i

SIMPLE SENSITIVE TOUCH

ALARM

BY

OZOR CHIBUEZE VITALIS .G.

A RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERING, IN SCHOOL OF ENGINEERIN

MARIST POLYTECHNIC

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

OF THE AWARD OF OND IN
ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

NOVEMBER, 2023.

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 APPROVAL PAGE

The Department of Electrical/Electronics Engineering,

---------------- in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the award of OND in Electrical/Electronics Engineering.

…………………………. ………………….
ENGR. ------------ Date
Project Supervisor

……………………… …………………..
ENGR. ------------------- Date
Head of Department

……………………… …………………..
ENGR. -------------- Date
Project Co-ordinator

……………………… ……………………
Student Date

DEDICATION

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 This project work is dedicated to our Almighty God

the creator of heaven and earth.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am very grateful to God Almighty for his infinite mercy,

love, wisdom, knowledge and provision throughout our

stay in Marist polytechnic. I wish to express my sincere

gratitude to my project supervisor Engr. -------- for his

time, understanding, guide and encouragement all

through the completion of this project.

I also thank my Head of Department Engr. ------------- for

his understanding and helping hand to his students.

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 ABSTRACT
This project focuses on detection of unauthorized access
to residential and commercial buildings when the
residents are far away from the access gate of the house.
The system is a simple and reliable touch activated
security system and uses sensor technology to
revolutionize the standards of living. The system provides
a best solution to most of the problems faced by house
owners in their daily life. Due to its simple electronic
components nature, it is more adaptable and cost-
effective. The system is divided into three units; the
power supply unit which employs the use of both DC
battery and mains supply to ensure constant power supply
to the circuit, the trigger unit which is responsible for
activating the alarm unit and designed to have much time
and period and moderate sensitivity in order to reduce the
rate of false alarm, and the alarm amplitude unit which
main function is to produce amplitude alarm sound when
triggered by the trigger unit with the aim of producing a
large audible sound that can alert the entire neighborhood
or scare an intruder away.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Approval page ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Abstract v

Table of contents vi

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives 2

CHAPTER TWO

Literature review 5

CHAPTER THREE

System design and implementation 8

3.1 Stages of implementation 8

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3.1.1. Power supply unit 8

3.1.1.2 Transformer stage 10

3.1.1.3 Rectifier stage 11

Circuit diagram 16

3.2 General circuit operation 16

3.2.1 Monostable operation of a timing circuit 19

3.2.2. Astable operation of a timing circuit 19

CHAPTER FOUR

Results, testing and discussion 22

4.1 Testing and results 23

4.2 Discussion of result 24

4.3 Problems encountered 25

CHAPTER FIVE

Conclusion/recommendation 26

References

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. 1 BACKGROUND

Insecurity and crime constitute some of the major

problems facing our immediate society today. People live

with fear of being attacked by burglars, vandals and

thieves. Despite all the effort, resources and time that has

been devoted to the development of tools that will reduce

crime rates and make the world a safer place to live,

these problems are still on the increase. These gave rise

to the need for an increasing development in the

technology of alarm systems which utilizes various

principles such as infrared motion detection, light (photo)

sensitive electronic devices and so on. Even with the

introduction of these alarm systems which have reduced

greatly the level of insecurity, there is still a problem of

false alarm which needs to be minimized.

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1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

In order to effectively reduce the level of insecurity and

avoid false alarms which can create unnecessary unrest, a

touch activated security system is required. This system if

properly designed will provide security and ensure alarms

are activated only when an unauthorized person try to

gain access to the protected area or device by touching

the entrance or any other part of the device.

An alarm is a loud noise or signal for alerting or informing

people of danger or a problem. An alarm system is thus a

security system that produces a form of sound to warn

people of a particular danger. The development of alarm

systems started with the creation of man. Man required

giving alert information and adopted a form of signaling,

exclamation and shouting.

This was later replaced by clapping of hands and beating

of gongs by town criers to alert the community in order to
disseminate information in the early African society. All
these methods of raising alert were crude, unreliable and
inefficient.

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With the advancement in science and technology, these

crude methods of generating alarm were replaced by

electronic alarm systems in the late eighteenth century.

These electronic alarm systems operate without any

human effort. Once it senses a particular signal, it gives

an indication in form of loud sound or noise depending on

its design. Notable among these technologies is the

remote signaling intruder alarm system which was

invented in the early 1970.This provided a rapid art full

response to alarm calls.

