CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Preamble

In this chapter preliminary information on the project is given to make this project self-

explanatory. The chapter contain the background of the study, statement of the problem or

problem statement, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study

and the methodology adopted in the achieving the objectives of the project.

1.2 Background of The Study

A voltmeter is an instrument that measures voltages of either direct or alternating electric

current on a scale usually graduated in volts’ millivolts (0.00V) or kilovolts (1000 volts) the

typing commercial or laboratory standard voltmeter in use is likely to employ an

electromechanically mechanism in which current flows.

Through turns of wire is translated into a reading of voltage. Other types of voltmeter which use

electrostatic forces and these are only voltmeters to measure voltage direct rather than by the

effect of current. The potentiometer operates by comparing the voltage to be measured with

known voltage. It is used to measure very low voltages the electronic voltmeter which has

largely replaced the vacuum – tube voltmeter, uses amplification or reification (or both) to

measure either alternating or direct – current voltages the current needed to activate the meter

movement is not taken from the circuit being measured, hence this type of instrument does not

introduce errors of circuit leading. However, the growth in technology, it has necessitated the use

of computer for controlling the output of the voltmeter. Whereby, the display of the voltage
being read is being viewed from the monitor. His kind of display could be either graphical or

numerical, but the most popular type is that of numerical display, this is achieved by a series of

switching actions of a micro controller, whereby the internal flow at the analog inputs.

Nowadays many measurement instruments have been used in all laboratories throughout the

world. Unfortunately, their accuracies are mostly proportional to the time period. As time passes,

they may function incorrectly and generate some errors. The mistaken results from such

instruments can cause serious problems in economic system and life safety since they will be

used for validating product standards in the importing and exporting industries. (Burke, 2019). 

Digital voltmeter is an instrument that measure ad, dc or ac/dc voltage in a circuit. Digital

voltmeter uses solid-state components and display values digitally. Typically, Digital voltmeter

can be used to locate excessive voltage that may indicate an open circuit or ground. They are also

used to identify low voltage or voltage drops that may indicate a poor connection. The positive

lead is connected to the circuits positive side and the negative lead is connected to the circuits

ground. The digital voltmeters internal resistance is the impedance, which is usually expressed in

ohms per volt. (Haruna,2019). This amount is relatively high in order to prevent the device from

drawing significant current and disturbing the operation of the circuit being tested. The

sensitivity of the meter determines the range that digital voltmeters can measure.

Digital voltmeter can measure a range of alternating current (AC) voltages, direct current (DC)

voltages, or both AC and DC voltages. Devices typically display between three and seven digits.

Some digital voltmeters can capture minimum and maximum voltages called spike readings.

Others measure the root mean square (RMS), a range of frequencies, or the signal power in

decibels. Digital voltmeters are also used to monitor resistance temperature detectors (RTDs),

thermocouples, transistors, and diodes. Benchtop, rack mounted, (Haruna,2019)

and handheld devices are commonly available. Battery powered units do not require plug-in

power. Digital voltmeters with audibility continuity beep when the probes touch. Devices with

analog bar graph capabilities display status readings such as battery power, signal level, and

continuity. Some digital voltmeters interface to computers and include integral monitoring

software for applications such as data acquisition. Programmable devices allow users to set

values that trigger monitoring routines. Data storage, logging, and removable data storage

devices are often available. Some digital voltmeters allow users to adjust the sampling rate or

provide internal memory. Others include an auto-ranging feature that (Haruna,2019)

automatically adjusts the measurement range. Output options include general-purpose interface

bus (GPIB), binary coded decimal (BCD), and digital-to-analog (DA). RS232 is a standard

communication protocol for serial ports. IEEE 488 is a standard communication protocol for

parallel ports.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Despite of the existence of a numerous implementations of embedded system coding, designing a

digital voltmeter (DVM) at low cost is still considered as an innovative implementation because

of its being a very necessary instrument in an electrical lab. The problem thereby addressed by

this construction work is that of providing a cheaper but effective digital voltmeter.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Project

The main aim of this project is to construct a device that is capable of measuring 0 to 400V ac

voltage, the objectives of this work are as follows

i. To develop the block diagram of the system from first principle

ii. To design the circuit of the voltmeter

 iii. To construct and test the constructed system

1.4 Significance of The Project

The advantages of using Atmega8 microcontroller in this work are that it has Low power

consumption with a better ampere display resolution while using low value drop resistor. The

project has a much smaller PCB size, only 5cm x 5cm. Still no SMD components. It also has

easy calibration, only one voltage adjust and one ampere adjust preset, no voltage out detection.

