Project Development

Final Report

Underground Cable Fault Detection

and Alert System

Student #

May 2017

Supervisor:
Abstract
Cables are most convenient way to transfer power over a long distance with
minimal losses. Underground cables have been widely implemented due to high
reliability, strength and environmental concerns. Faults in the power line effects
the overall system performance which is expected to be ideal. As the length of the
cable is very long, detection of fault turns out to be difficult task which requires,
more no of testing points. To improve the reliability of a distribution system,
accurate identification of faulted line is required in order to reduce the interruption
time during fault. Running cable length creates the finite resistance which is used
for the measuring voltage drop. Proposed system uses the property of change in
voltage drop with respect to change in resistance using Ohms law. Different cable
faults like Line to Ground(LG), Line to Line(LL) and Line to Line to Ground(LLG) are
detected and distance is located.
Open circuit fault is detected and displayed. In proposed system power line
is replaced by series of resistors defining length of cable and switches are
connected to create the faults. GSM based short message service (SMS) is used to
alert the concerned authority about the fault and exact location. Hence, it can be
concluded that the proposed technique is able to provide high accuracy, in the
fault classification and fault location.

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Contents
1. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Objectives............................................................................................. 1

1.2 Significance........................................................................................... 1

1.3 Report Organisation..............................................................................2

1.4 Timeline................................................................................................ 3

1.5 Risk Assessment................................................................................... 5

2. Background.......................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Literature Review.................................................................................. 6

2.1.1 Introduction To Fault Detection.......................................................6

2.1.2 Related Works.................................................................................7

2.1.2 Fault Location Methods.................................................................11

3. Proposed Approach............................................................................................. 11

3.1 Task 1 Literature Review...................................................................11

3.2 Task 2 Proposed System Design.......................................................12

3.2.1 Block Diagram............................................................................... 12

3.2.2 Schematic Diagram.......................................................................13

3.2.3 PCB Routing and Layout................................................................19

3.2.4 System operational flow:...............................................................21

4. Software Programming....................................................................................... 23

5. Results and Discussions...................................................................................... 23

6. Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 23

7. References.......................................................................................................... 23

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 1. Introduction

Concerns about the reliability of the overhead lines, increases their maintenance
and operational costs, and issues of the public safety and quality-of-life are leading
into more and more utilities and municipalities to realization, that converting the
overhead distribution lines to underground is the best way, to provide high-quality
service to customers.
More than 3.2 million miles, of electrical cables are strung overhead across the
country. Add to that at least 185 million telephone and cable TV lines, and its no
wonder tornadoes, hurricanes, ice storms and fires are wreaking havoc on the
electrical systems every year, causing utility outages that last days, weeks,
months and longer. Power outages over the extended period present major health
issues and safety concerns with economic losses.

For the utility companies, underground cabling provides potential benefits by

reduced operations and maintenance costs, less tree trimming costs, reduced
storm damage and lower loss of day-to-day electricity sales when customers lose
power during storms. Creative funding options are available to make the goal of
undergrounding. The underground cable system is very important for power and
data distribution, especially in cities, defense service and airports.

1.1 Objectives
The objectives for the project are to:

Improved Reliability:

Increase reliability during storm weather (wind related storm damage will be
reduced in underground systems, and areas not subject to flooding and storm will
experience minimal damage and minimal discontinuation of electrical services).

Less cable damages in severe weather.

Less number of temporary interruptions.

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 1.2 Significance
Although commercial OMR is highly developed and offers an accurate solution for
multiple-choice exam marking, it is unsuitable for personal use as its high cost
restricts it to a single department of an organisation (as opposed to every
department getting the same system). This project will attempt to address this
issue through development of low-cost, easy to use software that maintains the
performance of commercial systems. This will give the average user an extra,
highly flexible option when the requirement for automated exam marking arises.
Unlike commercial systems; a low-cost, easy to use system can be acquired easily
without significant funding and does not require any formal training to use. This
contributes to the decentralisation of OMR services throughout an organisation and
alleviates any large turnaround times imposed on the information and data
collection department.
Furthermore, this project will aim to incorporate sophisticated image
analysis techniques in an effort to remove the stringent marking requirements
imposed on students undertaking exams using traditional OMR forms i.e. improve
on the existing state-of-the-art. The final product will offer an effective alternative
for lecturers who need to quickly conduct and mark multiple-choice exams.