However, industries based on security service equipment

provision have being coming up with different designs so

as to keep burglars and vandals away from public areas

not made for them. Today we have the new generation of

electronic alarm system which comes in various levels of

complexities and sophistication with the recent increase in

crime rates, it has become important to protect our

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buildings and properties with adequate safety devices with

increased level of sophistication. The cost of these safety

devices depend on the equipment technology and the

application requirement. These safety devices are called

the modern electronic alarm system . Some of the modern

alarm systems commonly used these days is burglar

alarms,

The burglar alarm is made from a complete electronic

circuit loop where by the loop is closed with a bell at the

output or a siren so as to alert the owner of what so ever

is to be secured. A central control box monitors several

motion detectors and perimeter guards and sound an

alarm when any of them are triggered. Some burglar

alarms work on the concept of magnetic contacts and

others on sensitivity. For those that work on sensors, the

sensors are normally placed in the entrance of any of the

building or restricted entrance of the rooms, in which if

the sensor receive a signal above the threshold value set

for it, it activate an alarm.

CHAPTER TWO
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LITERATURE REVIEW

The idea of using sensing devices for convenience, safety,

security and quality of service purpose is not new, but the

application, cost, design method and reliability of the

system varies. In the authors consider the use of infra-red

rays to count the number of passengers in a car and also

remotely control home appliances via short message

services for the purpose of security and human

convenience. In a burglar alarm system was designed.

The burglar alarm is made from a complete electronic

circuit loop where by the loop is closed with a bell at the

output or a siren so as to alert the owner of what so ever

is to be secured. A central control box monitors several

motion detectors and perimeter guards and sound an

alarm when any of them are triggered. Some burglar

alarms work on the concept of magnetic contacts and

others on sensitivity. For those that work on sensors, the

sensors are normally placed in the entrance of any of the

building or restricted entrance of the rooms, in which if

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the sensor receive a signal above the threshold value set

for it, it activate an alarm.

Nowadays, closed circuit televisions are incorporated to

burglar alarms to detect the presence of unauthorized

persons. The output of which is normally a siren or loud

speaker alarms to telephone automatic dialers or lighting

systems. This serves the function of alerting the neighbors

of possible intrusion and also serves as a signal to the

police.

The panic button is the most common type of duress

alarm. It is found in schools, banks, offices etc. A pre

recorded message specifying the location and urgency is

sent to several locations such as police department or

other security agencies whenever there is a trigger of the

system. When the panic button is pushed, a wireless

signal is transmitted to the nearest installed wireless

repeater unit, which sends the signal to an alarm console.

This system does not give specific locations other than the

general pre programmed zone of the repeater. The

location alarm is a similar version of the identification. The

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electronics and software of such a system produces a

positioning symbol on a console panel or map like display.

Besides, most of the papers mentioned above does not

consider cost, reliability and durability in their design

procedure, and above all, this paper uses simple and easy

to get components to achieve its desired goals.

CHAPTER THREE

SYSTEM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

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This section will discuss the design procedure and the

basic theory of components used for this work. The

section is further divided into two sub-sections as design

theory and system design analysis.

3.1. STAGES OF IMPLEMENTATION

The system design was implemented in three units as

shown in Fig. 1. These units are:

(A) The power supply unit

(B) The trigger unit

(C) The alarm/amplifier units

3.1.1. POWER SUPPLY UNIT

The power supply unit is a 2-way automatic power supply

system. It gets input from both mains supply and battery

supply. The two independent supply systems are

connected to a relay switch which acts as an automatic

change over switch to switch on any of the available input

supply to the main circuit. The power supply unit provides

power supply to the other two units of the circuit.

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Fig. 2: The schematic diagram of the power supply unit is

shown below.

The schematic diagram of the power supply unit consists

of two supply input sources (i.e. mains supply and 12V

D.C supply from battery). F1 is a protective fuse used to

prevent excess current from entering the circuit. T1 is a

step down transformer. D1, D2, D3, and D4 are rectifier

diodes. C1 is a filter capacitor. IC1 is a regulator IC. Rly1

is a relay switch. R1 and R2 are current limiting resistors

protecting LED1 and LED2 respectively.

LED1 is used to indicate the presence of mains supply

while LED2 is used to indicate that current is entering the

trigger unit. D5 andD6 are protective diodes

OPERATION OF THE POWER SUPPLY UNIT

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The operation of the power supply unit can be illustrated

by the block.

The block diagram consist of 4 stages for rectification of

240V (A.C) mains supply to 12V

(D.C), a battery supply and a relay switch.

3.1.1.2. TRANSFORMER STAGE

This stage consists of a 240V/18V, step down transformer.

