2017 International Conference on Innovation in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems
Induction Motor Fault Detection, Protection
and Speed Control Using Arduino
Ravi Waswani
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Sandip Institute of Engineering & Management,
Nashik, Maharashtra, India
ravi.waswani@rediffmail.com
Mangesh Deore
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Sandip Institute of Engineering & Management,
Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Mangeshd97@gmail.com
Abstract- Today the most extensively used motor in
the industry is the induction motor. The faults in the
induction motor may lead to breakdown of the
induction motor and an increase in expense to the
industry. So in this paper we have discussed a system
which is cheap as compared to the other systems and
also cost effective. This system monitors parameters
such as speed, temperature, current and voltage using
an Arduino microcontroller. Using these parameters
we can easily detect faults such as overvoltage, over-
current, overload, excessive heating, crawling and
under-voltage. The induction motor can be isolated
from the supply in case of any of the faults with
relays. The system also involves the use of a speed
control system which can adjust the speed to desired
value. This will reduce the need for additional motors
because the same motor may be used to drive
different devices. This system may lead to a huge
amount of cost saving.
Keywords—Fault Detection, Overloading, Induction
Motor, Speed Control
I. INTRODUCTION
An induction motor, especially squirrel cage induction
motor is very reliable machine. The design of this motor
enables the machine to work in various rough
environments. It may experience various faults/abnormal
conditions. The various faults include stator faults, rotor
faults & bearing faults. All these faults have their own
after effects. These after effects may be very hazardous to
the motor if the fault is sustained for a long time.
Therefore it becomes very important to clear a fault as
soon as it occurs.
So we need to have a system that detects the faults and
isolates the motor from supply the as soon as they occur.
An induction motor is generally termed as a constant
speed motor. But under some circumstances it is
necessary to change the speed of the motor so that it can
‹,(((
Aakanksha Pawar
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Sandip Institute of Engineering & Management,
Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Aaksapawar12388@gmail.com
Rajankumar Patel
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Sandip Institute of Engineering & Management,
Nashik, Maharashtra, India
rajankumar.patel@siem.org.in
be used for other applications. Hence we also need to
have a speed control system so that a single motor can be
used for more than one application.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
Many approaches have been used to detect the faults in
an induction motor. These use the current spectrum
analysis, vibration analysis and other techniques for the
detection of the various faults in the motors. The faults in
the induction motor were detected by the monitoring of
the current and the vibration of the induction motor. The
mechanical faults are detected such as bearing damage
through vibration spectrum analysis and electrical faults
such as single phasing, unbalanced supply by current
analysis. [1]
In another approach the bearing faults were detected by
the use of stator current spectrum analysis and a fault
model was developed which considered the air gap
length variations and changes in the load torque. [2] In
another approach, a broken rotor bar fault was detected
using wavelet transform. [3] A Wavelet and adaptive
threshold based fault diagnosis technique for a three-
phase induction motor stator inter-turn faults was
developed and the severity of the fault can be detected
easily. [4] In another report, the effects of motor
eccentricity on the generation of characteristic
frequencies and principal slot harmonics in the real and
simulated motors were investigated by the use of MCSA
and monitoring of magnetic flux density outside the
motor. [5]
Various strategies have been applied for the speed control
of the induction motor. Some of these strategies are
discussed below.
Cyclo-converter was used to control the speed, by direct
control of supply frequency. The frequency applied can
be varied by the converter which changes the speed of
the motor, as speed is directly proportional to frequency
 2017 International Conference on Innovation in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems
and inverse proportional to number of poles in the motor
under consideration. [6] Speed control can also be
achieved by the use of PWM technique. The operation
can be carried out by the use of 8051 microcontroller. [7]
The motor speed can be controlled with the help of
Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs). VFDs maintain the
voltage to frequency ration of the supply which provides
effectively good torque output. The use of these VFDs is
one of the most effective means of speed control. [8] A
simulation was carried out in MATLAB for the speed
control of induction motor using PID controller which
gave a good speed response in terms of settling time, rise
time and steady state error. [9]
III. FAULTS IN INDUCTION MOTOR
Any electrical system is affected by electrical &
mechanical faults occurring in the system. The faults can
lead to overloading, overheating and other effects. Every
fault incident is indicated by the machine with various
symptoms & behaviors. Faults in induction motors can
be categorized as follows:
• Electrical faults: Some of the electrical faults are
unbalance supply voltage or current, single phasing,
under or over voltage of current, reverse phase
sequence, earth fault, overload, inter-turn short-circuit
fault, and crawling.
• Mechanical faults: Some of the mechanical faults are
broken rotor bar, mass unbalance, air gap eccentricity,
bearing damage, rotor winding failure, and stator
winding failure.
• Environmental faults: Some of the environmental
conditions also affect the performance of the induction
motor. These include ambient temperature, external
moisture and vibrations of machine due to installation
defect, foundation defect, etc.
Table 1: Fault occurrence possibilities of various faults in
induction motor.