1.3 Report Organisation

This report is divided up into 5 chapters which are organised as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction
The introduction introduces the topic and provides minimal background
information. It lists the main objectives on which the entire report is written and
gives indication of the motivation behind the project.

Chapter 2: Background
The background starts off with a detailed analysis of OMR technology. This allows
the current project to be brought into context and acts as a point of reference for
the remainder of the report. It justifies the report motivation and provides insight
into the available OMR technologies available. The study of current OMR
technology is followed by a literature review which provides a thorough
examination of previous works performed in the area of low cost alternatives to
OMR technology. Each paper is analysed followed by a critique and any influences
on the current project.

Chapter 3: Proposed Approach

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 This chapter discusses the proposed steps that are to be taken in order to achieve
the project objectives. This section should convey the partitioning of the project
into logical steps, discuss how the project will be tackled and outline any predicted
challenges. Also, influences from the literature review, if any, will be reflected in
this section.

Chapter 4: Software Programming

This chapter outlines the systems operational flow. Various logics and algorithms
are codded in
Embedded C language using KEIL uV3 compiler. Section coveys program writing
syntax and efficiency for the given task.

Chapter 5: Preliminary Results and Discussions

This chapter will outline any work done toward achieving the project objectives
and will present any accompanying results. This section will start with a high level
description of the system in order to give the busy reader a general overview of
the systems functionality. Then, each sub-system is subsequently analysed for
those who are interested in the finer details. The final part of this section analyses
the overall performance results for the system.

Chapter 5: Conclusion
The conclusion will summarise the entire report reiterating key points presented
throughout.

1.4 Timeline
It is important to co-ordinate the project work with other units being studied in the
two semesters. A dedicated time period should be kept for various tasks related to
project completion, including but not limited to hardware, software and
documentation. In a corporate world, time plan is generally laid out by the project
manager and is of great importance in the delivery of a successful project [10].
Keeping in mind that the mid semesters for other units will be in week 8 and the
exams will be in week 13, less work for the project will be allocated during that
period. A timeline of the work distribution for the project is shown in a tabular
format in table 1.
SEMESTER /YEAR
WEEK PLANNED ACTIVITIES
2/2016 Submission of form registration
Skimming research papers, journals, and books
relevant to the project.
Construction of a rough block diagram.
Based on the block diagram make a list of the
components to be used in project.

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 Check availability of components in the market
Collect data sheets of the components
Proposal Documentation
Cost analysis of the project
Feedback on proposal
Pin configuration of the components
Schematic diagram generation in EAGLE software
Submission of proposal
PCB layout generation in EAGLE software
Report 1 Documentation
Algorithm for the program
Flow chart for coding
Generation of the board
Report 1 Documentation
Mounting the components on board
Study of GSM communication to be implemented in
the project
Microcontroller coding for LCD screen
Feedback on report 1
Report 1 documentation
Preparing poster presentation
Submission of report 1 and log book.
1/2017 Microcontroller coding for input data from sensing
element via Analog to Digital converter
Microcontroller coding for analysing the data from the
input side to measure the fault distance
Microcontroller coding for calculating fault distance
Report 2 Documentation
Testing all codes in keil software and converting into
HEX format.
Burning the integrated chip and mounting it on the
board
Soldering the components
Interfacing the GSM modem to the board

Testing the GSM section

Report 2 Documentation
Trouble shooting the project
Recording complete initial testing in tabular format
with mistakes and errors
Resolving errors and modifying the project with the
guidance of the supervisor
Final testing
Report 2 documentation
Final testing with demonstration to supervisor
Reserved for optimisation and/or unexpected setbacks
if any in the project

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 Report 2 documentation
Reserved for unexpected setbacks/optimisation
Report 2 documentation
Reserved for unexpected setbacks/optimisation
Submission of Final report and presentation
Table 1: Project work distribution timeline
Although, project 1 and 2 reports are due at the end of each semester, the
documenting work is assigned evenly during the entire period of the two
semesters in order to reduce the burden at the end and also to reserve enough
time to make necessary changes in accordance to the feedback provided. The
timeline in table 1 is quite realistic in nature, keeping sufficient time for every task
which is based on experiences gathered in doing past projects in the relevant
subjects. The timeline also takes into consideration for any unexpected events that
may delay the project work in any manner [10] .A Gantt chart for same can be
seen in attachment 1.