It converts the 240V (A.C) voltage supply from mains to

18V (A.C), a 1A fuse (F1) was incorporated at the primary

side of the transformer to protect it from excess current.

The 18V (A.C) supply is then passed to the rectifier stage.

A 220V/18V step down transformer was chosen because

the regulator used required more than 12V for its

operation.

3.1.1.3. RECTIFIER STAGE

In this stage, the rectifier converts the 18V (A.C) supply

from the transformer into a pulsating D.C voltage. A full

bridge rectifier was used for this purpose. It consist of

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four diodes (IN 4001 series) arranged as shown in Fig. 2.

During the positive half cycles diodes D2 and D3 are

forward biased and current flows through the terminals. In

the negative half cycle, diodes D1 and D4 are forward

biased. Since load current is in the same direction in both

half cycles, full wave rectifier signal appears across the

terminals.

FILTER STAGE

The pulsating D.C voltage that comes out from the

rectifier stage is converted into constant D.C voltage with

the aid of a filter capacitor (C1). This capacitor is large

value electrolytic capacitor.

It charges up (i.e. store energy) during the conduction

half cycle thereby opposing any changes in voltage. The

filter stage therefore filters out voltage pulsations (or

ripple).

REGULATOR STAGE

The output of the filter stage varies slightly when the load

current or output voltage varies and it is an 18V D.C

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supply which is higher than the circuit requirement. For

these reasons, an LM 7312 Regulator was used to stabilize

the voltage and also reduce it from 18V to a 12V steady

D.C supply.

THE TRIGGER UNIT

The schematic diagram of the trigger unit consist of 3

major components which areNE555 timer (IC2),

Transistor (TR1) and a relay (RLY2). The 555 timer (IC2)

produces a trigger current which comes out through its

pin 3 whenever pin 2 is activated through the sensor. Pins

4 and 8 are connected to positive power supply while pin

1 is grounded.

R3 and C2 determines the time out period of the 555

timer (i.e. the period at which the alarm sound) while R4

determines the sensitivity of the sensor. The output from

pin3 (trigger current) is amplified by transistor (Tr1). R5

act as base resistor to Tr1 which is operating in common

emitter mode. The output current from transistor (Tr1)

causes the relay (Rly2) to operate thereby switching on

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the alarm/amplifier unit to power supply for duration of

time determined by the time out period of the 555 timer

(IC2). D7 acts as a commutation diode protecting the

transistor (Tr1) from Back-EMF generated by the relay

coils. The 555 timer in this unit operates in a mono stable

mode.

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THE ALARM UNIT

Fig. 5: Circuit diagram of the alarm unit

The alarm unit, as shown in the Fig. 5 above consists of 3

basic components which are; Two 555 timers IC3 and IC4

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operating in a stable mode to produce a sire sound and a

power transistor (Tr2) used for further amplification of the

audio output. IC3 operates at a high frequency of about

481Hz, and act as a voltage controlled oscillator, while

producing a square wave. This forms the basic tone of the

siren sound system. IC4 produces another square wave

much lower frequency of about (0.5Hz) this lower

frequency alters the rhythm of the steady tone from IC3

to the desired siren sound. The output of IC4 (i.e. it fs

pin3) is actually coupled through R9 to control the voltage

terminal of IC3. The low frequency (0.5Hz) output from

IC4 is used to modulate the high frequency (481Hz)

produced by IC3 thereby alternating the frequency of

operation of IC3 to produce a siren sound instead of a

continuous 481Hz tone.

The final siren note is available at pin3 of IC3 but its

maximum current (as calculated on Section 3.3.3) is

0.038A. This current is not sufficient for 5w, 8ohms

speaker. The pin3 output of IC3 is therefore fed to the

transistor Tr2 for further amplification enabling it to power

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the speaker thereby producing a very loud audible siren

sound.

3.2. GENERAL CIRCUIT OPERATION

The Complete circuit diagram of the alarm system is

shown in Fig 6 and a table listing the components used

(Table 1) is also shown below. The 555 timer in the

trigger unit gets activated whenever pin 2 senses a

smaller potential that is less than 1/3 the supply voltage.

When activated it sounds for duration of time determined

by R3 and C2, this also determines how long the alarm

will sound before going off. In reality the sensor wire is

usually connected to metallic door handles, protectors (for

windows and doors) or even metallic gates. Whenever the

human body comes in contact with such materials the

trigger unit gets activated and the alarm sounds.

A detailed explanation of this action is given by the

following points. Pin 2 actually acts as a capacitance

sensor and detects changes in electrostatic fields. The

human body and most conductors in nature generate

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electrostatic charges which alters the capacitance of the

field thereby inducing a small signal on the sensor wire.