This project has the following advantgaes

i. They are more accurate than analog voltmeters.

ii. They reduce reading and interpolation errors.

iii. Parallax errors are eliminated. If the pointer of an analog voltmeter is viewed from a

different angle, you will see a different value. This is parallax error. A digital voltmeter

numerical display solves this problem

iv. Digital multimeter displays have no moving parts. This makes them free from wear and

shock failures.

v. The reading speed is increased as it is easier to read.

vi. Unlike analog multimeters, zero adjustment is not required.

vii. Digital output is suitable for further processing or recording and can be useful in a rapidly

increasing range of computer-controlled applications.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Project

The LED display depends on a battery or external power source. When the battery is low, the

display will be dim, making it difficult to read. In case of fluctuations or transients, it can record
an error. Warming of the ATMEGA8 during its use can change its properties leading to errors in

measured value. There is a voltage limitation. If it is increased beyond the limit, the meter will be

damaged. The digital nature makes it unsuitable for adjusting tuning circuits or peaking tunable

responses. They are expensive due to high manufacturing cost.

and references.
 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Preamble

This chapter presents the different work on same or similar topic by other authors in the past, it

also gives the theoretical framework for the topic with a view to determining the necessity or

importance for this work, it also brings out the importance of the work together with the unique

difference between this work and those by other authors.

2.1 Review of Related Literature

Khawn et al (2015) stated that nowadays many measurement instruments have been used in all

laboratories throughout the world. Unfortunately, their accuracies are mostly proportional to the

time period. As time passes, they may function incorrectly and generate some errors. The

mistaken results from such instruments can cause serious problems in economic system and life

safety since they will be used for validating product standards in the importing and exporting

industries. In order to ensure that they work perfectly, the calibration process is required. In the

past, the calibration has to be performed manually and this process usually takes long time.

Presently, fully automatic calibration systems have been used worldwide and they play an

important role in the calibration of measurement instruments. They can improve measurement

accuracy, repeatability and minimize routine jobs. This system is to measure AC/DC voltage,

current, diodes, temperature, connectivity, frequency and resistance using PIC microcontroller.

To carry out the design consideration and production of a useful consumer product of PIC

microcontroller. The whole process of the digital multi-meter is controlled by PIC 16F887
microcontroller. Their work describes the design and construction of digital multi-meter using

PIC microcontroller. In this system, a typical multi-meter may include features such as the ability

to measure AC/DC voltage, DC current, resistance, temperature, diodes, frequency and

connectivity. This design uses of the PIC microcontroller, voltage rectifiers, voltage divide,

potentiometer, LCD and other instruments to complete the measure. When we used what we

have learned of microprocessors and adjust the program to calculate and show the measures in

the LCD, keypad selected the modes. The software programming has been incorporated using

MPLAB and PROTEUS. In this system, the analogue input is taken directly to the analogue

input pin of the microcontroller without any other processing. So the input range is from 0V to

5V the maximum source impedance is 2k5 (for testing use a 1k pot). To improve the circuit adds

an op-amp in front to present greater impedance to the circuit under test. The output impedance

of the op-amp will be low which a requirement of the PIC analogue input is. (Rajput, 2020)

Mahfooz et al (2016) worked on development of a Digital Multimeter: A Low-Cost Design

