Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Indian Institute of Information Technology

& Management,Gwalior

Project Report

COURSE: ICT Workshop

TITLE: RAIN ALARM PROJECT

SUBMITTED TO Dr. Somesh Dahiya (ICTW Course Coordinator)

SUBMITTED BY

Siddhant Paikra 2018-IMT-098

Siddharth Gautam 2018-IMT-099

Swatik Paul 2018-IMT-100

Udit Singh 2018-IMT-101

Utkarsh Gaur 2018-IMT-102

 RAIN ALARM PROJECT

Components Required :
1. Small Rain Sensor :

It is a simple sensor and it is an easy to use tool for detecting rain. It can act as a simple switch, where the
switch is normally open and when there is rain, the switch closes. Even though Rain Water sensor is the
main component in the circuit.

Fig 1.A Rain Sensor [1]

It should get connected to the circuit and voltage should be passed through the wires. If there is no rain,
the resistance between the contacts will be very high as there will be no conduction between the wires in
the sensor. If there is rain, the water drops will fall on the rain sensor, which will form a conductive path
between the wires and it also decreases the resistance between the contacts. As a result, the wires on the
sensor board will conduct and trigger the NE555 timer through the transistors circuitry. Once NE555 is
triggered, it will make the output pin high and which will make the buzzer to make alarm.

2. 555 Timer IC :

The 555 timer IC is an integrated circuit (chip) used in a variety of timer, pulse generation, and oscillator
applications. The 555 can be used to provide time delays, as an oscillator, and as a flip-flop element.
Derivatives provide two (556) or four (558) timing circuits in one package.

Fig 2. 555 Timer IC [2]

3. BC 547 Transistor :
It is an NPN bi-polar junction transistor. A transistor, stands for transfer of resistance, is commonly used
to amplify current. A small current at its base controls a larger current at collector & emitter
terminals. BC547 is mainly used for amplification and switching purposes. It has a maximum current gain
of 800. Its equivalent transistors are BC548 and BC549.The transistor terminals require a fixed DC
voltage to operate in the desired region of its characteristic curves. This is known as the biasing. For
amplification applications, the transistor is biased such that it is partly on for all input conditions. The
input signal at base is amplified and taken at the emitter.

Fig 3.BC547 Transistor [3]

BC547 is used in common emitter configuration for amplifiers. The voltage divider is the commonly used
biasing mode. For switching applications, transistor is biased so that it remains fully on if there is a signal
at its base. In the absence of base signal, it gets completely off.

4. Bright White LED :

An LED is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is p-n junction diode that emits light when activated.

Fig 4.Bright White LED [4]

5. Resistors :
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit
element. They are mainly used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages. We shall
require following resistors:
 1 X 1K Resistor
 2 X 100K Resistor
 2 X 470K Resistor

Fig 5.Resistors [5]

6. Capacitor :
A ceramic capacitor is a fixed value capacitor in which ceramic material acts as the dielectric. It is
constructed of two or more alternating layers of ceramic and a metal layer acting as electrodes. We
require only a 10 µF capacitor.

Fig 6. A Capacitor [6]

7. Printed Circuit Board :

PCB is an acronym for printed circuit board. It is a board that has lines and pads that connect various
points together. A PCB allows signals and power to be routed between physical devices. Solder is the
metal that makes the electrical connections between the surface of the PCB and the electronic
components. Being metal, solder also serves as a strong mechanical adhesive.

Fig 7. Printed Circuit Board [7]

8. Buzzer :
A buzzer or beeper is an audio signalling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical or
piezoelectric (piezo for short). Typical uses of buzzers and beepers include alarm devices, timers and
confirmation of user input such as a mouse click or keystroke.

Fig 8. Buzzer [8]

9. Connecting Wires
10. 9V Power Supply
Theory
Water is basic need in every one’s life. Saving and proper usage of water is very important. This is an
easy project which will give the alarm when there is rain, so that we can make some actions and save the
rain water. As a result, we can increase the water levels of underground water by using underwater
recharge technique.

Fig 9. Rain Alarm Project Block Diagram [9]

Rain water sensor is the main component in the circuit. We can also make it ourselves just by taking the
piece of Bakelite or mica board and aluminum wire. Bakelite or mica board should be made completely
flat and aluminum wire should be pasted on the flat board as shown in the figure below of rain water
sensor. Care should be taken that there should be no spaces between the wire and board. When the rain
water sensor is completed, it should get connected to the circuit and voltage should be passed through the
wires.

