VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

“Jnana Sangama”, Belagavi, Karnataka - 590018

VII SEM
PROJECT WORK PHASE -1 and PROJECT WORK SEMINAR ( 17EEP78 )

UNDERGROUND FALUT DETECTOR BASED ON ARDUNIO

1. Chaitra M N ( 1RN18EE009 )
2. Nayana H ( 1RN18EE023 )
3. N Rohith (1RN18EE022)

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

RNS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Channasandra, Dr. Vishnuvardhan Road, Bengaluru – 560 098
 CONTENTS
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Block diagram with explanation
 Circuit diagram with explanation
 Hardware descriptions
 Software descriptions
 Advantages
 Applications
 Conclusions
 References
 ABSTRACT

The main objective of this project is to detect the faults and abnormalities occurring
in underground cables using Arduino. The basic idea behind the working of this
project is ohm’s law. At the feeder end, when a DC voltage is applied, based on the
location of fault in the cable, the value of current also changes. So in case of short
circuit faults like L-G or L-L fault the change in voltage value measured across the
resistor is then fed to the in-built ADC of the Arduino. This value is processed by
the Arduino and the fault is calculated in terms of distance from the base station.
This value is sent to the LCD interface to the Arduino board and it displays exact
location of the fault from the base station in kilometers for all three phases. This
project is arranged with a set of resistors which represents the length of the cable. At
every known kilometer fault switches are placed to induce faults manually. Finally
the fault distance can be determined.
 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this project is to determine the distance from the base station's underground cable
fault in kilometers.In this project we used a simple concept of ohm’s law .When a fault occurs in
the system the distance located on liquid crystal display (LCD). Until the last decade, cables were
designed to be placed above the head and, at present, there is no underground cable that is higher
than the previous method. Adverse weather conditions such as storms, snow, torrential rains and
pollution does not effect on underground lines, but when a fault occurs in underground lines it is
difficult to locate the fault in underground cable. We will find the exact location of the fault. Now
the world has become digitized so, the project is to detect exact location of the fault in digital
form. Underground cabling system is a more common practice in many urban areas. Although the
fault occurs for some reason, at that time, the repair process for this particular cable is difficult
because of not knowing the exact location of the cable breakdown.
 Faults in Underground Cables
 Fault Detection Methods
Faults in Underground Cables
 Open circuit fault :- These faults occur due to the failure of one or more conductors. The
most common causes of these faults include joint failures of cables and overhead lines, and
failure of one or more phase of circuit breaker and also due to melting of a fuse or conductor
in one or more phases. Open circuit faults are also called as series faults. These are
unsymmetrical or unbalanced type of faults except three phase open fault.
 Short circuit fault :- A short circuit fault occurs when there is an insulation failure between
phase conductors or earth or both, further short circuit fault can be categorized in two types:
Symmetrical fault ( LLL, LLLG ) & Unsymmetrical fault ( LL, LG, LLG ).
Fault Detection Methods
 ONLINE METHOD : This method utilizes and processes the sampled voltages and current to
determine the fault points. Online methods for underground cable are less common than overhead lines.

 OFFLINE METHOD : In this method special instrument is used to test out service of cable in the field.
This offline method can be divided into two methods. They are tracer method and terminal method.
  TRACER METHOD In this method fault point is detected by walking on the cable lines. Fault
point is indicated from audible signal or electromagnetic signal. It is used to pinpoint fault location
very accurately.
  TERMINAL METHOD It is a technique used to detect fault location of cable from one or both
BLOCK DIAGRAM
 BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION
 Usually people have been using voltage 230V.This voltage is step-down to the 12V by using step
down transformer.
 Transformer is an static device which transfer electrical energy from one circuit to another.
 Generally, transformers are used to step up or step down the voltages. These step down voltage
supply to rectifier unit. Rectifier is power electronic device which convert an AC supply into DC
supply. In this project bridge rectifier is used which convert 12V AC supply into 12V DC supply.
 These voltage gives to the regulator unit. Regulator is an electrical component that maintains a
constant voltage level. It stabilizes the voltage. Here we were using 7805 voltage regulator.7805
voltage regulator maintains the 5V DC supply.
 These voltage is used to operate the Arduino. We uploaded the program in the kit. The Arduino
has a many types but we selected Arduino UNO.
 The project is assembled with a collection of resistors representing cable length in KM’s and fault
creation is created by a collection of switches at every known KM to cross check the accuracy of
the same.
 The fault occurring at a specific distance and the respective phase is displayed on a LCD
interfaced to the Arduino board. LCD is connect the Arduino kit which is used to where the fault
occurs and to display itself.
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
 WORKING OF THE PROJECT
 A 230V AC supply is applied to the transformer from where it is stepped down to
12V AC. From the transformer the alternating current gets converted into direct
current when it passes through a Bridge wave rectifier. The 12V DC then goes to the
voltage regulator where it gets converted from 12V DC to 5V DC . Voltage regulator
is used also converts the variable Dc supply into constant DC supply. This 5V DC is
used to supply power to the arduino and the LCD. Power supply to the LCD is given
from the voltage regulator.