Approach. In their work it was stated that Measurement of electrical parameters like current and

voltage are crucial in field of measurement. Frequency indicates the state of rhythmic behaviour

of signal and proper change in system with respect to time. Mustimeter are used in measuring

various electrical parameters including resistance, capacitance and inductance. This paper shed

lights on the development of a low-cost Mustimeter using digital electronic circuitry. The

proposed device is able to measure various electrical parameter in the certain specified range. A

simple, but highly accurate, sampling method for the measurement of frequency in combination

of other parameters are corporate here by means of a digital mustimeter (DMM). In modern

electronics laboratory a digital mustimeter with high precision and digital displaying mechanism

is an essential device. This paper describes the mechanism of a digital mustimeter that can
measure electrical parameters in under the particular range with specified resolution. accuracy of

digital mustimeter discussed in this paper is quite good, it can be used where precise

measurement at low cost is required. The main advantage of the digital mustimeter described in

this paper is that the measurements are performed exactly according to the determination of

power and true rms voltage. The mustimeter works with an algorithm that is suitable for on-line

measurements, without the high computational burden as in the algorithm is of an adaptable type

and depends on the harmonic content of the input signal and network frequency. The dual-slope

ADC converter with very simple and inexpensive hardware, in contrast to the highly

sophisticated and expensive hardware described in meets all price and accuracy requirements for

the design of the measurement system. This reduces the price of the entire device, while the high

level of accuracy in processing ac values is preserved, better than in some other solutions like

excellent noise rejection. The necessary synchronization is achieved by software measurements

of the frequency of the measured signal. The prototype of a digital mustimeters is being tested in

the precision limit of the instrument was investigated theoretically, experimentally and by

simulation. Field experiments gave excellent confirmation of the good application properties of

this instrument. By eliminating the sample-and-hold circuit from the final design of the

measuring system, a possible source of systematic errors is eliminated and hardware

requirements are significantly simplified. (Rajput, 2020)

According to Debajyoti et al (2019) worked on digital multimeter, In the recent years, a

Multimeter has seen rapid changes due to introduction of various measurement technologies. The

Digital Multimeter is supposed to be implemented in between the other existing measuring

instruments, without making any changes in basic structure. This system is most suitable for

basic fault finding and field service work. Multimeter is intended as a bench instrument which
can measure to a very high degree of accuracy. So, in this paperwork our aim is to design a

digital multimeter for measurement purpose.

2.2 Theoretical Review

2.2.1 DC Voltage Measurement Circuit

Instruments for the measurement of electric voltage are called voltmeters. Correct insertion of a

voltmeter requires the connection of its terminals to the points of an electric circuit across which

the voltage has to be measured. To a first approximation, the electric equivalent circuit of a

voltmeter can be represented by a resistive impedance Z. This means that any voltmeter, once

connected to an electric circuit, draws a current I given by:

U=Z (Chaudhari, 2019)

Where U is the measured voltage. The higher the value of the international impedance, the

higher the quantity of the voltmeter, since it does not significantly modify the status of the

electric circuit under rest. (Rajput, 2020)

Different operating principles are used to measure an electric voltage. The mechanical

interaction between currents, between a current and a magnetic field, or between electrified

conductors was widely adopted in the past to generate a mechanical torque proportional to the

voltage or the squared voltage to be measured. This torque, balanced by a restarting torque,

usually generated by a spring, causes the instrument pointer. (Chaudhari, 2019)

Basically, there are two types of voltmeters. One is analog voltmeter and another one is digital

type voltmeter. The analog type voltmeter generally uses for measuring AC voltage. It displays
the reading through the pointer which is fixed on the calibrated scale. The deflection of the t

pointer depends on the torque acting on it. The digital voltmeter which displays the reading in

the numeric form is known as the digital voltmeter. The digital voltmeter gives the accurate

result. (Rajput, 2020)

In this project we have tried to measure the DC voltage by using voltage divider rule circuit. We

have made a DC measurement instrument with a measuring range of 0V to 50V. We have made

a circuit whose output is always in between 5V. Then we have feeded it to the microcontroller

and showed the result on a LCD display.