This signal is less than 1/3 the supply voltage thereby

causing the trigger unit to operate for a period of time

determined by C2 and R3.

Fig. 6: Circuit diagram of a simple and reliable touch

activated security system

SYMBOLS COMPONENTS RATING

T1 Transformer 240/18V,9V

F1 Fuse 1A

SPK1 Speaker 5 Watts, 8ƒ IC1 Linear Power Regulator

LM7812

LED1, LED2, LED3 Light Emitting Diode NTE 3010

RLY1, RLY2 Relay Switch 12V, 400Ħ

D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7 Diodes 1N4001

C1 Capacitor 2200ƒÊF, 25V

C2, C5, C6 Capacitor 47ƒÊF, 25V

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C3, C4 Capacitor 0.01ƒÊF

TR1 Transistor SC1815

TR2 Transistor TIP31

R1 Resistor 470Ħ

R2 Resistor 980Ħ

R3 Resistor 220KĦ

R4 Resistor 10.8MĦ

R5 Resistor 4.7KĦ

R6, R12 Resistor 1KĦ

R7, R8 Resistor 100KĦ

R9 Resistor 300KĦ

R10 Resistor 2.2KĦ

R11 Resistor 22KĦ

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3.2.1. MONOSTABLE OPERATION OF A TIMING

CIRCUIT

The monostable mode of operation is as also known as

one short operation of timing circuit.

When a negative-going trigger pulse is supplied to the

trigger input, the threshold on the lower comparator is

exceeded, and this as well triggers the output circuit. The

basic operation of the circuit, and the duration of the

output pulse in seconds is approximately equal to:

T = 1.1 x R x C (in seconds) (1)

3.2.2. ASTABLE OPERATION OF A TIMING CIRCUIT

In an Astable mode both the trigger and threshold inputs

(pin 2 and 6) to the two comparators are connected

together and to the external capacitor. The frequency of

operation of the Astable circuit is dependent upon the

values of Ra, Rb and C. the period can be calculated with

the formula:

T = 0.693 x C (R1) (2) 11

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The time difference between the ON time and the OFF

time is mainly dependent on the value of Ra and Rb. The

ratio of the time duration when the output pulse is high to

the total period is known as the duty-cycle and is

represented as:

SYSTEM DESIGN ANALYSIS

THE POWER STAGE

A 240/18v transformer was chosen because its rating is

capable of meeting the current demand of the circuit and

it is protected by the 1A fuse against excess current. The

limiting resistor (R1) for the LED1 was calculated as:

LED current

Voltage drop

Where VCC = supply voltage = 18V, VLED = 2.2, ILED =

maximum allowable current across the LED = 35mA.

The preferred resistor value closest to 451.43W is 470W.

Therefore 470W were adopted in the design.

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The peak inverse voltage (PIV) obtainable at the

secondary terminal transformer is twice the terminal

voltage VS.

That is: PIV = 2 x Vs = 2 x 18 = 36V.

At the full bridge rectifier circuit IN4001 diode was used

because its PIV which is 50V is greater than the PIV of the

secondary of the secondary terminal which is 36V[13].

This was done to avoid damage to the diodes in case

reverse operation occurs.

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CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS, TESTING AND DISCUSSION

This section described the steps taken in the verification

of calculated results through the real time implementation

and measurements. The construction of the system is in 2

stages; the soldering of the components and the coupling

of the entire system to the casing. The power supply

stage was first soldered, and then the transmitter and

receiver stage and all the other stages were soldered. The

circuit was soldered in a number of patterns that is, stage

by stage. Each stage was tested using the multi-meter to

make sure it is working properly before the next stage is

done. This helps to detect mistakes and faults easily. The

soldering of the circuit was done on a 10cm by 24cm

Vero-board. The second stage of the system construction

is the casing of the soldered circuit. Casing refers to the

outer covering or something that serves as a container or

covering. For the purpose of this system, the material

used for the casing was a metal sheet. Proper

dimensioning of the casing was marked out to give the

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desired shape based on the size of the constructed project

work on Vero-board. After fabricating the casing, finishing

was done on it which involves smoothening with file and

painting the casing to give aesthetic values to the system.

The final casing that was obtained at the end of the

construction is shown.

4.1 TESTING AND RESULTS

In testing the designed and constructed system, four basic

steps were taken. These steps are sequentially listed
below as:

Step 1: To ensure that all the components to be used are

functionally operating, they were first tested with a digital
multi meter and failed ones replaced before finally
soldering them on the veroboard.