1.5 Risk Assessment

The project overall is a low risk project with the main risk being of short circuit
current that may damage the component or the board. To make sure there are no
short circuit currents, the connections should be tested with a multimeter first.
Also, the power supply should not be switched on until its verified by the
supervisor. A medium level risk of strain in the eyes and backache is also present
due to excessive use of computers. To deal with these types of risks, ergonomic
sitting posture and avoiding excessive use of computers at a stretch should be
adapted. It is important to keep all the data safe as loss of data will not only delay
the project completion but can also be frustrating leading to unprofessional work.
To make sure the project data is safe it will be saved in 3 different places laptop,
external hard drive and one drive (linked to my account). Low level risks of
damaging components during soldering are also present. The lead released during
soldering if ingested can be toxic. It is a good practice to always use protective
clothing and eye glares while doing any type of mechanical work like soldering. A
complete list of all the risks associated with this project, the risk treatments and
their likelihood can be found in attachment 2.As can be seen from the table in
attachment 2, all the risks can be broadly classified into the following 5 types:
Supervisor risk (SUP), Personal risk (PER), Ergonomics risk (ERG), Equipment risk
(EQU) and Computer risk (CMP).

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2. Background

2.1 Literature Review

De-regulation of power market brings changes by creating an increase in
competition among utilities. Minimizing the cost of maintenance and losses due to
cable failures is a key to successful operation. Simulations demonstrate the
possibility of applying condition-based maintenance for the entire service period of
a cable system if maintenance cost could be lowered to a certain level. The aging
of power cables begins long before the cable actually fails. Preventing incipient
failures developing into failures can greatly reduce loses. There are several
external phenomena indicating undergoing aging problems, including partial
discharges, hot spots, mechanical cracks and changes of insulation dielectric
properties.
Most sensors currently used are cumbersome to move, complicated to use, or
destructive to cables. In the presented project, non destructive miniature sensors
capable of determining the status of power cable systems are developed and
integrated into a monitoring system, including a video sensor for visual inspection,
an infrared thermal sensor for detection of hot spots, an acoustic sensor for
identifying partial discharge activities, and a fringing electric sensor for
determining the aging status of insulating material. Mobile monitoring can greatly
reduce the maintenance cost and supply more accurate status of local cables over
traditional monitoring techniques. The application range of condition-based
maintenance can be expanded greatly with the aid of mobile monitoring.

2.1.1 Introduction To Fault Detection

In an electric power system, a fault is detected by any abnormal electric current
follow . For example, a short circuit is a fault in which current bypasses the normal
load. An open-circuit fault occurs if a circuit is interrupted by some failure. In three-
phase systems, a fault may involve one or more phases and ground, or may occur
only between phases. In a "ground fault" or "earth fault", charge flows into the
earth. The prospective short circuit current of a fault can be calculated for power
systems. In power systems, protective devices detect fault conditions and operate
circuit breakers and other devices to limit the loss of service due to a failure.[4] In
a poly phase system, a fault may affect all phases equally which is also called
symmetrical fault. If only some phases are affected, the resulting asymmetrical
fault becomes more complicated to analyze because the simplifying assumption of
equal current magnitude in all phases is no longer applicable. The analysis of this
type of fault is often simplified by using methods such as symmetrical