Figure 1.0: DC Voltage Measurement Circuit

2.2.2 AC Voltage Measurement

An alternating function or AC Waveform on the other hand is defined as one that varies in both

magnitude and direction in more or less an even manner with respect to time making it a “Bi-
directional” waveform. An AC function can represent either a power source or a signal source

with the shape of an AC waveform generally following that of a mathematical sinusoid being

defined as: A(t) = Amax*sin(2πƒt). (Chaudhari, 2019)

The term AC or to give it its full description of Alternating Current, generally refers to a time-

varying waveform with the most common of all being called a Sinusoid better known as a

Sinusoidal Waveform. Sinusoidal waveforms are more generally called by their short description

as Sine Waves. Sine waves are by far one of the most important types of AC waveform used in

electrical engineering.

The shape obtained by plotting the instantaneous ordinate values of either voltage or current

against time is called an AC Waveform. An AC waveform is constantly changing its polarity

every half cycle alternating between a positive maximum value and a negative maximum value

respectively with regards to time with a common example of this being the domestic mains

voltage supply we use in our homes. (Chaudhari, 2019)

This means then that the AC Waveform is a “time-dependent signal” with the most common type

of time-dependant signal being that of the Periodic Waveform. The periodic or AC waveform is

the resulting product of a rotating electrical generator. Generally, the shape of any periodic

waveform can be generated using a fundamental frequency and superimposing it with harmonic

signals of varying frequencies and amplitudes but that’s for another tutorial.

Alternating voltages and currents cannot be stored in batteries or cells like direct current (DC)

can, it is much easier and cheaper to generate these quantities using alternators or waveform

generators when they are needed. The type and shape of an AC waveform depends upon the

generator or device producing them, but all AC waveforms consist of a zero-voltage line that
divides the waveform into two symmetrical halves. The main characteristics of an AC Waveform

are defined as:

AC Waveform Characteristics

 • The Period, (T) is the length of time in seconds that the waveform takes to repeat itself from

start to finish. This can also be called the Periodic Time of the waveform for sine waves, or the

Pulse Width for square waves.

 • The Frequency, (ƒ) is the number of times the waveform repeats itself within a one second

time period. Frequency is the reciprocal of the time period, (ƒ = 1/T) with the unit of frequency

being the Hertz, (Hz).

 • The Amplitude (A) is the magnitude or intensity of the signal waveform measured in volts or

amps.

Figure 1.2: Circuit Diagram of AC measuring Circuit

2.2.3 Types of Analog Voltmeters

Ac electromechanical meter movement comes in two basic arrangements. Those based on Dc

movement designed and those engineered for ac use. Permanent – magnet moving coil (pmmc)

meter movement will not work correctly if directly connected to alternating current, because the

direction ofneele movement will change with each half cycle of the AC.

2.2.3.1. Passing Ac through D’ Arsonval Meter

This causes useless flutter of the needle. In order to use a Dc style, meter such as C’ arsenal

design the alternating current must be rectified into Dc. This is most easily accomplished through

the use of devices called Diodes we will see diodes used in a circuit that demonstrates, the

creation of harmonic frequencies from a distorted (or rectified) sine wave. Another strategy for a

practical ac meter movement is to redesign the movement without the inherent polarity

sensitivity of the Dc types. This means that the use of permanent magnet should be avoided.

2.2.3.2. Iron Vane Electromechanically Meter Movement

Electrostatic attraction between two metals plates separated by air gap is alternative mechanism

for generating a needle –movement force proportional to applied voltage. This works just as well

for Ac as it does in dc or probably poorly.

The force involved is small much smaller than the magnetic attraction is small much smaller than

the magnetic attraction between an energized coil and iron vane and as such these “electrostatics

meter movement tends to be fragile and easily disturbed by physical movement

 CHAPTER THREE

SYSTEM DESIGN AND ANALYSIS

Preamble

This chapter presents the block diagram of the conceived system, the analysis of the circuit

leading to the component value determination and selection.

