Design And Construction Of An Automatic Security Lighting System With Audio Alarm

ABSTRACT

Automatic security lighting system is any electrical security lighting that is fixed outside house for the illumination of such environment or a light is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night.

Automatic security light controller will automatically turn ON security light in the way of LEDs or bulb coupled with relay. This system employed the output from an uncomplicated dark activated circuit and obliges a relay in its output which can be further attached to switch ON/OFF a security light and audio alarm

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                        INTRODUCTION

The idea behind the design of this system is to make available the require illumination in our homes and environments for nighttime events, security, and beautification. This goes a long way in helping to curb the problem frequently encountered as a result of darkness during nighttime such as thieves, arm robbers operations or wide animals approaching our homes during night hours.

A security lighting is any electrical lighting that is fixed outside house for the illumination of such environment or a security light is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night.

Many of the people have a phobia of darkness, so to assist them in such situation; we have explained a simple circuit. It will automatically turn on street light in the way of LEDs or bulb coupled with relay. This system employed the output from an uncomplicated light/dark activated circuit and obliges a relay in its output which can be further attached to switch ON/OFF of a security light and electrical application in a household also. The function of the audio alarm is to inform the user whenever the device is triggered, and the alarm stays ON only for some seconds after activation.

1.1                                                   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1. This project is aimed at reducing the movement of mankind in power switching operation.
2. To automatically control the ON and OFF of the output light when a shadow falls upon the light dependent resistor (LDR) which act as a sensor and which is placed where it is correctly and constantly illuminated.

iii. To ensure that discrete components are used in place of bulky power components to control a heavy load current.

1. To ensure that there is no energy wastage and hence reduction of PHCN bill.
2. To develop an inexpensive system

1.2                                                 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Major significance of street lighting includes: prevention of accidents and increase in safety in our roads, offices, industries and homes. Studies have shown that darkness results in a large number of crashes and fatalities, especially those involving pedestrians; pedestrian fatalities are 3 to 6.75 times more likely in the dark than in daylight. Automatic security light  has been found to reduce accident and crashes by approximately 50%.

Furthermore, when used to light up intersections and highway as a street light interchanges tend to have fewer crashes than unlighted intersections and interchanges. Towns, cities, and villages use the unique locations provided by lampposts to hang decorative or commemorative banners.

1.3                                                PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of having automatic security lighting at roads/ homes is for lighting up your road/homes – for beautification, safety and security.

• By using this Automatic system for security light controlling, we can reduce energy consumption because the manually operated security lights are not switched off properly even the sunlight comes and also not switched on earlier before sunset.
• In sunny and rainy days, ON and OFF time differ noticeably which is one of the major disadvantage of using timer circuits or manual operation for switching the security lighting system.

1.4                                          APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT

There are four distinct main uses of a security lights, each requiring different types of lights and placement. Misuse of the different types of lights can make the situation worse by compromising visibility or safety.

Beacon lights

A modest steady light at the intersection of two roads is an aid to navigation because it helps a driver see the location of a side road as they come closer to it and they can adjust their braking and know exactly where to turn if they intend to leave the main road or see vehicles or pedestrians. A beacon light’s function is to say “here I am” and even a dim light provides enough contrast against the dark night to serve the purpose. To prevent the dangers caused by a car driving through a pool of light, a beacon light must never shine onto the main road, and not brightly onto the side road. In residential areas, this is usually the only appropriate lighting, and it has the bonus side effect of providing spill lighting onto any sidewalk there for the benefit of pedestrians. On Interstate highways this purpose is commonly served by placing reflectors at the sides of the road.

Roadway lights

Conventional security lights are used instead of high mast lighting near airport runway approaches due to the negative effects they cause.

Security light are not normally intended to illuminate the driving route (headlights are preferred), but to reveal signs and hazards outside of the headlights’ beam. Because of the dangers discussed above, roadway lights are properly used sparingly and only when a particular situation justifies increasing the risk. This usually involves an intersection with several turning movements and much signage, situations where drivers must take in much information quickly that is not in the headlights’ beam. In these situations (A freeway junction or exit ramp) the intersection may be lit so that drivers can quickly see all hazards, and a well designed plan will have gradually increasing lighting for approximately a quarter of a minute before the intersection and gradually decreasing lighting after it. The main stretches of highways remain unlighted to preserve the driver’s night vision and increase the visibility of oncoming headlights. If there is a sharp curve where headlights will not illuminate the road, a light on the outside of the curve is often justified.

If it is desired to light a roadway (perhaps due to heavy and fast multi-lane traffic), to avoid the dangers of casual placement of security lights it should not be lit intermittently, as this requires repeated eye readjustment which implies eyestrain and temporary blindness when entering and leaving light pools. In this case the system is designed to eliminate the need for headlights. This is usually achieved with bright lights placed on high poles at close regular intervals so that there is consistent light along the route. The lighting goes from curb to curb.