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 components. A symmetric or balanced fault affects each of the three phases
equally. In transmission line faults, roughly 5% are symmetric. This is in contrast to
an asymmetrical fault, where the three phases are not affected equally. An
asymmetric or unbalanced fault does not affect each of the three phases equally
Power transmission and distribution lines are the vital links that achieve the
essential continuity of service of electrical power to the end 6 users. Transmission
lines connect the generating stations and load centers.
Faults are caused either by insulation failures and conducting path failures. Most of
the faults on transmission and distribution lines are caused by over voltage due to
lighting and switching surges or by external conducting objects falling on over head
lines. Birds, tree branches may also cause faults on over head lines. Other causes of
faults on over head lines are direct lightning strokes, aircraft, snakes, ice and snow
loading, storms, earthquakes, creepers etc. In the case of cables, transformers,
generators the causes may be failure of solid insulation due to ageing, heat, moisture
or over voltage, accidental contact with earth . [5]
The overall faults can be classified into two types:
1. Series faults 2. Shunt faults
A fault if unclear has the following effects on a power system.
A fault if unclear has the following effects on a power system.
Heavy short circuit current may cause damage to equipment or any other
element of the power system due to over heating or flash over and high
mechanical forces set up due to heavy current.
There may be reduction in the supply voltage of the healthy feeders,
resulting in the loss of industrial loads. Short circuits may cause the unbalancing of
the supply voltages and currents, there by heating rotating machines.
There may be a loss of system stability. The faults may cause an interruption
of supply to consumers.

2.1.2 Related Works

1. Travelling Waves for Finding The Fault Location
Transmission lines are considered the most vital components in power systems
connecting both generating and consumer areas with huge interconnected
networks. They consist of a group of overhead conductors spreading in a wide area
in different geographical and weather circumstances. These conductors are
dispensed on a special metallic structure towers, in which the conductors are
separated from the tower body with some insulating components and from each
other with an adequate spacing to allow the air to serve as a sufficient insulation
among them. Unfortunately these conductors are frequently subjected to a wide

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 variety of fault types. Thus, providing proper protection functions for them is an
attractive area for research specialists. Different types of faults can occur including
phase faults among two or more different conductors or ground faults including
one or more conductors to ground types. However, the dominant type of these
faults is ground ones [6].Excellent fault Location
Estimated Benefits :
Time And Effort Saving: After the fault, the related relaying equipment
enables the associated circuit breakers to De energize the faulted sections. Once
the fault is cleared and the participated faulted phase(s) are declared, the adopted
fault locator is enabled to detect the fault position. Then, the maintenance crews
can be informed of that location in order to fix the resultant damage. Later, the
line can be reenergized again after finishing the maintenance task. Since
transmission line networks spread for some hundreds of kilo-meters in 8 different
environmental and geographical circumstances, locating these faults based on the
human experience and the available information about the status of all breakers in
the faulted area is not efficient and time consuming. These efforts can therefore
effectively help to sectionalize the fault (declare the faulted line section) rather
than to locate precisely the fault position. Thus the importance of employing
dedicated fault location Schemes are obvious.[6]
Improving the System Availability: There is no doubt that fast and
effective maintenance processes directly lead to improve the power availability to
the consumers. This consequently enhances the overall efficiency of the power
nets. These concepts of (availability, efficiency, quality) have an increasingly
importance nowadays due to the new marketing policies resulting from
deregulation and liberalization of power and energy markets.
Assisting Future Maintenance Plans: It is quite right that temporary
faults (the most dominant fault on overhead lines) are self cleared and hence the
system continuity is not permanently affected. However, analysing the location of
these faults can help to pinpoint the wake spots on the overall transmission nets
effectively. This hopefully assists the future plans of maintenance schedules and
consequently leads to avoid further problems in the future. These strategies of
preventive maintenance enable to avoid those large problems such as blackouts
and help to increase the efficiency of the overall power system.
Economic Factor: All the mentioned benefits can be reviewed from the
economical perspective. There is no doubt that time and effort saving, increasing
the power availability and avoiding future accidents 9 can be directly interpreted
as a cost reduction or a profit increasing. This is an essential concept for
competitive marketing.

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 Travelling wave schemes can be used either with injecting a certain travelling wave
from the locator position or with analysing the generated transients due to the fault
occurrence. Impedance measurement schemes are classified whether they depend on
the data from one or both line ends.

