Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Requirements document for

Automatic Light Control Device

Submitted to:

Professor Joseph Picone

ECE 4512: Senior Design I
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762

February 6, 2001

Sensor Control Unit Light

Submitted by:

John Thompson (jet2@ece.msstate.edu)

Marshalia Green (mg1@ece.msstate.edu)
Brad Lowe (clb1@ece.msstate.edu)
Lutrisha Johnson (ldj1@ece.msstate.edu)
Automatic Light Control Device

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

With the growing need to conserve energy, more people are becoming conscious of
energy consumption and are looking for ways to reduce costly waste associated with
electricity. Though most consumers do not think about lighting until the light bulb fails
or the power goes out, expenses incurred due to lighting have been found to be a large
part of overall energy consumption and lighting has now become the focus of efforts
aimed at reducing the high cost of electricity. The purpose of our project is to design an
Automatic Light Control Device (ALCD) to help curb the high cost of internal lighting
while creating a convenient effortlessly lighted environment for the consumer.

Today, energy saving devices, such as occupancy or motion sensors, is used by a multiple
of people for the conservation of power. Motion detectors cause lights to turn on after
entering the room and off after no movement is detected for a certain amount of time.
This unit is efficient; however, energy is loss due to the presence and absence of
movement in a particular room by the sensor continuously activating on or off.
Unneeded cycling uses more power and defeats the intended purpose of saving energy.
The ALCD will save energy by eliminating false conditions, thereby minimizing light
cycles.

The ALCD will use two infrared beams, a digital counter as part of the control unit, and a
controllable switch/relay for lighting. The infrared beams will be used as an indication
that someone has entered or left the room. This will send a signal to the controlling unit,
depending on which beam was activated first, letting the counter know how many people
have entered or left the room at any given time. It will also consist of a timer, which
signals the electronic control unit after the counter has reached zero and a given amount
of time has elapsed, depending on the type of lights being used. The ALCD will
incorporate a manual override switch to allow for unlighted occupancy.

There will be various design conditions that must be met in order to implement this. The
first condition is power consumption. The power consumption of the device will
coincide with the present voltage and frequency used for the lighting system of today.
The lighting must be adaptable to the device. The cost efficiency of the lighting
equipment must be accurate; otherwise, the device is not profitable. The size should be
compatible to the size of a typical light switch for convenience.

The Automatic Light Control Device will use the current technology of light control
devices, but with a few implementations. The design component of our project will be
the control unit. The main components of the control unit will be a PIC microcontroller,
a relay, a transformer, an AC/DC converter, and a voltage regulator. Implementing this
control unit properly will provide the convenience of the light remaining on and not
going off after any detection of motion, while also conserving energy.

EE4512 February 4, 2001

Automatic Light Control Device

1. PROBLEM

The power crunch of today has made electricity more of a valuable commodity than any
other time in the history of its existence. The dwindling of fossil fuels has made
electricity more expensive to produce than ever while the demand for electricity has
grown at an astonishing rate. The United States Department of Energy reports that in
1999 Americans consumed 3.2 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity at a cost of 217 billion
dollars. The generation of such a tremendous amount of power greatly effects the
environment. This coupled with the burden of excessive cost has made the need for more
efficient energy consumption paramount on the list of problems facing society. One
aspect of power consumption typically overlooked and underestimated is lighting.
Interior lighting accounts for 17% of all the electricity used in the U.S. each year [2].
That’s a whopping 544 billion kilowatt-hours annually. In addition, according to Green
Seal, lighting accounts for 30-50% of the average office buildings energy costs [2].
Figure 1 illustrates the concept of lighting controlled manually and by a sensor during an
average day at a residence. Lights that are controlled manually by a switch have a higher
percentage rating than lights control by sensors that shows the lower percentage of
energy consumption. It is our intent to design an automatic light control device (ALCD)
to minimize the waste incurred by internal lighting.

