical
appliances are not allowed to operate without any protective
device installed. Power System fault is defined as undesirable
condition that occurs in the power system, and the undesirable
conditions are short circuit, current leakage, ground short, over
current, under and over voltage. The ability of protection system
is demanded not only for economic reason but for expert and
reliable service (Bayindar et al., 2008).
Technically speaking, an over/under voltage condition is
reached when the voltage exceeds/lags the nominal voltage by
10% for more than 1 minute. Short duration voltage events can
also occur such as transients (both impulsive and oscillatory),
sags/dips and swells. Short duration intermittent supply failures
can last anywhere from 0.5 cycles up to 1 minute and can be

IJSET@2014

caused by a number of occurrences such as supply system

faults, equipment failures, or malfunctions in control
equipment. Under-voltage might result into brownout,
distortion or permanent damage while overvoltage in the form
of spikes and surges could cause distortion, burn-out, meltdown, fire, electro-pulsing and permanent damage.
Owing to the incessant damages done by fluctuations in
the power supply, there is dire need to address the problem
through other alternatives, which give birth to design and
construction of an equipment to protect the connected loads
against under and over voltage supply. Under and over
voltage protection is needed between supply terminal and the
appliances (connected loads).

II.

Materials and Methods

The main purpose of the device is to isolate the load from

over voltage and under voltage conditions by controlling the
relay tripping coil using a PIC micro controller. The
microcontroller will compare the supply voltage with the
desired pre-set voltage and will operate the tripping coil in the
relay if the input voltage falls below or above the pre-set
range of values. The under voltage and the over voltage
protective device is shown in block diagram in Figure 1.

Ac Input

Power
Supply

Regulator
LM7805

Relay

Relay
Driver

Input Voltage

Set Voltage

Monitor

Input

PIC16F877A
Micro-controller

Liquid Crystal
Display Unit

Load

Figure 1: Functional Block Diagram of the Under and Over

Voltage Protective Device.
A.
Brief Explanation of Each Block
(1) AC Input: This is the input supply from the public utility
where the device will be energized. It is also supplied directly

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Volume No.3 Issue No.9, pp : 1225-1229

(ISSN : 2277-1581)
1 Sep 2014

to the relay contacts in the device which connects the load to the
supply when the supply is within 200V 240V range.
(2) Power Supply: The power supply uses a step down
transformer to step down the input mains voltage to a voltage
level suitable for the electronics within the device. A centre
tapped transformer, with two diodes for full wave rectification
is used to convert the ac voltage to a pulsating dc voltage
followed by a filter, comprising of a capacitor to filter out
(smooth) the pulsation (Close and Yarwood, 1979; Maddock
and Calcuta, 1994; Ian, 2000).
After the rectification and smoothening, a sample of the output
voltage is fed to the microcontroller through a potentiometer.
This voltage is unregulated and therefore varies as the input
mains voltage varies. The output voltage is also passed to an
LM7805 positive voltage regulator to provide a regulated +5V
supply for the micro-controller. The regulator served to reduce
further the ripple and noise in the regulated supply to the
microcontroller. The regulator also provides current limiting
and protects the power supply and attached circuit from over
current (Paul and Winfield, 1989; Delton, 1989). Since the
system is to prevent against over and under voltage, the
transformer was designed and the windings were so selected for
the device to be able to sense and withstand input mains voltage
up to 600Vac.
(3) PIC 16F877A Micro-Controller: The PIC16F877A
microcontroller, performs the major functions of decision and
control. The input voltage monitor is connected to the microcontroller which provides a sample of the input supply voltage
to the microcontroller for comparison with the programmed set
values in the microcontroller. The PIC16F877A microcontroller
was used in the design in order to reduce the complexity of the
design and to ensure an easy interface with a liquid crystal
display.
(4) Input Voltage Monitor: This provides a sample of the
unregulated dc supply voltage through a potentiometer to feed
the microcontroller. It helps the microcontroller to monitor the
supply voltage, as the value of this voltage varies as the input
mains voltage varies. The unregulated dc supply voltage is
scaled down by the potentiometer to values suitable for the
micro-controller. Input mains voltage up to 600Vac can be
monitored.
(5) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): This displays the supply
voltage as well as some information at switch on or when the
supply voltage is out of range of the desired pre-set range of
values. The LCD used is LM016L having a 2 x 16 display. The
picture of the LCD is shown in Figure 2.

