Wireless sensor network for smart power management

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Network has been widely applied in broad fields in line with current emerging trends, such as automatic control, automated meter reading, power management, etc. Having this system in place provides convenience, increases efficiency and result in well-managed system. The aim of this project is to develop a smart power management system using wireless sensor network. The system is developed by using an unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band where communication takes place between the main controller unit and sensor nodes on the basis of current consumption at every node. Each sensor node will sense current consumption of a dedicated device assigned to it. Data acquisition from the main controller is flexible to operate in round robin or interrupt service routine (ISR) manner. Power consumed by each device which is proportionate to the value measured by the sensor node will be calculated at the main controller and stored in a database within the main controller itself. As many sensor nodes can be placed as possible within the distance range of the main controller (40 meters indoor and 120 meters outdoor line-of-sight). Throughout this project, hardware and software development were done concurrently in order to optimize the time consumption. Validation and verification process includes calibration of current sensor used and experimenting current measurement of several electrical appliances, such as 240V – 12V transformer, electric kettle and hair dryer. Measured device activity can be controlled by placing an electromechanical switch to switch the power ON or OFF.