IJIRST International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology| Volume 3 | Issue 08 | January 2017

ISSN (online): 2349-6010

PIC based Frequency and RMS Value

Measurement
Mr. Alankar M. Salunkhe Prof. R R. Jagtap
ME Student Associate Professor
Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Department of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering
Annasaheb Dange College of Engineering & Technology, Annasaheb Dange College of Engineering & Technology,
Ashta, M.S., India Ashta, M.S., India

Abstract
For a nation its Economical development depends widely on factors such as its education, industrial growth and many other
factors and one of the most important factors amongst them is Energy consumption. Currently in our country we are facing
problem such as losses in production, transmission and distribution of power which causes financial damage for everyone.
Electrical parameters such as voltage and current are important but in spite of that Frequency and RMS value of voltage and
current are also important. There is no unique system for frequency and rms value measurement because of continuous isolation
required for instrument and accuracy of instrument vary due to substantial changes in supply voltage and current under non-
sinusoidal conditions. Proposed system is simple and can proved to be more efficient to measure frequency and rms value of
voltage and current in both sinusoidal as well as non-sinusoidal supply conditions.
Keywords: Frequency Measurement, RMS Value Measurement, ZCD
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. INTRODUCTION

For production of home appliances and industrial equipment it is necessary that they can consume given rated power rating and
maintain quality forever. Accurate measurement of power and other AC quantities is extremely important at all levels of the
electrical power system. Main goals of this paper is to improve the efficiency of the electric power system by measuring
accurate value of frequency and rms value of voltage and current Continuously increase in cost of the electric energy forces us to
design precise measuring devices with high quality and accuracy. Main objective of this paper is to design instrument that gives
satisfactorily results for rms value measurement in sinusoidal as well as non-sinusoidal conditions. This instrument has requires
less components as compared with existing instruments therefore it is less complex and can be installed in less area. In proposed
paper true rms value of voltage and current is measured using analog Ic AD736. Output of voltage transformer is reduced and fed
to input of AD736 IC. Similarly output of current transformer is fed directly to input of AD736 IC which measures true rms
value of voltage and current and output of AD736 IC is given to analog to digital converter (ADC) of 18F4550 microcontroller
and according to software written in MIKROC-PRO rms value is calculated and displayed on lcd. AC frequency is also
calculated using zero crossing detector and Timer1 of PIC IC 18F4550 and continuously displayed on lcd panel.

II. OVERVIEW OF INSTRUMENT

The overview and working of each section of proposed instrument is given in five sections as follows. Block diagram of
proposed system is given in Fig. 1,
1) voltage and current transformers;
2) RMS To DC Converter IC AD736;
3) zero crossing detector circuit
4) Level Shifter;
5) 18F4550 Microcontroller;
6) 16x2 LCD display
Proposed system is divided into mainly five sections. This system is useful to measure frequency and RMS value of voltage
and current. Proposed system can operate with low AC voltage as well as high AC voltage. Maximum current ranges were set at
16 A RMS and at 350 Vrms for the voltage, with a nominal power range of 2.0 kW. In this system frequency measurement is
carried out using zero crossing detector circuit that detect zero crossed with respect to voltage and current and by calculating
time difference between zero crossed signals. The main heart of the proposed circuit is an analog RMS To DC converter IC
AD736 that takes analog voltage and current signal and produces RMS output signal at pin no.6. This output signal is is given to
to AD0and AD1 pin of 18F4550 PIC microcontroller that converts analog signal into digital signal using inbuilt (ADC) converter
and display RMS value of voltage and current on 16x2 LCD panel.

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Fig. 1: Block diagram for the proposed power measurement system

Voltage Transformer
The voltage measurement is carried out by using a centre- tapped 12-0-12 voltage transformer which gives up to 13V analog
voltage signals and this voltage is lowered using Level shifter circuit and that can be acceptable for the AD736 Ic. Voltage
transformer can withstand maximum current of 5 A. The voltage transformer can be chosen such that it has high reliability and
long life.
Current Transformer
The current measurement is carried out using current transformer. CT has a current range of 0 to 25 A that is useful for single
phase power measurement system. A burden resistor of 10 K is connected across output terminals of current transformer that
gives maximum 10 V AC voltage as per load conditions that is acceptable by AD736 IC. Fig.2 shows current transformer used
for proposed RMS value measurement system.