IJSET@2014

Figure 2: The LCD used.

6) Relay Driver: This is an NPN transistor that controls and
supplies current through the coil of the relay that connects the
mains supply to the load. The relay is a single pole relay
which, upon being activated by the PIC via the transistor,
makes under normal mains supply voltage and brakes under
abnormal mains supply voltage.
B.

Relay Driver Design Analysis

The relay driver circuit is shown in Figure 3. The relay
driver uses NPN transistor BC547.

Figure 3: The Relay Driver Circuit.

The relay coil is connected between the positive rail and the
collector of the transistor. When the input signal passes
through the resistor R1 to the base of the transistor Q1, it
conducts and activates the relay RL1. Since a relay coil is not
only an electromagnet but also an inductor (Gurevich and
Vladimir, 2005), a flyback diode D1 in parallel with a resistor
is used to eliminate fly back, which is the sudden voltage
spike seen across an inductive load when its supply voltage is
suddenly reduced or removed. The diode also clamps the
voltage across the coil to about 0.7V protecting the transistor
and other associated components. The stored energy
dissipates quickly in the diode and the resistor. The diode
used is IN4007.
DC current gain of the transistor, is expressed as
(Maddock and Calcuta, 1994),

IC
IB

(1)
where IC is the collector current (through the relay coil), and
IB is the base current.

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Volume No.3 Issue No.9, pp : 1225-1229
To calculate the value of the base resistor, the following were
considered:
VIN = 5V (from microcontroller), and the relay that is used has a
coil resistance of 120.
Therefore, the relay coil current = collector saturating current =
ICSAT = 12V/120 = 100mA.
Assuming = 100 (for BC547),

IB

I CSAT

(2)
IB = 100/100 =1mA.
The actual base current flowing, IBSAT must be higher than
the calculated base current IB to ensure base saturation. The
base resistor, R1 must be able to provide this saturating base
current.
Using a 1K resistor would ensure that the transistor is fully
ON when current passes out from the micro-controller 5V
source, i.e.

I BSAT

Vo VBE
R1

(ISSN : 2277-1581)
1 Sep 2014

of components. The calibration is to set the potentiometer for

threshold tripping of the relay in accordance to the pre-set
values in the microcontroller.
To protect the load from switching surges as well as from
quick changeover (off and on) effect of over/under-voltage
relay, in case the mains voltage starts fluctuating in the
vicinity of under or over voltage pre-set points, an on-time
delay was programmed in the microcontroller. When the
mains supply goes out of pre-set (over or under voltage)
limits, the relay/load is turned off immediately and it is turned
on only when A.C. mains voltage settles within the pre-set
limits for a period equal to the on-time delay period. The ontime delay period was made programmable for 500
milliseconds to 20 seconds duration. In the device,
programmed on-time delay of 1 second was found
satisfactory.

(3)

= (5 0.7)/1x103
= 4.3mA which is >1mA.
C.

Explanation of the Circuit Diagram

The circuit diagram of the developed device is shown in
Figure 4. The circuit was designed, and its functionality was
simulated using Proteus Software. The input mains supply is
stepped down by the centre tapped transformer TR1 to 12Vac at
input mains voltage of 220Vac. TR1 with diodes D1 and D3
provide centre tapped full wave rectification, which is
smoothened by capacitor C3. The unregulated dc output is fed to
the positive fixed voltage regulator U1 (LM7805) with regulated
output voltage of +5V.
The PIC monitors the input voltage through a potentiometer
RV3 and toggle switch SW1; set the input voltage range (as
presented by RV3) at which the relay will be energized; and
activates the liquid crystal display LCD1 which displays the
input mains voltage level and other information as the case may
be. The microcontroller sends signal to the relay driver Q 1 and
thus energize the relay RL1 thereby connecting the mains supply
to the load. LED D4 indicates when there is mains supply to the
load. LED D4 used is a high current and high reverse voltage
LED. Diode D5 helps to provide a dc current through the LED
while resistor R2 limits the current to a safe value for the LED.
Diode D5 used is 1N4007.
Switch SW1 was incorporated to allow for manual test and
calibration of the device. The manual test is to ascertain the
functionality of the microcontroller after assembly and coupling

IJSET@2014

Figure 4: Circuit Diagram of the Microcontroller Based

Under and Over Voltage Protective Device.

III.

Construction and Testing

A.