Fault Location Methods

Travelling Wave Impedance Measurement

External Wave Injection

Generated Wave Analysis Single ended data infeed
Double Ended data infeed

Single endDouble End Single endDouble End Distributed Parameters

Lumped Parameters Lumped Parameters
Distributed Parameters

Fig. Classification of fault location methods

Travelling Wave Based Fault Locators: Employing travelling wave phenomena

for fault location purposes for both underground cables and overhead lines was
reported since 1931. In 1951, Lewis classified travelling wave based schemes into
different four types A, B, C and D according to their modes of operation using the
travelling voltage waves. Types A and D depend on analyzing the resulting
transients from the fault itself needing no further pulse generating circuitry. Type A
is a single end one capturing the transients only at one end. It relies on the
generated transients from the arcing flashover during the fault. However the
assumption of getting generated transients at the line end is not always satisfied.
Moreover, the arc itself may extinguish rapidly. They rely on measuring the
required time for the injected pulses to go and to be captured after reflection from
the fault point. This time can be directly interpreted as a fault distance.

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Impedance Measurement Based Fault Locators: These schemes provide
another alternative for the fault location estimation problem. A line to ground fault
occurred on phase A at point F through a resistance RF at a distance x from the
locator position. The fault current IF is comprised from two components Ifs and IFr
flowing from sending and receiving ends respectively. The essential task of the
fault location algorithm is to estimate the fault distance x as a function of the total
line impedance ZL using the sending end measurements (for single end
algorithms) or both end measurements (for double end algorithms)with the most
possible accuracy.

2.1.1 Detection Techniques

The common methods of locating faults are
1. Sectionalizing: This procedure risks reducing the cable reliability, because it
always depends on physically cutting and splicing of the cable. Dividing the cables,
into successively smaller sections and measuring both ways using an ohmmeter or
high-voltage insulation resistance (IR) tester, narrow down search for a fault. This
laborious procedure normally involves the repeated cable excavation.
2. Time domain reflectometry (TDR): The TDR sends low-energy signal through the
cable, causing no insulation degradation. A theoretically perfect cable returns that
signal in a known time and in a known profile. Impedance variations in a real-
world cable alter both the time and profile, which the TDR screen or printout
graphically represents. One weakness of TDR is that it does not pinpoint faults.
3. Murray loop test: It is a bridge circuit used for locating faults in underground or
underwater cables. It uses the principle used in potentiometer experiment. One
end of the faulted cable is connected through a pair of resistors to the voltage
source. Also a null detector is connected. The other end of the cable is shorted.
The bridge is brought to balance by changing the value

In above figure, RC is proportional to (l+ (l-x)) and RD is proportional to l.

RA/RB=r=RC/RD = (2l-x)/x (1)
And hence

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 x= 2l/(r-1) (2)
Where l is the length on each segment of wire, r is the ratio RA/RB and x is the
length of faulty segment.
The main disadvantage of this method assumes that only a single fault exists, a
low resistance when compared with UG cable resistance and cable conductors
have uniform resistance per unit length.
4. Varley loop test: If the fault resistance is high, the sensitivity in Murray bridge is
reduced and Varley loop may be more suitable but only a single fault exists. Except
that here the ratio arms are fixed and a variable resistance is connected to the test
end of the faulty cable.
The drawbacks of the above methods can be overcome to certain extent by this
method in which the concept of OHMs law is applied. world is become digitalized
so the project is intended to detect the location of fault in digital way. The
underground cable system is more common practice followed in many urban
areas. While fault occurs for some reason, at that time the repairing process
related to that particular cable is difficult due to not knowing the exact location of
cable fault.
Fault in cable is represented as:
Any defect,
Inconsistency,
Weakness or non-homogeneity that affect performance of cable .
Current is diverted from the intended path.
Caused by breaking of conductor& failure of insulation

2.1.2 Fault Location Methods

Fault location methods can be classified as:
1) Online method: This method utilizes & processes the sampled voltages &
current to determine the fault points. Online method for underground cable are
less than overhead lines.
2) Offline method: In this method special instrument is used to test out
service of cable in the field. There are two offline methods as following
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.
Example: 1) Tracing current method
2) Sheath coil method

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Terminal method: It is a technique used to detect fault location of cable from one
or both ends without tracing. This method use to locate general area of fault,to
expedite tracing on buried cable.
Example: 1) Murray loop method
2) Impulse current method

3. Proposed Approach
The proposed approach of a project presents the steps needed to produce the end
result. This section reveals the 4 major steps that need to be completed for the
project to be successfully completed. Each task will be described in detail with a
discussion on how they are to be tackled and any predicted challenges.