Fig. 2: CT used for the proposed RMS value measurement system.

Zero Crossing Detector (ZCD) Section

The zero crossing detectors is a circuit that converts incoming sine wave signal into output square wave signal. As its name
implies in (ZCD) reference voltage is set to zero Output waveform zero crossing detector circuit shows when and in what
direction an input voltage and current signal crosses zero volt. Zero crossing detector circuit has zero phase inaccuracy, because
the pulse is so broad that any inaccuracy is completely swamped. The comparator function is handled by transistor Q1. Resistor
R1 is used to ensure that the voltage falls to zero stray capacitance is sufficient to stop the circuit from working without it.
Microcontroller is programmed to detect this zero crossing of voltage and current signals and according to this calculation
frequency is calculated. Fig. 3 shows zero crossing detector circuit and Fig. 4 shows output of corresponding zero crossing
detector circuit.

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Fig. 3: Zero Crossing Detector Circuit

Fig. 4: output of the zero crossing detector circuit

In zero crossing detector circuit step down transformer output is full wave rectified and given to base of transistor. When full
rectified output is high transistor is on and its output is low, but when signal falls below 0.7V then transistor is off and output is
high. According transistor produces pulses. These pulses are given to RC2 pin of 18F4550 microcontroller. Microcontroller
starts timer to count falling edge of these pulses and finally frequency is calculated and displayed on lcd pannel. Software
program is written using MICROC PRO complier program is burned using PICKIT3 programmer in 18F4550 microcontroller.
Figure 5 shows AC input and rectifier output in one AC mains cycle.

Fig. 5: AC input and rectifier output.

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As it is shown in Fig. 5 Zero crossing detector circuit converts input sine wave into square wave output. when first the rising
edge of is detected that is connected to RC2 pin of microcontroller, timer/counter starts to count until it detects second and
third rising edge near zero cross signal by using timer. After that it stops timer and calculate time difference between rising puses
and display frequency it on LCD. Time difference between falling pulses can be calculated by using Mikroc software regarding
selected prescale and oscillator values and timer calculation values.
Level Shifter Section
Level shifter circuit is basically voltage divider that reduces transformer output voltage that can be applied as input signal to
AD736 IC
RMS TO DC Converter Section
The RMS to DC converter IC AD736 is the central element of the proposed system. As its name implies it computes true rms
and average rectified and absolute value of voltage and current signal. It has high accuracy and no need to add external trimmer
circuit to increase accuracy. It is available in 8 pin dip package and can measure both AC and DC RMS values of voltage and
current therefore it can be easily used in portable multimeter and battery powered applications. It can operate with supply voltage
of +15V and -15V. AD736 can withstand temperature range of 0C to +70C and 20C to +85C commercial temperature
ranges. Output signals from CT and VT are given to pin no.2 of AD736 IC and at the output (at pin no.6) we can get true RMS
value of input signal. Fig.6 shows AD 736 RMS To DC converter IC.

Fig. 6: AD736 RMS to DC CON. IC

RMS to DC Connections
Fig. 7 shows AD736 IC used to calculate true RMS value of input signal. The analog voltage or current signals are applied to pin
no.2 and pin no.6 gives corresponding output true RMS value of input signal.

Fig. 7: Basic RMS to DC Connections

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Fig. 8 shows the basic RMS value calculation process simulation on Proteus

Fig. 8: Basic AD736 simulation using Proteus

PIC Microcontroller 18F4550

The PIC18F4550, from Microchip is heart of the proposed system. It has 10 bit up to 13 channel inbuilt analog to digital
converter (ADC) therefore it reduces extra circuitry to convert analog signal into digital signal. It can be programmed using
MIKRO-C PRO and MPLAB complier. It has extended instruction set and 100,000 erase and write cycle architecture. The main
advantage is that 18F4550 microcontroller is a processor with built in memory and RAM so that there is no need to use separate
external RAM, ROM and peripheral chips. One of important feature of PIC microcontroller is that we can re-program it as they
can use flash memory and we can use ICSP serial interface built in each PIC microcontroller for programming. It can be
programmed to provide interface for many devices.