Construction
The design and the programming was simulated several
times on Proteus software until the code for the design
worked satisfactorily before the final programming of the
microcontroller and assembly of the components (Martin,
2008). The microcontroller is shown in Figure 5(a); the type

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Volume No.3 Issue No.9, pp : 1225-1229
of programmer used for the microcontroller is a USB
programmer shown in Figure 5(b), and the programming code
used is compiler CCS. The programming of the microcontroller
was done by first writing the program code in C#, after which it
was compiled using the CCS compiler; then later the hex file
was burned to the PIC through the USB programmer.

(ISSN : 2277-1581)
1 Sep 2014

Switch

LCD Display
Potentiometer

LED Switch

5.1cm

(a)

LCD Display

14.5cm

Toggle
Potentiometer
LED Switch
16.8cm

Terminals for Input

Mains Supply

Terminals for
connection To Load

(a)

Input
Mains
Supply
Terminals

Load
Terminals

(b)

Figure 7: (a) Casing dimensions. (b) Completed device.

B.
(b)

Figure 5: (a) The PIC16F877A microcontroller, (b) The USB

programmer that was used.
The circuit was first bread boarded for effective
manipulation of the design, and was tested to ascertain
satisfactory operation. The device was tested based on each
stages of the design. The components were then assembled and
soldered both on Vero board and PCB, and then placed in a
plastic casing. The complete and populated circuit boards were
assembled and coupled in the plastic casing together with
accessories such as output and input terminals, potentiometer
knobs, input power cable, toggle switch, liquid crystal display
and output triggering indicator green light. Figure 6 shows the
device under construction; Figure 7(a) shows the dimension of
the casing, and Figure 7(b) shows the completed device.

Testing
There are two types of test carried out on the developed
device, they are Manual Test and Calibration.
1) Manual Test
During the process of carrying out this test, the toggle
switch was put on the Manual test position. Then, the
voltage protection device was turned ON, and it initially
displayed Please wait on the LCD unit, before the pre-set
input voltage (200-240 volts) was finally displayed. The
potentiometer was varied until mains voltage is supplied to
the load. The purpose of the manual test is to verify the
functionality of the microcontroller.
2)
Calibration
With the switch in Calibration position, the
potentiometer was adjusted to divide down the voltage being
monitored by the microcontroller to a safe value. Also, as the
input mains supply voltage is varied using a variac, the
potentiometer was used to set the threshold for tripping of the
relay. Immediately the output set voltage is reached, the load
received mains supply without any problem.
The completed device was tested with 200W
incandescent bulbs and house appliances such as television,
DVD players, refridgerator, and single phase surface pump;
and the performance was satisfactory. The condition for
output triggering was stable after several testing. The output
set voltage of 200-240 volts was maintained throughout the
test period.

IV.

Figure 6: The device under construction.

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Conclusion

The aim of designing and constructing a low cost micro

controller based under and over voltage protective device was
achieved in this work. The device supplies power to the
connected load whenever the input supply is within the
required pre-set voltage, thereby protecting the output
connected loads from un-necessary damages. The device is

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Volume No.3 Issue No.9, pp : 1225-1229
found to be economical, easier to maintain and repair. The
device cost about $50 to produce.
References
i. Bayindir R., Sefa I., Cola I., and Bektas A. (2008)
Fault Detection and Load Protection Using Sensors, IEEE
Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 23, Issue 3, pp. 734
741.
ii. Close K. J., and Yarwood J. (1979) Experimental
Electronics for Students 1st Edition, Chapman and Hall Ltd,
Britain.
iii. Delton T. H. (1989) Basic Electronic Theory with
Projects and Experiment 3rd Edition; TAB Book Inc. Blue
Ridge Summit, P.A.

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(ISSN : 2277-1581)
1 Sep 2014

iv. Gurevich H., and Vladimir S. (2005) Electrical

Relays: Principles and Applications CRC Press, LondonNew York.
v. Ian S. L. (2000) Passive Components for Circuit
Design, Texas, USA, p. 170. ISBN 008051359X.
vi. Maddock R. J. and Calcute P. (1994) Electronics:
A Course for Engineers 2nd Edition; Longman Essek,
London.
vii. Martin P. B. (2008) Programming 8-Bit PIC
Microcontrollers in C with Interactive Hardware Simulation
ISBN: 978-0-7506-8960-1.
viii. Paul H., and Winfield H. (1989) The Art of
Electronics, Second Edition, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge MA, p. 58, ISBN 0-521-37095-7.

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