3.1 Task 1 Literature Review

The literature review gives a broad assessment of methodologies used to approach
problems similar to the one in question. This prevents completely designing a
solution from scratch, which saves valuable time that can be used in later tasks. It
also gives the author the chance to demonstrate understanding of the project
which in turn proves his suitability to undertake it.
The current project makes use of multiple databases in order to provide a
broad range of papers covering individual techniques in image processing and
image analysis, as well as complete solutions that are similar to what the current
projects objectives aim to achieve. Three bodies of information were used to form
the literature review. These are: 1) - IEEE Xplore Digital Library, 2) - Scopus and 3)
ECU library one search.
From the 8 papers gathered on OMR systems, 5 were chosen to form the
basis of the literature review. From these papers, techniques will be evaluated and
may be incorporated into the project.

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3.2 Task 2 Proposed System Design
The theoretical approach provides the general steps that must be performed in
order to achieve the end solution. The theoretical approach presented next
represents block diagram based on research performed by the author. The
research helps establish justification for each step in the proposed approach.

3.2.1 Block Diagram

Block diagram describes the hardware blocks used to design the proposed system.
Inputs and outputs are differentiated based on the arrow direction with respect to
microcontroller.

Development of a rough block diagram and forming a list of components

To understand the control systems of the project a rough block diagram is the first
step. Once all the blocks have been finalised, the corresponding chips fulfilling the
role of the particular block would be researched by scanning the datasheets. Once
all the components have been selected, the components would then be checked
for their availability in the market. In the absence of particular element a suitable
substitute would be chosen. In case, there is an option of selecting more than one
component for the same task the best component would be selected keeping the
cost and advantage in mind.

3.2.2 Schematic Diagram

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Construction of a complete circuit diagram on EAGLE software
Once the components have been finalised the individual pins should be assigned
different functionalities .The layout of the connections will be generated in EAGLE
software using both auto and manual mode. A compact circuitry with less overlaps,
if not none, would be picked.
The Eagle toolbar is shown in figure below.

The user interface in Eagle is somewhat special when compared to other drawing
utilities (and PCB layout programs). This takes a little getting time getting used to.
Some of the tools will be described here, to allow the user to get to know these
tools, while the tools that constitute the main part of the tutorial will be described
along the way.
The copy-tool can be used to easily clone a component. If you select copy and click
on a component, a copy of the component will be attached to the mouse cursor,
and can be placed in the schematic. If you want to copy something to a different
schematic, you will need to use the cut-tool. This does not delete the component
from the schematic (as you might otherwise assume from the name), but merely
copys it to the clipboard.
The group-tool can be used to work on a group of components etc. First select the
group tool and mark the components you want to modify. You can either hold the
left button and drag to draw a rectangular selection, or click the left mouse button

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to make a polygon selection, using the right mouse button to end the polygon
selection. When the selection is done, you select the tool you wish to apply, such
as move, rotate, cut, etc. Right-click the group to use the selected tool.
The change-tool is used to modify the properties of various objects. Again, this is a
little different in Eagle when compared to other tools (where you would normally
be able to right-click on an object and change its properties from a pop-up menu).
First you choose the modify-tool and select what you want to modify (style, size,
layer etc.), then you click on the component you want to modify. The command
line interface (CLI) can be used to make this task easier. If you want to modify the
value of say 10 capacitors to 100nF, you could use the change-tool and select
value. Now, each time you click a component, a dialog will pop up asking for the
new value, which you will have to type in. If you instead enter the command value
100nF in the CLI (the input-box just above the main drawing canvas), you can
simply click on the components whose value you wish to change.
When adding components, you will notice a small black cross on each
device. This is the origin or handle of the device, and is used to manipulate the
device with various tools. So whenever you are using a tool, Eagle will apply the
tool to the entity whose origin is closest to the mouse cursor. If two or more
entities are very close to each other, Eagle will highlight one and ask if this is the
one you want to modify. Click left button to accept or right button to cycle to the
next entity. When you use the smash-tool, the name and value-texts will be
detached from the device and get their own origin, allowing them to be moved
individually.

Power Line:

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Circuit Description:
Power line represented by series resistors valuing 1k for 1km length(assumed for
experimentation) indicates three phases of supply. Switches are connected to
create fault at different locations in the power line. Shorting using switches creates
a line to ground fault at a particular location in different lines. Shorting allows the
current to be passed through ground, which changes the voltage drop according to
OHMs law.