3.1 Functional Block diagram

The block diagram of the system is given below

Power Supply

Sampling LED Display

Microcontroller
Network

Figure 3.1: Block diagram (Rajput,2020)

3.2 System Design

3.2.1 Hardware Design Analysis

3.2.1.1 Power supply Design

The power consumption of the system is estimated from the total of the maximum consumption

of the individual components, thus:

Maximum controller consumption = 0.29W (from datasheet)

Maximum Sensor consumption = 0.045W (estimated from datasheet at 5.5V, 9mA max)

Maximum display consumption = 0.75W (estimated from datasheet at 5.0V, 150mA)

The total maximum power consumption = 1.085W

Since the power supply is a 9.0V battery, the current consumption = 1.085/9

IMAX = 1.21A

A 9.0V Battery is selected for use in this project.

Figure 3.2: 9V battery as power supply

3.2.1.2 LED Display

LED stands for light emitting diode display. Since their interface serial/parallel pins are defined

so it’s easy to interface them with many microcontrollers. LED come in many sizes 8x1, 8x2,

10x2, 16x1, 16x2, 16x4, 20x2, 20x4, 24x2, 30x2, 32x2, 40x2 etc . Many multinational

companies like Philips, Hitachi, Panasonic make their own custom type of character LEDss to be

used in their products.

Figure 3.4: diagram of the Ultrasonic sensor

3.2.1.3 The Microcontroller

The Arduino Nano is a small, complete, and breadboard-friendly board based on the ATmega328

(Arduino Nano 3.x). It has more or less the same functionality of the Arduino Duemilanove, but

in a different package. It lacks only a DC power jack, and works with a Mini-B USB cable

instead of a standard one. Power. (Hernando,2016)

The Arduino Nano can be powered via the Mini-B USB connection, 6-20V unregulated external

power supply (pin 30), or 5V regulated external power supply (pin 27). The power source is

automatically selected to the highest voltage source.

Memory

The ATmega328 has 32 KB, (also with 2 KB used for the bootloader. The ATmega328 has 2 KB

of SRAM and 1 KB of EEPROM.

Input and Output

Each of the 14 digital pins on the Nano can be used as an input or output, using pinMode(),

digitalWrite(), and digitalRead() functions. They operate at 5 volts. Each pin can provide or

receive a maximum of 40 mA and has an internal pull-up resistor (disconnected by default) of

20-50 kOhms. In addition, some pins have specialized functions:

Serial: 0 (RX) and 1 (TX). Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. These pins

are connected to the corresponding pins of the FTDI USB-to-TTL Serial chip.

External Interrupts: 2 and 3. These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low value,

a rising or falling edge, or a change in value. See the attach Interrupt () function for details.

PWM: 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11. Provide 8-bit PWM output with the analogWrite() function.

SPI: 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), 13 (SCK). These pins support SPI communication, which,

although provided by the underlying hardware, is not currently included in the Arduino

Language.

Communication

The Arduino Nano has a number of facilities for communicating with a computer, another

Arduino, or other microcontrollers. The ATmega328 provide UART TTL (5V) serial

communication, which is available on digital pins 0 (RX) and 1 (TX). An FTDI FT232RL on the
board channels this serial communication over USB and the FTDI drivers (included with the

Arduino software) provide a virtual com port to software on the computer. The Arduino software

includes a serial monitor which allows simple textual data to be sent to and from the Arduino

board. The RX and TX LEDs on the board will flash when data is being transmitted via the FTDI

chip and USB connection to the computer (but not for serial communication on pins 0 and 1).

A Software Serial library allows for serial communication on any of the Nano's digital pins.

The ATmega328 also support I2C (TWI) and SPI communication. The Arduino software

includes a Wire library to simplify use of the I2C bus. To use the SPI communication, please see

ATmega328 datasheet.

3.2.1.4 Resistors

A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as

a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal

levels, to divide voltages, bias active elements, and terminate transmission lines, among other

uses. High-power resistors that can dissipate many watts of electrical power as heat may be used

as part of motor controls, in power distribution systems, or as test loads for generators. Fixed

resistors have resistances that only change slightly with temperature, time or operating voltage.

Variable resistors can be used to adjust circuit elements (such as a volume control or a lamp

dimmer), or as sensing devices for heat, light, humidity, force, or chemical activity. (Tiwari,

2018)
 Figure 3.4: Resistors

3.2.1.5 Capacitors

A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field. It is a passive electronic

component with two terminals.