Fig. 9 shows PIC 18F4550 IC

LCD Display
In this paper to display all parameters 16x2 LCD display is used.

III. SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION

Software Program is written in MIKRO-C PRO Complier and programmed using PICKIT3 programmer in PIC IC 18F4550.
Basically program relates with finding with the time difference between successive output pulses from transistor output and
finding frequency. In zero crossing detector circuit is used to detect when current signal and voltage signal crosses zero. These
signals are given to RC2 pin of the microcontroller. Microcontroller detects when first falling edge occur and it starts Timer1.
Similarly it detects when second and third falling edge occurs and it stops Timer1. According to decision making option to
control whether a falling edge or rising edge exists Timer1 will start therefore calculation of time difference and frequency
will be possible according to the frequency of the signals and selected prescale factor of the microcontroller. Software After
frequency is calculated output signals from voltage and current transformer is fed to pin no.2 of AD736 IC and output signal
available at pin no.6 of AD736 IC is given to ADC (AD0and AD1) pins of 18F4550 microcontroller to calculate RMS value of
input signal. Fig.10 shows software flowchart to calculate frequency.

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Fig. 10: software flowchart to calculate Frequency

IV. THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The experimental results of the Instrument are shown in table1 as follows. These results are taken for different supply voltage
and current. The proposed instrument has 1% or less than 1% of error for RMS voltage and current measurement. Proposed
instrument has long life and can operate in both sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal condition of supply voltage with temperature
range up to 65 degree Celsius.
Table - 1
Showing test results for voltage and current
AC Voltage(V) Observed RMS Voltage (V) AC Current (mA) Observed RMS Current (mA)
210 148 400 282
215 152 450 318
227 160 550 386
230 161 1000 708
239 168 1200 848
240 168 1500 1055
Simulation results for RMS voltage and for RMS current are shown in fig.11and fig12.are as follows

Fig. 11: showing results of measuring RMS voltage

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Fig. 12: showing results of measuring RMS current

Fig. 13: LCD interfacing with 18F4550 Microcontroller

Fig. 14: Actual hardware diagram of proposed project

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V. MERIT OF THE SYSTEM

Existing System
Existing system includes various types of instruments to measure the rms value of voltage and current in both dc and AC and
DC circuits by using various ICs., but it gives more error in non-sinusoidal supply voltage conditions. .Due to voltage and
current fluctuations and supply voltage variations accuracy of these devices is reduced. So taking all these considerations
proposed system is designed.
Proposed System
In the proposed system there is no need to calibrate rms voltage and current values because AD736 RMS To DC converter
offers great accuracy in sinusoidal as well as non-sinusoidal voltage and current conditions. Also in proposed system frequency
is calculated by calculating period of input waveform and by using accurate timer of 18F4550 Microcontroller. The main
advantage of this system is that it is simple system and can be designed using easily available components. Overall cost of this
design also is low.

VI. CONCLUSION

Proposed system is designed to measure RMS voltage and current using AD736 RMS To DC converter IC which has maximum
error of 0.3% in various supply conditions such as sinusoidal as well as non-sinusoidal. There is no need to calibrate proposed
instrument. Accurate frequency measurement is carried out using timer of microcontroller. Experimental results are also shown
in table1 and accuracy of this design is about 99% in both sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal voltage and current conditions. Also
this design requires less computational effort and more simple in design.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express our gratitude to our respected teacher Professor R.R.JAGTAP Professor, Department of E&TC, ADCET,
who inspired and motivated me to get my selves involved in this circuit design especially involving PIC microcontroller software
coding and hardware implementation of these designs. His invaluable guidance help me lot to work up to this stage and complete
this design.

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