Microcontroller Unit:

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Microcontroller acts as a master control unit for controlling all the processes.
89s52 an 80-51 family microcontroller with add-on feature of In-System
Programming (ISP) suits best for application development prototyping.
8KB of available ROM is used as a program space for writing the algorithm
codes. 256 Bytes RAM stores the temporary values of line voltages for processing.
4 I/O ports with 8 pins per port provides enough I/O pins for proposed application
implementation. Port 0 connected to pull up resistors, sources current using pull-
ups, since it has open drain configuration.
11.0592 Mhz crystal is used to generate clock signal using on chip
generator. Frequency selection signifies the use of serial communication in the
project. 33pF filtering capacitors reduces the noise over clock.

LCD 16x2:

LCD 16x2 acts as a user interface to display systems detection status. Faults
when detected are displayed on the LCD with distance and power line information.
Alphanumeric LCD uses ASCII characters to display the text.LCD connected in 4 bit
mode for data transfer at P0.4 through P0.7 for D4 to D7 respectively. Register
select and enable are the control lines used for data transfer between
microcontroller and LCD. R/W line is hard wired grounded to configure the LCD in
always write mode. 10K potentiometer is connected between Vcc and Ground to

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vary the contrast of LCD display. At 0V i.e. ground level the contrast is maximum
and minimum at 5V.

Analog to Digital Converter:

MCP 3208, an 8 channel 12 bit resolution analog to digital convertor is used

to convert varying analog voltages to a digital value which can be processed.
Serial peripheral interface (SPI) based communication is used between ADC and
microcontroller. ADC is connected from P1.0 to P1.3 of the microcontroller. 10K
potentiometer is used to set the reference voltage of ADC. Pin no 1 through 8 acts
as the analog input, which is connected to internal ADC SAR block using
multiplexer.

GSM Modem:

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 Sim 900a GSM modem is used to send SMS using AT command Set. Modem
supporting RS 232 communication is converted to TTL using MAX 232 logic
convertor device. Capacitors valuing 0.1uF are used for voltage doubling and
inverting for RS 232 logic. DB 9 connector uses is a female 90degree bend type. A
male to male cross cabled DB9 connector is used to connect GSM modem to the
circuit.

Switching Network:

Relays are used to connect the lines for testing. 12V DC relay coils are
driven by ULN 2803 based sinking amplifier also known as relay driver. 8channel
driver with current sinking capacity can drive up-to 8 relays.

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Regulated Power Supply:

12V supply is derived from SMPS circuit which converts 230VAC to 12VDC
with current drain of 1Amp. 7805 a +5V DC voltage regulator regulates the supply
with constant +5V DC output for inputs ranging from +7.5V to 30V, with up-to
1Amp of output current.

3.2.3 PCB Routing and Layout

The task of experimentation allows the engineer to proceed towards hardware
implementation of the system design.
To start laying out the printed circuit board, you should open the schematic
in Eagles schematic editor and click on the board-button (located on the top
toolbar in Eagle). You will be asked whether you want to create a new PCB design
from the schematics. This should open Eagles Board editor window.
Once you have created a board for a schematic, you should always have
both files open when working with either the schematic or the circuit board layout.
This is important, since it allows Eagle to keep the consistency between the two.
This is called forward- and back annotation. If you close either the schematic
window or the board window and modify anythin in the other window, Eagle will be
unable to track the changes you have made, and help you keep the schematic and
PCB consistent.
Notice how all the components from the schematic have been placed next
to a white frame in the board editor. The white frame shows the maximum size of a
circuit-board designed with the freeware version of Eagle. You will need to stay
within these limitations.

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The first thing that should be added to the PCB is the mounting holes. This ensures
that you do not end up having troubles finding room for the mounting holes
because you have routed a lot of signals in the spot where the hole should be.
To add the holes, we need to go back to the schematic editor. This is
because of Eagles for- ward and back annotation, which aparently is not too good
at back-annotating new components. Go back to the schematic editor and add 4
mounting holes (add mount-pad-round3.0). The placement in the schematic is not
important. You will se that the mounting holes appear in the board editor right
away. You should move them to appropriate places on the board. It is a good idea
to align the mounting holes on some nice metric positions. Switch the grid to milli-
meters while placing the mounting holes. You probably want to change it back
afterwards, since the 100mil grid is the standard distance between component
pins.