Fig 10. Rain Water Sensor Diagram [10]

If there is no rain, the resistance between the wires will be very high and there will be no conduction
between the wires in the sensor. If there is rain, the water drops will fall on the rain sensor which will also
decrease the resistance between the wires and wires on the sensor board will conduct and trigger the
NE555 timer through the transistors circuitry.Once NE555 is triggered, it will make the output pin high
and which will make the buzzer to make alarm.
Circuit Diagram
Rain water detector alarm circuit is shown below:

Fig 11. Rain Water Alarm Circuit [11]

Working
 Whenever there is a rain, rain drops falls on the rain sensor, and as you can see in the diagram of
rain sensor, water on rain sensor would short the Point A and B.
 As soon as Point A and B become short, a positive voltage would get applied on the base of
Transistor Q1, through the resistance R4.
 Because of the voltage at the base, transistor becomes ON (initially it was in OFF state), and
current started flowing form collector to emitter.
 Now Reset PIN 4 of the 555 Timer gets a positive voltage and 555 timer IC becomes ON and
Buzzer starts beeping.
 Here we should note that initially there was no positive voltage at Reset PIN 4 of 555 IC as it was
connected to the ground through resistance R5 (4.7k) and 555 IC only works when Reset pin gets
positive voltage.
 555 Timer IC has been configured in Astable mode so that Buzzer generate a oscillating sound
(means periodically on and off).
 This oscillation frequency can be controlled by changing the value of resistor R2 and/or capacitor
C1.
 Pin 5 control Pin should be connected to ground through a .01uf capacitor. Resistor R3 and R4
has been used to control the transistor’s collector and base current respectively.
Note:
 Rain senor should be kept in the open place at 30 to 40 degrees from the ground. As a result, rain water
will not present on the sensor for long time.
 This circuit will automatically switch of the alarm after sometime and LED will glow continuously until
the rain stops.

Image of Working Project

Fig 12. Rest State

Fig 13. Working State

Applications
1 .In the irrigation, it will detect the rain and immediately alert the farmer.
2. In automobiles, when the rain detector detects the rain it will immediately active the wipers and inform
to the driver.
3. In communications, it will boost the power of the antenna and increase the signal strength to send or
receive the signals.
4. In normal house hold, with the help of rain water detector we can automatically save the rain water.
(This can be done only when home automation is done and equipment to save the rain water. In this, rain
water detector will detect the rain and helps to switch ON the equipment which will automatically save
rain water for different purposes).
5. This can also be used if there is a chemical rain also. This is very common in industrial areas.

Model Layout
In our model layout, we are going to construct a home where we will place a rain sensor at its roof.
Following this , we will sprinkle water on the rain sensor . This will activate our circuitry and the buzzer
will start beeping.

Fig 14. Model Layout [12]

This layout can also be implemented in real life by placing a large scale rain sensor at roof of a house, or
at some height in farms/fields. Further, we can take necessary actions.

Conclusion
Generally there was no question that water is very essential to our life. We can summarize that, after the
end of the project, it will give enormous advantages for home, commercial and industrial appliances. Rain
water detector will detect the rain and make an alert; rain water detector is used in the irrigation field, home
automation, communication, automobiles etc.
References
[1] https://uae.souq.com/ae-en/water-level-sensor-rain-sensor-gold-coating-23014680/i/
[2] https://circuitdigest.com/article/555-timer-ic
[3] https://www.lelong.com.my/bc547-transistor-novipiper-F1447554-2007-01-Sale-I.htm
[4] https://www.bananarobotics.com/shop/Bright-White-LED-5mm-(4-pack)
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor
[6] https://www.addicore.com/10uF-50V-Electrolytic-Capacitor-p/177.htm
[7] https://www.amazon.in/Adraxx-General-Purpose-Printed-Circuit/dp/B071QZGY1P
[8]https://www.ebay.com/p/3-24vdc-12v-Piezo-Electronic-Buzzer-Effect-Tone-Alarm-
Continuous-Beep-Arduino/1193332831
[9] https://www.electronicshub.org/rain-alarm-project/
[10] http://www.electronicshub.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rain-Water-Sensor.png
[11] https://circuitdigest.com/fullimage?i=circuitdiagram/Rain-Alarm-Circuit.gif
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9OwoirFAaY

Other References: http://www.electronicshub.org/rain-alarm-project/

https://circuitdigest.com/electronic-circuits/rain-alarm-project