2. RAIN ALARM CIRCUIT
ABSTRACT
Rain water sensor is the main component in the circuit. For this rain
sensor, no need to go and buy in the market or online. We can do it
ourselves just by taking the piece of Bakelite or mica board and
aluminium wire. Bakelite or mica board should be made completely
flat and aluminium wire should be pasted on the flat board as shown
in the figure below of rain water sensor. Care should be taken that
there should be no spaces between the wire and board. When the rain
water sensor is completed, it should get connected to the circuit and
voltage should be passed through the wires.
1. INTRODUCTION
Water is basic need in every one’s life. Saving and proper usage of
water is very important.
Here is an easy project which will give the alarm when there is rain,
so that we can make some actions and save the rain water. Thus, we
can increase the water levels of underground water by using
underwater recharge technique. Rain water detector will detect the
rain and make an alert; rain water detector is used in the irrigation
field, home automation, communication, automobiles etc. Here is the
simple and reliable circuit of rain water detector which can be
constructed at low cost.
Rain Alarm Project Block Diagram:
Rain water sensor is the main component in the circuit. For this rain
sensor, no need to go and buy in the market or online. We can do it
ourselves just by taking the piece of Bakelite or mica board and
aluminium wire. Bakelite or mica board should be made completely
flat and aluminium wire should be pasted on the flat board as shown
in the figure below of rain water sensor. Care should be taken that
there should be no spaces between the wire and board. When the rain
water sensor is completed, it should get connected to the circuit and
3. voltage should be passed through the wires. Rain water sensor
diagram is shown below: If there is no rain, the resistance between the
wires will be very high and there will be no conduction between the
wires in the sensor. If there is rain, the water drops will fall on the rain
sensor which will also decrease the resistance
2. BASIC PRINCIPLE-
When rain fall on the water sensor, due to the connection to the
battery, it goes to the 555 Timer IC then to the buzzer, and LED
glows. This circuit will automatically switch of the alarm after sometime and
LED will glow continuously until the rain stops.
3. SPECIFICATION OF COMPONENTS
3.1. 555 Timer IC
555 timer IC. The 555 timer IC is an integrated circuit (chip) used in a variety
of timer, pulse generation, and oscillator applications. The 555 can be used to
provide time delays, as an oscillator, and as a flip-flop element. Derivatives
provide two or four timing circuits in one package.
3.2. TRANSISTORS
BC547 is an NPN bi-polar junction transistor. A transistor, stands for
transfer or resistance commonly used to amplify current. A small
current at its base controls a larger current at collector & emitter
terminals. BC547 is mainly used for amplification and switching
purposes. It has a maximum current gain of 800. Its equivalent
transistor
The transistor terminals require a fixed DC voltage to operate in the
desired region of its characteristic curves. This is known as the
biasing. For amplification applications, the transistor is biased such
that it is partly on for all input conditions. The input signal at base is
amplified and taken at the emitter. BC547 is used in common emitter
configuration for amplifiers. The voltage divider is the commonly
4. used biasing mode. For switching applications, transistor is biased so
that it remains fully on if there is a signal at its base. In the absence of
base signal, it gets completely off.
3.3. RESISTORS-
Resistor is an electrical component that reduces the electric current.
The resistor's ability to reduce the current is called resistance and is
measured in units of ohms (symbol: Ω).If we make an analogy to
water flow through pipes, the resistor is a thin pipe that reduces the
water flow.
3.4 . LED (LIGHT EMITTING DIODE)
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a two-lead semiconductor light
source that resembles a basic pn-junction diode, except that an LED
also emits light. When an LED's anode lead has a voltage that is more
positive than its cathode lead by at least the LED's forward voltage
drop, current flows. Electrons are able to recombine with holes within
the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is
called electroluminescence, and the colour of the light (corresponding
to the energy of the photon) is determined by the energy band gap of
the semiconductor.
3.5. Capacitor
Capacitor a device used to store an electric charge, consisting of one or more
pairs of conductors separated by an insulator.
3.6. Buzzer
Buzzer is an electrical device that makes a buzzing noise and is used for
signalling.
5. 3.7. POWER SUPPLY-
A power supply is a device that supplies electric power to an
electrical load. The term is most commonly applied to electric power
converters that convert one form of electrical energy to another,
though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of
energy (mechanical, chemical, solar) to electrical energy. A regulated
power supply is one that controls the output voltage or current to a
specific value; the controlled value is held nearly.
4. CIRCUIT
6. 5. WORKING
The points A and B of the circuit are connected to the points A
and B of the rain sensor respectively. When rain is falling, the
rain water will fall on the rain sensor which has aluminum wires
on mica or Bakelite sheet. Due to the water on sensor, the
aluminum wire ‘w’ develops resistance and gets conducted
because of battery connector, the sensor and also to the circuit.
When the aluminum wires are connected, the transistor Q1will
get turned on and make LED to glow and also Q2 will also be
turned ON. When the Q2 is saturated, the capacitor C1 will be
shorted and make the transistor Q3 to be turned ON. C1 will get
charged by the resistor R4. The reset pin of 555timer which is
connected to the emitter of Q3 will be made positive when Q3
reaches to the saturation mode.
The 555 timer is configured in a stable mode. When the reset pin
of the 555 timer is made positive because of saturation mode of
Q3, it will generate the pulse at the pin 3 and make speaker to
ring alarm. Capacitor is connected in between the pin 3 of 555
timer and speaker because to block the DC signal and allow only
the variations in the signal which make the speaker to make
sound. The diode D2 will not allow any reverse current from the
timer.
Because of the resistor R4 and capacitor C1, Q3 will get in cut-
off after sometime and make the reset pin of 555timer in negative
and speaker will stops making sound. The time for 555timer to
make speaker sound depends on the values of C1 and R4.
When there is no rain, the aluminum wire of the sensor will not
have any resistance or conduction cannot trigger the circuit.
7. 7. ADVANTAGES
1. It is very cheap.
2. The battery last very much.
3. Not risky.
4. No harmful effect.
8. DISADVANTAGES-
It doesn’t tell about the speed of the rain which is fallen on the
roof.
It will send signal or the led will be glowing until the detector
becomes wet.
9. APPLICATION
1. In the irrigation, it will detect the rain and immediately alert
the farmer.
2. In automobiles, when the rain detector detects the rain it will
immediately active the wipers and inform to the driver.
10. CONCLUSION-
It is cheap to make. This circuit help us to alarm from the rain. The
circuit set’s in the laboratories, scientific society centres etc. The
water sensor is set on the roof and when the rain water fall on it, the
LED start glowing and the buzzer start beeping. By designing this
circuit we can check the level of water.