Studied Bearing Stator Rotor Others
by fault (%) fault (%) fault (%) (%)
IEEE 42 28 8 22
EPRI 41 36 9 14
Under EPRI sponsorship, a study was carried out by
General Electric Company on the basis of data from
motor manufacturer. It revealed the fault occurrence
possibility of each type of fault in an induction motor.
The results are tabulated in Table 1. [10, 11]
IV. SPEED CONTROL TECHNIQUES OF
INDUCTION MOTOR
Speed control of the induction motor plays a very
important role in some of the applications. Some of the
speed control techniques of the induction motor include:
• Stator voltage control: In this method the applied
voltage across the stator is changed which changes the
speed of the motor. This however changes the torque
of the motor. This may be achieved by means of
resistance, inductance or the semiconductor devices.
• Rotor resistance control: This method of speed
control can be used in the slip ring induction motor
only. Here the resistance can be added to the rotor in
order to reduce the speed of the motor. This also
increases the starting torque of the motor.
• Pole changing techniques: The synchronous speed
of the motor is given by the formula:
Ns = 120*f/p (1)
Where Ns is the synchronous speed in rpm, f is
frequency in Hz & p is no of poles.
Hence changing the no of poles will change the
synchronous speed which in turn changes the speed of
the motor as
N = (1-s)*Ns (2)
Where N is speed of motor in rpm, s is the per unit slip &
Ns is synchronous speed in rpm.
This may be achieved by:
a) Pole amplitude modulation
b) Multiple stator windings
V / f control or frequency control: From equation 1 it
is clear that the synchronous speed can be changed by
changing the frequency and hence the speed of the motor
will also change according to the equation 2. The emf
induced is given by
E = 4.44*ij*f*T (3)
Where E is emf induced in Volts, ij is flux in webers, T is
number of turns & f is frequency in Hz. Therefore a
reduction in f will lead to an increase in flux which will
lead to saturation of rotor and stator which will lead to
higher magnetizing current. Hence ij should be kept
constant which is done by maintaining the V/f ratio
constant.
V. IMPLEMENTATION OF PROPOSED SYSTEM
The system described in this paper works on the
following procedure:
1. First of all both the system and the motor are started.
2. Then the potentiometer is checked for the value of
triggering angle given by the user.
3. Then the triggering angle is set and this setting will
remain same until and unless the user changes the
setting from the potentiometer.
4. Then the current, voltage, speed and temperature are
measured by the arduino.
5. Then it is checked whether the parameters are within
safe range.
6. If they are approaching the danger zone, warnings
are displayed on the LCD.
 2017 International Conference on Innovation in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems
7. If they are completely out of the safe range the motor
is isolated from the supply.
8. Then parameters of the fault are sent to the data for
data logging
A) Fault Detection and Protection System
This system consists of various sensors and measurement
circuits which measure the parameters of the motor
continuously. These sensors have to be compatible with
the Arduino i.e., their output voltage range should be
between 0-5V DC. So, some of the sensors needs signal
conditioning equipment as we are measuring the AC.
Fig 1: Fault detection and protection system
The arduino measures the following parameters:
a. Current: In our system, current is measured using the
ACS712 which can measure the current between +5A
to -5A. It requires a 5V supply for its operation and its
output voltage varies linearly with respect to current.
Its operation is based on the hall effect. This can be
connected to one of the analog pins of the arduino.
Fig 2: Current measurement
Fig 3: Voltage measurement
b. Voltage: In our system, voltage is measured using
the potential transformer whose ratings are 230V/9V
AC which can handle a current of about 500 mA.
But this voltage is AC therefore we require a rectifier
circuit for the conversion of AC into DC. This
voltage still is greater than 5V. Hence we need a
potential divider circuit in order to further reduce the
voltage to measurable range. This can be connected
to one of the analog pins of the arduino.
c.Temperature: In our system, temperature is measured
using the LM 35 which also operates on a voltage of
5V. The range of the sensor is -55oC to 150oC. Its
output voltage varies linearly with respect to current.
This can be connected to one of the analog pins of the
arduino.
Fig 4: Temperature measurement
d.Speed: In our system, speed is measured with the help
of an infrared module. This module is placed directly
in front of an encoder disc which is mounted on the
shaft. The module gives digital output, so it can easily
be connected to one of the digital input pins of the
arduino.
Fig 5: Speed measurement
The parameters are monitored by the arduino
continuously. Then it is checked whether the parameters
are within the safe range. If the motor is within safe
range and is approaching the values out of the safe range,
then a warning is displayed on the LCD. If they are out
of the safe range then the motor is isolated using the
electromechanical relay and the fault which has occurred
is displayed on the LCD. However if tests are to be
carried out on the motor such as overvoltage test or under
voltage test, then it is recommended that this system
 2017 International Conference on Innovation in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems
should be isolated from the motor.
B) Speed Control System:
This system consists of potentiometer, thyristors,
thyristor trigger circuit and zero crossing detector. The
functions of the various components of the system are:
a.Potentiometer: This is provided for the user to set the
firing angle of the thyristor. The max firing angle can
be set to 180.
b.Thyristors: The thyristor is turned ON by the thyristor
triggering circuit. The thyristor turns OFF by line
commutation. The turning ON, if controlled properly
will change the input RMS voltage of the motor.
c.Thyristor trigger circuit: The thyristor trigger circuit
is used to turn the thyristor ON according to the firing
angle set by the user on the potentiometer.
d.Zero crossing detector: The zero crossing detector
provides a pulse to the arduino as soon as the AC
waveform crosses 0. Due to this circuit the firing angle
is measured from the zero.