Step 2: To ensure that there was no breakage in the

circuit path on the veroboard, immediately after soldering
on veroboard, the circuit path was tested using the Digital
Multi-meter. This was done to also ensure continuity of
circuit on the veroboard.

Step 3: Using Circuit Maker 6 (Student Edition), the circuit

was simulated. The result obtained from the simulation

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closely corresponds to the desired result, with only some

slight variations.

Step 4: The period of time for the alarm sound (Time out

period) was manually tested. This was achieved using

Digital Stop Watch and the result obtained was found to

be 10.60 seconds. The value obtained from the manual

testing closely agrees with that obtained in the design

specifications i.e. 11.37 seconds.

4.2 DISCUSSION OF RESULT

The main reason for testing all the components before

they were finally soldered on the veroboard is to avoid the

painstaking effort it will take to dis-solder faulty

components at the end of the day. From the continuity

test carried out on the veroboard to check the circuit path,

it was discovered that the circuit was in a perfect working

condition as continuity was ensured.

Simulation of the circuit design was also done as

mentioned earlier, with the sole objective of comparing

the results obtained from design calculations to that

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obtained from simulation. The two results when compared

closely correspond with only a very slight discrepancy in

values.

4.3 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED.

It should be noted at this juncture, that the realization of

the final system work was not without problems. The

various problems encountered during the design and

implementation stage are highlighted as: (1) some basic

components to be used for the system were not within

reach as it was not available in town. (2) Some measuring

instruments that would have being used for detailed

analysis of the circuit (i.e. Oscilloscope, Transistor Tester)

were limited for use.

Simulation software was instead used for the circuit

analysis. (3) The biggest problem encountered was at the

implementation stage as the circuit was triggering itself

without touch.

The sensitivity of the circuit was reduced by reducing

resistance R2 to solve this problem

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CHATER FIVE

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATION

It can be concluded that the sole aim of carrying out the

design, analysis and implementation of a simple and

reliable touch sensitive security system was achieved, in

that the aim was to develop a cheap, affordable, reliable

and efficient security system, which was successfully

realized at the end of the design process. One factor that

accounts for the cheapness of the product was the proper

choice of components used. The ones that were readily

available were used, while a close substitute was found for

those that were not readily available. The reliability of the

entire alarm system was considered by the integration of

an automatic change over switch into the power supply

unit such that the A.C mains supply and the battery are

cold redundant.

Thus, this guarantees constant supply of power to the

main circuit. The efficiency of the entire system was put

into consideration by the use of transistor in the common

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collector mode to couple the output of the circuit to the

speaker. The system was tested and found to be working

to specifications and predictions. Summarily, a cheap and

reliable way of checking the activities of burglars and

intruders has been successfully developed, which is the

aim of the research. We can conclusively say therefore,

that the benefits of having this burglar alarm system

cannot be overemphasized. In future, we shall find a way

of improving the system by interfacing the alarm system

with the microcomputer to boost the effectiveness of the

entire system or integrating a digital door lock.

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REFERENCES
False alarm http://www.alarm.org/false/tips/dealer
tip/dealer tip.html.
British Security Industry Association (BISA), Journal on
security system section strategy for intruder alarm
system�h, April 2005. Page 1-3
Thomas Petruzzelis, The alarm, sensor and security circuit
book, TAB Books. Imprint of McGrawhill San
Francisco, U.S.A. Reprinted 1994, Page 5-7
History of Security Alarms,
http://www.icee.org/organization/history center/fire
alarm.html
Rana Sampson, Burglar Alarm, U.S. Dept. of Justice,
Pages 2-6, 13-14
Crime and violence prevention center, Califonia, Home
Secuirty Handbook. Page 9-12
Intrusion Detection,
http://www.targetwoman.com/articles/burglar
system.html
Nick A. Tim, Technical leaflet on introduction to fire
detection and Alarm,
http://www.neddc.org/alarm.html
Mr. J.A. Koenig and Mr. L. Taylor, Perimeter Security
Sensor Technology hand book, Electronic Security
Systems Engineering Division, North Charleston,
U.S.A, Page 67-86.
Zungeru, A.M. et al., (2012). Design and Implementation
of a Low Cost Digital Bus Passenger
Counter. Innovative Systems Design and Engineering,
3(4), pp. 29.41.
Zungeru, A..M., Edu, U., & Garba, A. (2012). Design and
Implementation of a Short Message Service Based
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Remote Controller. Computer Engineering and

Intelligent systems, 3(4), 106.119.

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