Week 6 & 7 (FYP2) : Creating the PCB

Hi, sorry for late posting of the Week 6, because i was busy preparing for the Phase Test. So, i combined Week 6 and Week 7 under one post.

This week, i had create the PCB using layouts that i had designed using Altium Designer; and copper board. There were many step involved in creating the PCB.

Figure above shown the process of cutting the copper board. i bought an A4 sized copper board in Jalan Pasar for RM9.

Figure above shown the cutting process of the OHP sheet.After printing the PCB layout on a Overhead Projector (OHP) sheet, i cut it according to the size.

Align the OHP sheet which has the printed layout on the  copper board. Make sure the printed side was facing the copper side of the board.

Iron the OHP sheet onto the copper board. The heat applied by the iron, will cause the ink on the OHP sheet to stick on the copper board. Thus making the copper board look like the OHP sheet.

Dip the PCB into the Etching solution (Ferric Chloride solution, FeCl₃. The solution reacted with the unmasked copper, and removes the unwanted copper from the PCB. This process is called as Etching. The PCB was check every 10 minutes.

Now the PCB was carefully drilled, to make the holes, using drilling machine.

Picture above is the completed PCB.

Week 5 (FYP2) : PCB Design

This week, i have designed the PCB layouts for both solar charger conntroller and; LDR & PIR sensor circuits. I have used Altium Designer software, to design the PCB layout.

Unlike stripe board, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) was exclusively design according to the circuit layout. PCB was meant to minimize the usage of the wire jumper, thus making the circuit look presentable.

Figure above is the PCB layout for the solar charger controller circuit, while figure below is the LDR and PIR sensor circuit.

Week 4 (FYP2) : Constructing the Solar Charging Circuit

On 30 September, i tried to construct the solar charger circuit on the breadboard.

Picture above shown the open circuit voltage for the solar panel. The solar panel was rated at 2W. 

This was the voltage produced by the 12V 7.2AH. The circuit was in dumping mode, which means the battery was not connected to solar panel.  

This was the voltage produced by the solar panel, note that the RED LED was ON, which means the circuit was in dumping mode. 

This picture shown the voltage produced by the solar panel, which was used to charge the battery. The circuit was in charging mode, which was indicated by the GREEN LED. 

The circuit was forced to be in dumping and charging mode by pushing the push buttons. 

Week 3 (FYP2) : Simulation of the Motion Detector and LDR Circuit.

This week, i have combined the LDR circuit and motion detector circuit. A 5V relay was used to combine both circuits.

Picture above showing LDR circuit in OFF mode, because the higher lux of the surrounding. This resulting the relay not pull and motion detector circuit also in OFF mode (shown by the LED), even there is a motion detected.  DC voltage generator was used, to assimilate the PIR sensor output voltage, because there is no PIR sensor in the Proteus component library. in practical, if the PIR sensor detect a motion, it will produce 3.3V as output voltage. 

Picture above shown both circuits in ON mode. LDR circuit was activated, because of low lux of the surrounding area, thus pull the relay, connecting the motion detector circuit with the DC voltage source. When the relay is pulled, motion detector circuit become complete and power up the LED light. 

Week 2 (FYP2) : Simulation of the Solar Charging Circuit.

This week, i tried to simulate the solar charging circuit using Proteus simulation software.

In this simulation, there is no solar panel and battery ( to charge ) in the library of components, so i decided to replace those with DC voltage source and LED respectively. The push button and potentiometer which connected to pin 2 of 555 timer, was to manually switch the circuit into charging mode, and set the minimum charging voltage. The push button and potentiometer which connected to pin 6 of 555 timer, was to manually switch the circuit into dumping mode, and set the maximum charging voltage.

This circuit was set to be in charging mode, if the voltage from solar panel is between 12V and 14.9V. upper or lower than the range, the circuit will be in dumping mode.

Week 1 (FYP2) : PIR motion sensor

Recalling back to FYP1 presentation, which i did post here, i did come up with a motion detector circuit, but unfortunately, the circuit could not working. After few times to get the circuit working, i decided to change the motion detector circuit, from active to passive motion detector circuit.

I managed to do the simulation for the motion detector circuit using PROTEUS simulation software, but there is no PIR sensor module in the simulation library. My solution for the problem is, since a PIR sensor module will be put out  around 3.3V, i just use a DC voltage supply to replace PIR sensor module, in the simulation.

If the DC voltage source set to 0V, the LED will not switch ON. this is because in this state, there is no motion detected by the PIR sensor.

If the DC voltage source set to 3.3V, which is the output voltage from the PIR sensor, if it detect motion, the LED will be switch ON. 

Week 10 : FYP1 Presentation

On 28 March 2013, FYP1 presentation was held in Dewan Gemilang. My assessors for that day were Sir Razif and Sir Azuki, Supposedly, on paper, Miss Norhafiza and Sir Razif were my assessors, but for unknown reason, Miss Norhafiza was replaced by Sir Azuki.

My presentation with Sir Razif went well as he also understand about my project. Same thing cannot be said with Sir Azuki. I think my presentation with him went bad, but i don't know how his point of view.

Picture shown above is the motion detector circuit, which i constructed for FYP1 presentation. Unfortunately, it did not working.