Comparsion of Manual Control & Sensor Control

Sensor Control
Manual Control

100
90 87 90
80
70 73
65 69
60 62
55
50 49
40
30
20 23 22 20
10 12
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Time of Day (hr)

Figure 1

EE4512 February 4, 2001

Automatic Light Control Device

Various types of devices are currently being used to help control the waste of electricity
due to lighting. Some of the available technologies are infrared or passive infrared
motion detectors, ultrasonic sensors, and audio sensors. Infrared motion sensors are
effective, however they are strictly line-of-sight devices and cannot “see” over partitions.
Also, at longer distances, the IR lens requires greater movements to detect occupancy.
Ultrasonic sensors are effective in detecting a change in reflected frequency, but are
relatively expensive and are more prone to false signals. Sensors operating in the 25 – 27
kHz range may also interfere with hearing aids. Audio sensors contain a microphone that
“listens” for sounds made by occupants, but can mistake external sounds like a door
closing, people walking, or a phone ringing as signs of occupancy. Though the ALCD
may incorporate the use of motion detection, it avoids the false signals associated with
these systems because it doesn’t rely on any of the above technologies to determine
occupancy. The ALCD will interpret signals received from door beams to maintain an
accurate occupancy population and will have the capability of more effectively utilizing
motion sensor technology by merely using it to enhance system performance.

A study performed by Green Seal Environmental Partners found that simply turning off
lights when they’re not needed and only using them when they are needed can reduce
direct lighting energy consumption by up to 45%. The usage of occupant sensors will
help maintain an appropriate rating of energy consumption through the reduction of costs,
increase in control intelligence, improvement in the ability to detect motion, and an
increase in the adjustment of capabilities. The goal of our project will be to design a
device that more closely reaches an optimum lighting efficiency.

EE4512 February 4, 2001

Automatic Light Control Device

2. OBJECTIVES

2.1 Power Consumption

The ALCD should operate on the available 120 VAC 60Hz and should consume a
negligible amount of power (less than 1.5W) during normal use.

2.2 Cost
For mass production, the control unit should cost no more than $15. This is
comparable to current devices being manufactured and will allow for significant
economical benefit.

2.3 Size
The size of the device is important for both cosmetic purposes and for ease of
installation. The control unit should be small enough to be mounted in the space
of a typical wall mounted light switch (4.5” x 3.5” x 1.5”).

2.4 Life
Life span of the device is critical if one expects the public to buy in to
implementing the device. Repeated replacement of the device is both bothersome
and expensive and would greatly diminish the unit’s feasibility. An efficient and
expected life span of the device will be approximately 10 years as compared to
current lighting control devices.

2.5 Installation
The installation of the ALCD should be a relatively simple process, which can be
done by anyone with basic knowledge of electrical wiring.

2.6 Adaptability
Since fluorescent bulbs and incandescent bulbs use power at different rates and
cycling of the different lights uses different amounts the power, the operational
ability of the device should be adaptable to conform to the type of lights being
used. A toggle switch will be used to accommodate this requirement.

2.7 Reliability
The device will avoid faulty signals incurred by other such devices on the market
today. Existing technology will merely be used to allow for more robust
performance, however an innovative technique using photoelectric door beams
will be primarily responsible for accurate operation of the device.

2.8 Flexibility
The unit will allow for manual operation should there be an adequate amount of
natural light available or if unlighted occupation is desired. The manual operation
switch will be similar to the typical light switch.

EE4512 February 4, 2001

Automatic Light Control Device

2.9 NEC Compliant

The device must comply with all applicable articles of the National Electrical
Code, including but not limited to the lighting Accessories and Wired Partitions
portion of the NEC. In addition, the use of any system peripherals must comply
with guidelines outlined for such device in the NEC.

3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank Dr. Robert Reese, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department, Mississippi State University for his continued advice and assistance in
implementing our design. We would also like to thank Dr. Joseph Picone, Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mississippi State University for his invaluable
advice and guidance in approaching this design in the most productive and feasible
manner.

4. REFERENCES

[1] United States Department of Energy, Sun Feb 4 18:15 2001

http://www.energy.gov

[2] Green Seal, Sun Feb 4 19:10 2001

http://www.greenseal.org

[3] Peatman, John B., “Design with PIC Microcontrollers”, Prentice Hall
Engineering, 1988

[4] Cayless, M.A., Marsden, A.M., “Lamps and Lighting”, 3rd Edition, Arnold Press,
1983

[5] Knisley, Joseph R., (1995), “The Growing Importance of Lighting Controls”,
Electrical Construction & Maintenance. April, p.7

[6] Lewis, Larry, (1990), “Residential Energy Usage Comparison”, EPRI Journal.
December, p.43

[7] Wosley, Robert, (1997), “Interoperable Systems: The Future of Lighting

Controls”, Lighting Futures. 2(2), January

EE4512 February 4, 2001