Street light control systems

A number of street light control systems have been developed to control and reduce energy consumption of a town’s public lighting system. These range from controlling a circuit of street lights and/or individual lights with specific ballasts and network operating protocols. These may include sending and receiving instructions via separate data networks at high frequency over the top of the low voltage supply or wireless.

Image-based street light control

A number of companies are now manufacturing Intelligent street lighting that adjust light output based on usage and occupancy, i.e. automating classification of pedestrian versus cyclist, versus automotive, sensing also velocity of movement and illuminating a certain number of streetlights ahead and fewer behind, depending on velocity of movement. Also the lights adjust depending on road conditions, for example, snow produces more reflectance therefore reduced light is required.

Military use

From a military standpoint, lighting is a critical part of the battlefield conditions. Shadows are good places to hide, while bright areas are more exposed. It is often beneficial to fight with the Sun or other light source behind you, giving your enemy disturbing visual glare and partially hiding your own movements in backlight. If natural light is not present searchlights and flares can be used. However the use of light may disclose your own hidden position and modern warfare have seen increased use of night vision through the use of infrared cameras and image intensifiers.

Flares can also be used by the military to mark positions, usually for targeting, but laser-guided and GPS weapons have eliminated this need for the most part.

1.5                           ADVANTAGES OF SECURITY LIGHTING SYSTEM

Major advantages of security lighting includes: prevention of accidents and increase in safety. Studies have shown that darkness results in a large number of crashes and fatalities, especially those involving pedestrians; pedestrian fatalities are 3 to 6.75 times more likely in the dark than in daylight. External lighting has been found to reduce pedestrian crashes by approximately 50%.

Furthermore, lighted intersections and highway interchanges tend to have fewer crashes than unlighted intersections and interchanges.

Towns, cities, and villages use the unique locations provided by lampposts to hang decorative or commemorative banners.

1.6      TYPES OF LAMPS USED FOR AN AUTOMATIC SECURITY LIGHTING

• Ballast: Ballast is an auxiliary piece of equipment designed to start and properly control the flow of power to discharge light sources such as fluorescent and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Some lamps require the ballast to have thermal protection.
• Fluorescent light: A tube coated with phosphor containing low pressure mercury vapor that produces white light.
• Halogen: Incandescent lamps containing halogen gases such as iodine or bromine, increasing the efficacy of the lamp versus a plain incandescent lamp.
• Neon: A low pressure gas contained within a glass tube; the color emitted depends on the gas.
• Light emitting diodes: Light emitting diodes (LED) are solid state devices that emit light by dint of the movement of electrons in a semiconductor
  LED lamps have been advocated as the newest and best environmental lighting method. According to the Energy Saving Trust, LED lamps use only 10% power compared to a standard incandescent bulb, where fluorescent lamps use compact 20% and energy saving halogen lamps 70%. The lifetime is also much longer — up to 50,000 hours. A downside is still the initial cost, which is higher than that of compact fluorescent lamps.
• Compact fluorescent lamps: CFLs are designed to replace incandescent lamps in existing and new installations.

1.7                                                     LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

• it is a simple and powerful concept, which uses transistor (BC 547 NPN) as a switch to switch ON and OFF the street light system automatically.
• It automatically switches ON lights when the sunlight goes below the visible region of our eyes. (e.g in evening after Sunset).
• it automatically switches OFF lights when Sunlight fall on it  ( i.e on LDR ) e.g in morning, by using a sensor called LDR (Light Dependent Resistor) which senses the light just like our eyes.

1.8                                            PROBLEMS OF THE PROJECT

1. An important problem to the usefulness of security lighting is the simple fact that it is only useful at night. This is particularly significant for home owners because, contrary to a widespread myth, most household burglaries occur during the day, when the occupants are away at work or shopping.
2. As with any lighting, security lighting can reduce night vision, making it harder to see into areas that are unlit or are in shadow.

1.9                                        PROJECT WORK ORGANIZATION

The various stages involved in the development of this project have been properly put into five chapters to enhance comprehensive and concise reading. In this project thesis, the project is organized sequentially as follows:

Chapter one of this work is on the introduction to the study. In this chapter, the background, significance, objective, types of lamps used for automatic security lighting, advantages of security lighting system, limitation and problem of the study were discussed.

Chapter two is on literature review of this study. In this chapter, all the literature pertaining to this work was reviewed.

Chapter three is on design methodology. In this chapter all the method involved during the design and construction were discussed.

Chapter four is on testing analysis. All testing that result accurate functionality was analyzed.

Chapter five is on conclusion, recommendation and references.