 The circuit consists of a power supply, 4 line display, arduino and resistance
measurement circuit. To induce faults manually in the kit, fault switches are used.
About 12 fault switches are used which are arranged in three rows with each row
having 4 switches. The 3 rows represent the 3 phases namely R, Y and B. The fault
switches: have 2 positions-No fault position (NF) and fault position (F).
 So starting from the reference point 4 sets of resistances are placed in series. These 4 sets of
resistances represent the three phases and the neutral. Short circuit faults, Symmetrical and
unsymmetrical faults can be determined by this method. This project uses three set of resistances in
series (ie) (R1-R2- R3-R4) ; (R5-R6-R7-R8) ; (R9-R10-R11-R12) one for each phase. Each series
resistor represents the resistance of the underground cable for a particular distance and so here four
resistances in series represent 1-4 kilometers. Value of each resistance is 1kΩ.

 One relay for each phase R, Y and B. three relays are used and the common points of the relays are
grounded and the NO points are connected to the inputs of R4, R8 and R12 and being the three
phase cable input. As supply needed for the relays is higher than that of the arduino, Relay driver is
used to boost the supply and provide it to the relays

 When fault is induced by operating any of the 12 switches (to F position), they impose conditions
like LG, LL, LLG fault as per the switch operation. As a result of the fault, there is a change in
voltage value. This voltage value measured across the resistance is fed to the ADC of the Arduino.
Using this value, the arduino computes the distance. Finally the distance of the fault from the base
station is displayed in kilometers.
 HARDWARE & SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Hardware components:- Software:-

 LCD, Crystal  Arduino Programming Language

 Relays
 Relay Driver IC
 Transformer
 Diodes
 Voltage Regulator
 Resistors
 Capacitors
 LEDs
 slide switches
 Arduino board
 APPLICATIONS
1. Provides definite accuracy in determining the location of fault.

3. Compact size, Easy to handle

4. Serial on board programming

5. No external programming voltage needed

8. Safe and secure to use

9. High reliable and efficient to use.

 ADVANTAGES

 Consumes low power

 Less maintenance cost
 It has higher efficiency.
 Safe and secure to use
 Useful for all types of underground cable
 Public safety is improved.
 CONCLUSIONS

 This is proposed model of underground cable fault distance locator using

microcontroller.
 It is classified in four parts-DC power supply part, cable part, controlling part, display
part.
 DC power supply part consist of ac supply of 230V is stepdown using transformer,
bridge - rectifier converts ac signal to dc & regulator is used to produce constant de
voltage.
 The cable part is denoted by set of resistors along with switches. Current sensing part of
cable represented as set of resistors & switches are used as fault creators to indicate the
fault at each location.
 This part senses the change in current by sensing the voltage drop.
 Next is controlling part which consist of analog to digital convertor which receives input
from the current sensing circuit, converts this voltage into digital signal and feeds the
microcontroller with the signal.
 The microcontroller also forms part of the controlling unit and makes necessary
 REFERENCES
[1] “Detection of Underground cable fault using Arduino and GSM module”, P. Hari chandana, M.
Venkataramana, K. Satyanarayan, P. Yogendra, Srinivasa Acharya, IJIRT, Vol.5 Issue 11, April 2019.

[2] “Underground Cable Fault Detection using Raspberry Pi & Arduino”, R.K.Raghul Mansingh,
R.Rajesh, S.Ramasubramani, G.Ramkumar, IJETER, Vol.5 Issue 04, April 2017.

[3] “Under Ground Cable Fault Detection Over IOT”, Durgesh Pathak, Mithil Rathod, Sandeep
Vishvakarma, Harindar Maurya, Mahalaxmi Palinje, IJERT, Vol.5 Issue 01

[4] “Arduino Based Underground Transmission Cable Fault Location System”, Roshani Shingrut,
Dakshata Mokal, Shubham Shelar, Shekar Mhatre , IJERT, Vol.9 Issue 02, February 2020.

[5] “Underground Cable Fault Location”, B.Clegg.New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.

[6] “Underground Cable Fault Detection using Arduino”, T.Nandhini, J.Shalini, T.Sai Sangeetha,
IJESC, Vol.7, Issue 04, April 2017.
THANK YOU