The effect of a capacitor is known as capacitance. While some capacitance exists between any

two electrical conductors in proximity in a circuit, a capacitor is a component designed to add

capacitance to a circuit. The capacitor was originally known as a condenser or compensator. This

name and its cognates are still widely used in many languages, but rarely in English, one notable

exception being condenser microphones, also called capacitor microphones. (Silver, 2018)
 Figure 3.5: Capacitors

3.2.2 Software Design Analysis

The Arduino Nano can be programmed with the Arduino software (download). Select "Arduino

Duemilanove or Nano w/ ATmega328" from the Tools > Board menu (according to the

microcontroller on your board). (Simon,2021).

3.2.2.1 Flow Chart of the System

The program to command the microcontroller to accept input signals from the HCSR 04 is

written in C+ language. Sample of the lines of the program is given below with brief explanation.

The program is written following the flow chart in figure 3.6

 Figure 3.6: Flowchart of the software

3.2.2.1 Software system Section

The program for the microcontroller is written in C++ language for the Arduino IDE windows

program to be able to upload to the Arduino. Parts of the program is given in table 3.2

Table 3.2 the program

#include <LiquidCrystal.h> --- This line includes a library of instructions from the

Arduino

database

#define trigger 18

#define echo 19 --- this lines instruct the Arduino to take pin 18 as trigger input from the

sensor and pin 19 as echo signal input to the arduino

LiquidCrystal lcd(2,3,4,5,6,7) ; --- this line defines the pins the microcontroller uses to

address the lcd display

void setup() ---The following lines set up the LCD and instructions to display

lcd.begin(16,2);

pinMode(trigger,OUTPUT);

pinMode(echo,INPUT);

lcd.print(" Ultra sonic");

lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print("Distance Meter");

delay(2000);

lcd.clear();

lcd.print(" Circuit Digest");

delay(2000);

void loop() --- The following lines perform the data manipulation to

calculate

the distance

lcd.clear();

digitalWrite(trigger,LOW);

delayMicroseconds(2);

digitalWrite(trigger,HIGH);

delayMicroseconds(10);

digitalWrite(trigger,LOW);

delayMicroseconds(2);

time=pulseIn(echo,HIGH);

distance=time*340/20000;

lcd.clear();

lcd.print("Distance:");

lcd.print(distance);

lcd.print("cm");

lcd.setCursor(0,1);
 lcd.print("Distance:");

lcd.print(distance/100);

lcd.print("m");

delay(1000);

3.3 System Construcction

3.3.1 Component List

Table 3.1 List of components

S/N Components Description Function

1 Microcontroller Arduino Nano Processing

2 Display 16 x 2 Output

3 Battery 9V PP3 Power

4 Resistor 640 Current Limiting

5 Capacitor 10uf Filtering

3.3.2 Component Layout

A breadboard is a rectangular plastic board with a bunch of tiny holes in it. These holes let you

easily insert electronic components to prototype (meaning to build and test an early version of)

an electronic circuit. The connections are not permanent, so it is easy to remove a component if

you make a mistake, or just start over and do a new project. Technically, these breadboards are
called solderless breadboards because they do not require soldering to make

connections. Soldering (pronounced SAW-der-in). (Silver,2018)

Breadboarding is a method where electronic components are joined together by melting a special

type of metal called solder to give the two components an electrical connection.

Once inserted that component will be electrically connected to anything else placed in that row.

This is because the metal rows are conductive and allow current to flow from any point in that

strip.

The components are laid on the breadboard following the schematic diagram of the project as

shown in figure 3.7

Figure 3.8: Component Layout

3.3.3 Component soldering

Soldering is a joining process used to join different types of metals together by melting solder.

Solder is a metal alloy usually made of tin and lead which is melted using a hot iron. The iron is

heated to temperatures above 600 degrees Fahrenheit which then cools to create a strong

electrical bond. Solder is melted by using heat from an iron connected to a temperature

controller. It is heated up to temperatures beyond its melting point at around 600 degrees

Fahrenheit which then causes it to melt, which then cools creating the soldered joint, as well as

creating strong electrical joints solder can also be removed using a de-soldering tool. A solder is

a metal alloy used to create strong permanent bonds; such as copper joining in circuit boards and

copper pipe joints. It can also be supplied in two different types and diameters, lead and lead free

and also can be between .032” and .062”. Inside the solder core is the flux, a material used to

strengthen and improve its mechanical properties.