Proposed System Layout Design:

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 When all the components are placed appropriately, we are ready to start
routing the PCB. This can either be done using the auto router (select the auto-
command from the toolbar), or using the manual routing (the route-command).
Use the auto router with caution. In particular pay attention to the signals
that should be routed on a particular side of the PCB to make room for the
soldering. The auto router can be restricted to work in only one layer by selecting
the other layer as N/A. This may however generate some errors, since some
components (SMD) are not routable on the allowed layer.
For manual routing, select the route-tool. Now click on an air-wire and Eagle
will start routing the connection. Use right mouse button to change the bend of the
routed signal. If you need to change the routing layer during routing (by inserting a
via), press the middle mouse button. Holding the shift-key while starting the
routing operation allows you to route a signal from anywhere, not only the end-
points of the air-wires.

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Components placement and Soldering:
Now select the move-tool and move each of the components and placing
them within the board. Try to rotate the components while moving them (by right
clicking), to untangle as many of the air-wires as possible. The air-wires are not
automatically updated when moving the components. To do this you should use
the Ratsnest-command. Since changing back and forth between the move-tool and
the ratsnest-tool is quite annoying, it is a good idea to define a keyboard shortcut
for this action. Go to Options assign...and enter the command ratsnest; move for
the key-combination CTRL-E. This combination will execute the ratsnest-command
and change back to the move-command. Notice how using a semicolon (;) allows
you to have several commands carried out by a single shortcut key, which can be
very useful.

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3.2.4 System operational flow:
The design phase refers to the design and construction of algorithms
corresponding to systems operation.

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25
4. Software Programming

5. Results and Discussions

6. Conclusion
The project prototype is to be built for finding the position of the fault in an
underground cable. The position will be displayed in kilometres from the base and
an LCD will be used to display it. This will solve the problem of finding the location
of the fault in an underground cable that will improve its reliability compared to
aerial conductors. As this project will ensure a more stable flow of current
compared to aerial conductors, it will have a number of economic and industrial
benefits.
In addition, a GSM modem will be used to increase the communication range that
will make it possible to inform the concerned personal in any part of the world.
Future modifications and optimisations will be done in accordance to the meetings
with Dr. Wlodek.

7. References

Qinghai Shi, Troeltzsch U, Kanoun O. Detection and localization of cable

faults by time and frequency domain measurements. Conf. Systems and
Signals and Devices, 7th International conference, Amman. 2010; 1-6.

B. Clegg, Underground Cable Fault Location. New York: McGraw- Hill, 1993.

M.-S. Choi, D.-S. Lee, and X. Yang, A line to ground fault location algorithm

underground cable system, KIEE Trans. Power Eng., pp. 267273, Jun. 2005.

E. C. Bascom, Computerized underground cable fault location expertise, in

Proc. IEEE
Power Eng. Soc. General Meeting, Apr. 1015,1994, pp. 376382.J. Clerk
Maxwell, A Treatiseon Electricity and Magnetism, 3rded., vol. 2. Oxford:
Clarendon, 1892, pp.6873.

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K.K. Kuan, Prof. K. Warwick, Real-time expert system for fault location on high

underground distribution cables, IEEE PROCEEDINGS-C, Vol. 139, No. 3, MAY 1992.

J. Densley, Ageing mechanisms and diagnostics for power cablesan overview, IEEE
Electr. Insul. Mag., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1422, Jan./Feb. 2001.

T. S. Sidhu and Z. Xu, Detection of incipient faults in distribution underground

IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 13631371, Jul. 2010.
Tarlochan S. Sidhu, Zhihan Xu, Detection of Incipient Faults in Distribution
Underground Cables, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 25, NO. 3, JULY 2010.

Md. Fakhrul Islam, Amanullah M T Oo, Salahuddin. A. Azad1 , Locating

Underground
Cable Faults: A Review and Guideline for New Development , 2013 IEEE

[10] http://www.scribd.com

[11] http://ecmweb.com/content/locating-underground-cable-fault

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