Smart City Challenge

Monitoring Manholes to identify need for repair and replacement

Smart manhole Covers are IOT

enabled devices which Monitor need for repair

Solution

Can measure level of sewage

below the cover

Smart Manhole Addon

Detect unauthorised removal

of cover

Communicate all sensor data

to the cloud server
Easily installable

Implementation

To identify need of repair/replacement of cover

Challenge
To develop a device/sensor
which senses the condition
of manhole whileBeing reliable

Having Low Cost

Works in hostile
environment

Easy to install

Possible Solutions
Image Recognition

Pressure Sensors
Other/Novel Solution

Problems
Image recognition is too
processing intensive and
cannot be sustained on
battery.
Using 3 Pressure
sensors to determine the
load variation and using
this to monitor the status
however this solution
was too costly

To identify need of repair/replacement of cover

Previous solutions unacceptable
Thus Novel solutionNeoprene based debris detection
technique via measuring elongation
in neoprene diaphragm through IR
TSOP 1738 sensor

To identify need of repair/replacement of cover

Working Details
When debris falls from Manhole cover it
falls on the Neoprene diaphragm and thus
it deforms downwards
This deformation is measured in the form
of distance between an IR sensor below
and the neoprene sheet
IR sensor records a sudden change in the
distance between it and the Neoprene
diaphragm and reports it to the
microcontroller

Why Neoprene?
Neoprene was chosen because it Is resistant to many chemicals and
oil
Has excellent stretching
capabilities while remaining strong
enough to be elastic.
Has average elongation of 250%
Has Average of 900 PSI tensile
strength
Handles most tough industrial
environments and moderate to
heavy alkaline and chemical
resistive situations.

Why IR Sensor?
TSOP 1738 IR sensor was chosen
because It does not require metallic surface
like inductive/capacitive pickup
Min blind range issue not present
like Ultrasonic Sensor

Low power consumption

High immunity against ambient

light

Low Cost (approx. Rs 25-50)

Need to monitor sewage level

Challenge

Possible Solutions

To develop a device/sensor
which-

IR Proximity Sensors

Ultrasonic Proximity
Senses the level of sewage
Sensor

Communicates to cloud

Acts like an add on

Has low cost

Has low power consumption

Is waterproof

Problems
IR sensors need a large
amount of power for
long range also
reflectivity of sewage
can vary

Need to monitor sewage level

IR sensor cannot be used
Ultrasonic Sensor a clear choice
because-

Low Power Consumption

Acoustic reflectivity does not

vary much

Waterproof

Low cost (approx. Rs 490)

Anti -theft protection for Smart Module/Manhole

Problem

Manhole theft and with a smart

module installed, the chances of it
being stolen increases

Anti-theft system becomes

indispensable

Low Cost

Solution

Tilt Sensor, triggers when the cover is

tilted beyond a particular angle (say 15
degrees)

Communicated to the cloud and location

pinpointed via every Smart Cover on the
way

Authorised personnel can disarm the

system before removing via App

Tilt sensor is cheap Approx. Rs25, have

low power consumption and extremely
reliable for low cycle application

Communication -ESP8266 WIFI module

ESP8266 was chosen as

It is designed for IOT implementation

Low Cost

Low Power Consumption

Communicates with other ESP8266

and Smartphones

Microcontroller

Choice of AVR or PIC

controller
We will make use of the
ATMEL AVR ATmega 328

AVR MCU
AVR MCU was considered because it Has a lot of chips in the DIP area.
Prices of both MCUs is nearly the
same.
Has a basic development board
called Arduino which uses Atmel
AVR atmega chips.
No C compiler support.
Full development boards are a tad
bit expensive.
Has less support of onboard extras
like Ethernet, RF or USB.
Writing assembly in AVR
environment is easier and hasslefree as instuctions are simple and
easy.

VS

PIC MCU
PIC MCU was considered because It has a lot of chips in the DIP area.

Prices for both MCUs is nearly the

same.

Doesnt have a basic Development

board.

No C compiler support.

Full development boards are

cheaper.

Has a better support for add-ons

like Ethernet,CAN,etc.

Battery
Challenge
To select a battery which-

Has low self discharge

current

Long Lasting

Works in Hostile
environment

High Energy Density

Possible Solutions
Alkaline Battery

Li Battery
Li-SOCl2 Battery

Problems
Both Alkaline and Li
batteries have high self
discharge current and
have low power density

Battery
Lithium Thionyl Chloride Li-SOCl2 battery
becomes obvious solution as

They have low self discharge current

Work on wide range of temperature

Are Long lasting

Cost approx. Rs107/Ah

1Ah=10.5hrs of Active mode use i.e

lasts approx 1yr

Estimated Cost
Battery Rs 107
IR sensor Rs 50

Total=
Rs1382 with Ultrasonic Sensor

Ultrasonic Sensor Rs 450

Tilt Sensor Rs25
Microcontroller Rs150

WIFI module Rs 200

Neoprene Diapragm Rs 200
Metal structure Rs 200

Rs932 without Ultrasonic Sensor