The type of soldering employed is soft soldering (90 °C - 450 °C) - This process has the lowest

filler metal melting point of all the soldering types at less than around 400°C these filler metals

are usually alloys, often containing lead with liquidus temperatures under 350°C. Because of the

low temperatures used in soft soldering it thermally stresses components the least but does not

make strong joints and is then therefore unsuitable for mechanical load-bearing applications. It is

also not suited for high temperature use as this type of solder loses strength and melts.
 Figure 3.9: Soldering

Figure 3.10: the soldered circuit

3.3.4 Casing/Packaging

The case was made out of transparent acrylic material cut to size 15cm by 10cm by 5cm as

shown in figure 4.4. Holes were cut for switch, led and LCD Provision was also made for probe

wire. Ventilation source were also provided as shown

 20cm

4cm
4c

LCD Window 8cm

Power
Switch

Fig. 3.11: Casing/Packaging

3.4 Principle of Operation

At the end of the hardware design, the resulting system is represented by the complete circuit

diagram of the circuit given in figure 3.4

U1
7805

1 3
VI VO
GND
2

SIM1
R3
R1
www.TheEngineeringProjects.com

0R1
0R1 0-50VAC/DC
13 12
D13 D12
REF 11
D11
A0
A0 Arduino D10
10
A1 9
BAT1 A1 Nano D9
9V A2 8
A2 D8
A3 7
A3 D7
A4 6
A4 D6
ATMEGA328P

A5 5
A5 D5
ATMEL

A6 4
A6 D4
A7 3 R4 GROUNG
A7 D3 0R1
RV1 2
5V D2
R2 0
0R1 RST RX / D0
1
GND TX / D1

ARDUINO NANO

Figure 3.7: Complete circuit diagram

Arduino microcontroller is used in conjunction with the LED display to determine Ac/DC

voltage.

The unknown voltage signal is fed to the pulse generator which generates a pulse whose width is

proportional to the input signal. The output of pulse generator is fed to one leg of the AND

gating function while the input signal to the other leg of the AND gating function is a train of

pulses. The output of AND gating is a positive triggered train of duration same as the width of

the pulse generated by the pulse generator. This positive triggered train is fed to the inverter

which converts it into a negative triggered train and the output of the inverter is fed to a counter

which counts the number of triggers in the duration which is proportional to the input signal

i.e. voltage under measurement. Which is displayed on the LED display, the count is calibrated

to indicate voltage in volts directly.

CHAPTER FOUR

TESTING, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Testing and Result

4.1.1 Sectional Circuit Testing

Test on sections of the constructed circuit was done with a meter and functional Visual tests were

done as to check if all connections are done correctly and if there are any short or open circuits

on the board, this is done without applying power to the circuit.

The second test is done after powering the circuit, a digital meter is set at continuity and then

voltage range to check for polarity of supply, correct voltage levels across and between

components.
4.1.2 Complete Prototype Testing

The last tests were done on the functional circuit to establish if it can measure voltage and

resistance. The completed circuit was powered ON and different voltage levels were measured

by putting the range switch to voltage, while resistances were measured by applying the probes

across different resistances.

Results

After testing results obtained are documented and tabulated in table 4.1 and 4.2.