Due to this system the triggering angle is set according to
the user and hence the voltage of the circuit is varied due
to which the speed of the motor is varied. This system
also enables soft start of the motor.
Fig 6: Speed control system
C) Data Logging System:
In case a fault occurs and we need to analyze the
parameters of the fault, then we have designed a data
logging system which stores the parameters of the motor
during fault into PC.
Fig 7: Data logging system
VI. CALCULATIONS
A) Current measurement: As we have used the
ACS712 it gives linear output voltage for current
between +5A to -5A. An arduino analog channel converts
the analog input voltage into a number between 0-1023.
This means that for 0V the converted value would be 0
while for 5V it is 1023. Similarly +5A would be 1023 , -
5A would be 0 and 0A would be 512. So for AC current
measurement we would take samples for about 500
milliseconds. From these samples we will find the
maximum value. Let the maximum value measured by
the arduino be Aim.
Therefore the input RMS current I can be derived as
follows:
Let Im be the max current.
Im = (Aim – 512 ) /512*5 A (4)
Therefore I is given by
I = Im/¥2 A (5)
B) Voltage measurement: As we have used a potential
transformer, rectifier and potential divider with ratio 3:1.
The voltage will be in range 0-5V. An arduino analog
channel converts the analog input voltage into a number
between 0-1023. This means that for 0V the converted
value would be 0 while for 5V it is 1023. So for AC
voltage measurement we would take samples for about
500 milliseconds. From these samples we will find the
maximum value. Let the maximum value measured by
the arduino be Avm. Therefore the input RMS current V
can be derived as follows:
Let Vm be the max voltage. Considering the PT ratio
230/9 and the potential divider ratio be 3:1 Vm is given
by:
Vm = Avm/1023*5*230/9*3 V (6)
Therefore I is given by
V = Vm/¥2 V (7)
C) Temperature measurement: We have used LM 35
for the temperature measurement which gives a linear
output voltage between the range -55oC - 150oC.
Therefore let the analog value be At.
The temperature is given by
T=At/1023*5*100 oC (8)
D) Speed measurement: We have used an infrared
module which is focused on an encoder disc. The
encoder disc is such that in each revolution the infrared
module gives a pulse only once. So the time between two
consecutive pulses is measured by the arduino. Let the
time be Tp sec and the speed be N.
N is given by:
N = 3600/(Tp*9.55) rad/sec (9)
E) Speed control: The potentiometer is used to set the
firing angle Į. Let the value read by the arduino analog
channel be x. The Į can be calculated as:
Į= x/1023 * 180 (10)
The calculated value of Į is then used to set the
triggering angle of each thyristor. The time of triggering
 2017 International Conference on Innovation in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems
(Tt)
Tt=Į/180*10 ms (11)
The arduino waits for the pulse from the zero crossing
detectors. As soon as it gets the pulse from the zero
crossing detectors, it waits for Tt msec and then triggers
the thyristors. The effective rms voltage will be given by:
ଵ ఉ ୱ୧୬ ଶĮ
Vrms = ቀగ ‫׬ כ‬ఈ ሺߚ െ ߙ ൅ ଶ
െሺ‫ߚʹ݊݅ݏ‬ሻȀʹሻቁ ̰ͲǤͷ ‫( ܸ כ‬12)
The rms current will be given by:
ଵ ఉ
Irms = ൭ ‫׬ כ‬ఈ ሺ•‹ሺ߱‫ ݐ‬െ ߮ሻ െ •‹ሺߙ െ ߮ሻ ‫כ‬
గ Monitoring”, International Journal Of Advanced Computer
ೃ ഀ
൬ ಽ ቀഘି௧ቁ൰ ଶ
݁ ሻ ݀ሺ߱‫ݐ‬ሻ൱ ̰ͲǤͷ ‫ܸ כ‬Ȁܼ (13)
VII. RESULT
On MATLAB, the speed control technique was tested
using simelink on a single phase induction motor having
a capacity of 0.5 HP, 230 V, 8 pole, 50Hz AC supply
whose main winding had a resistance of 2.02 ohm and an
inductance of 3mH. The results obtained are shown in
the fig 8 and fig 9 with a triggering angle of zero degree
and thirty degree respectively. This speed control
technique can only be used
Fig 8: Motor speed for triggering angle zero degree
(speed obtained = 78.72 rad/sec)
Fig 9: Motor speed for triggering at 30 degree (speed
obtained = 54.75 rad/sec)
CONCLUSION
In this study we have seen that an induction motor can be
easily monitored & controlled through an simple control
circuit designed under Aurduino environment. The
system operation was tested under MATLAB
environment which showed us positive & stable results.
The use of Arduino as a controlling unit is preferred due
to to cheaper price & simple circuitry compared to other
systems.
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