Table 4.1 Result of circuit tests

S/N Test point Test Type Result

1 Battery terminals Voltage measurement 9.0V

2 Vcc pin on Voltage measurement 9.0v

Arduino

3 Switch Terminals Continuity Continuous when

closed

Table 4.2 Function test result

S/N Type of Test Tested Parameter Result

1 Voltage 5V 5.4V

2 Voltage 9V 8.95V

3 Voltage 12V 12.3V

4 Voltage 15V 15.2V

 5 Resistance 1KΩ 1.2KΩ

6 Resistance 5KΩ 4.95KΩ

7 Resistance 50KΩ 50.6KΩ

8 Resistance 220KΩ 220KΩ

4.2 Discussion

The results tabulated in table 4.1 show that the necessary test points are at the right potential and

that the switch is functional implying that the circuit should function without error when

powered and tested. The results in table 4.2 also show that the projects main objectively has been

achieved, the circuit was capable of measuring voltage at 5 to 15 volts as per test results, It is

also capable of measuring resistances of value 11KΩ to 2201KΩ.

4.3 Bill of engineering Measurement and evaluation (BEME)

To further document this project, its cost estimate is created as shown in table 4.12

Table 4.3 BEME

S/N Description of Components Type Cost (#) Quantity Amount (#)

1 Microcontroller Arduino Nano 5000 1 5000

2 Ultrasonic sensor HCR400 2500 1 2500

3 Battery 9V PP3 300 2 3000

4 Switch SP 200 1 200

5 GSM module SIM800L 6500 1 6500

Total 17, 200

 CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Preamble

This chapter contains a brief summary of the work together with conclusion and

recommendations for further improvement on the work.

5.1 Summary

This project aims to solve the problem of measurement of voltage and resistance measurements.

The circuit consists of three main stages, the controller and the display. and the power supply

unit. The design was made modular to reduce error, the stages were individually determined by

selection. The complete circuit diagram was used as a guide for the construction, the circuit was
tested on different voltage levels as well as resistances. Result show that the circuit was capable

of determining the value of any of the two measurable quantities, namely voltage and resistance.

5.2 Conclusion

This is a project based on Arduino board which can measures the voltage and resistance. When

we connect this multimeter to a a source of voltage the 16*2 LCD displays its voltage value in

volts. Same happens when it is connected to resistor, the value will be displayed on the screen.

The project uses an Arduino pro mini board whose ADC feature is used along with the concept

of Ohm’s law and Voltage Divider circuit to develop this multimeter. This project is cost friendly

and have less complexity. This project gives more accurate results for the parameters.

5.3 Recommendations

This Arduino based all in one meter project has many more upgrades that can be added to

increase the performance to auto data logging, plotting graph, notifying over voltage or over

current situations etc. Also, we can add other parameters like energy, power factor etc by

changing the source code. By changing the component ratings in the circuit, we can measure

high loads. It is also highly recommended that

1. Solar powering should be considered for the circuit to ensure continuous operation.

2. 3D printing should be used to make the casing.

 References

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Chaudhari, S. (2019). Electrical and electronics measurement. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Pub.

Inc., 2018, p. 318.

Debajyoti, L., Edna, G., Hussein, K., & Rumos, J. (2019). Implementation of a digital multimeter

using microcontroller. Science fair edition of colure journal de technologiee. Sukon

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arduino-wattmeter/

Khawn, T., Fort, H., Lou, J. & Kuss, H. (2015). Design, construction and calibration of a

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Sidney,Australia. Septemeber 23, 2015

Silver, H. (2018). Do-it-yourself circuit building for dummies, 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Pub.

Inc., 2018, p. 318.

Rajput, E. (2020). Electrical Measurements and Measuring Instruments. https://meettechniek.

info/diy-instruments/arduinowattmeter.html 5)

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 CONSTRUCTION OF MICROCONTROLLER BASED MULTIMETER

ABSTRACT

This Project describes the construction of digital multi-meter using Arduino microcontroller. In

this system, a typical multi-meter may include features such as the ability to measure AC/DC

voltage, DC current and resistance. This device uses an Arduino microcontroller, voltage

rectifiers, voltage divide, potentiometer, LCD and other instruments to complete the measure.

When we used what we have learned of microprocessors and adjust the program to calculate

and show the measures in the LCD. The software programming has been incorporated using C+

+. In this system, the analogue input is taken directly to the analogue input pin of the

microcontroller without any other processing. So, the input range is from 0V to 5V which is

extended to 0 -250V by use of resistor network. The project was constructed and tested. Test

results show that is serve43d as a multimeter.