International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 13, Number 10 (2018) pp.

7806-7810
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

IOT Based Circuit Breaker Monitoring & Control

Abhijit Das1, Dr. K. Kalimuthu2 , S.S. Biswas3

1
M. Tech. Final Year Student, 2Associate Professor (ECE), 3Scientific Officer
1,2
SRM Institute of Science & Technology, Kattankulathur, India.
3
BHAVINI, Kalpakkam, India

Abstract Moreover, open source platform is used which eliminates the

concern regarding reliability & security of the safety/safety
This paper presents Internet of Thing (I.O.T) based
related/strategic application as complete source code
monitoring & control of circuit breaker. Circuit breaker is an
implementation is open & fully accessible by the user.
important component of Industrial Electrical System. It is
used for protection & switching. Hence, reliable operation of
circuit breaker is essential. Circuit breaker ages over time &
Keyword: Internet of Thing, Circuit Breaker, ThingSpeak,
number of operations. This raises a concern regarding
Arduino.
reliability of circuit breaker operation. In order to ascertain
reliability of circuit breaker, it is general practice to carry out
preventive maintenance at fixed time intervals. The main
INTRODUCTION
disadvantage of this maintenance approach is unnecessary
downtime & offline usage of separate diagnostics equipment Circuit breakers are used for protection & switching in
although the circuit breaker is healthy. This increases the industrial electrical system. Hence, reliable operation of
maintenance cost of circuit breakers. Moreover, in present circuit breaker is essential. Failure of circuit breaker can cause
practice, the control of circuit breaker is realized through huge damage to industrial electrical system including revenue
hardwired control logic which increases the size of control & loss & fatality. circuit breakers are subjected to stress during
metering cabinet of the circuit breaker & prevents integration their operation as they contain many mechanical/electrical
of Internet of Things. This put a limitation on decision making components, has to carry rated or fault power & participates in
process as circuit breakers data are not accessible on the fly. arc quenching methods. Due to this circuit breaker ages over
Presently monitoring of circuit breaker is being carried out time & number of operations. This raises a concern regarding
through proprietary solutions like Remote Terminal Units & reliability of circuit breaker operation.
SCADA. Proprietary solution raises a concern regarding
In order to ascertain reliability of circuit breaker, it is general
reliability & security of the safety/safety related/strategic
practice to carry out preventive maintenance at fixed time
application as the backend implementation of proprietary
intervals. In preventive maintenance program, the circuit
solution is not accessible by the user.
breakers are taken out of service at regular intervals & its
In this paper, an attempt was made to develop monitoring & parameter like trip coil current, close coil current, spring
control scheme of a typical circuit breaker using Arduino charging motor current etc. are measured using special
Mega 2560 embedded microcontroller along with Ethernet diagnostic equipment. Moreover, visual inspection & cleaning
Shield for integration of Internet of Things. Circuit breaker of its components like fixed contact, moving contact, tripping
parameters like load current, trip coil current, close coil coil, closing coil, spring charging motor, operating
current, spring charging motor current, number of closing mechanism etc. are carried out in order to ensure its
operations, number of tripping operations etc. are monitored. healthiness. Being a time-based maintenance approach,
The monitored data are uploaded to Internet of Things downtime of the system increases although the circuit breaker
platform “ThingSpeaks” in order to make circuit breaker data is healthy. Moreover, use of special diagnostic equipment
available on the fly for effective decision making. Monitored increases the maintenance cost of circuit breakers.
circuit breaker parameters are used to determine health of the
One more important issue with reference to circuit breaker is
circuit breaker in order to ascertain its reliable operation & to
that the control of switchgear is realized through hardwired
determine its maintenance/replacement needs. This paper is an
control logic which increases the size of control & metering
effort to develop automated circuit breaker monitoring &
cabinet of the circuit breaker & prevents integration of
control systems that diagnose the electrical and mechanical
Internet of Things. This approach puts a limitation on timely
health of circuit breaker in real time. This is a shift in the
execution of any modification in the circuit breaker control
maintenance paradigm from time-based maintenance to as-
circuit. Also there is limitation on decision making process as
needed maintenance. This shift comes with the benefit of
circuit breakers data are not accessible on the fly.
maintaining adequate circuit breaker performance while
reducing overall maintenance costs & unnecessary downtime.

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 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 13, Number 10 (2018) pp. 7806-7810
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

This could be realized through proprietary solutions like DETAILED DESIGN BASIS OF THE PROJECT
Remote Terminal Units & SCADA. But, proprietary solution
A. Need for the proposed system
raises a concern regarding cost effectiveness, after sales
support. Moreover, reliability & security of the safety/safety Circuit breakers are used for protection & switching & an
related/strategic application is a concern as the backend important component of industrial electrical system. In order
implementation of proprietary solution is not accessible by the to ascertain reliability of circuit breaker & at the same time to
user. Similar incident had already occurred in Iran by a reduce the downtime due to time based preventive
malicious computer worm called “Stuxnet”. Stuxnet is a maintenance, online monitoring of circuit breaker health
malicious computer worm, first uncovered in 2010 by parameter is needed. Deployment of software-based control
Kaspersky Lab. Till now no country has openly admitted instead of hardwired control reduces the size of control &
responsibility of Stuxnet. Stuxnet specifically targets metering cabinet. Integration of Internet of Things make the
programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which allow the circuit breaker health data available on the fly for effective
automation of electromechanical processes such as those used decision making regarding maintenance of circuit breaker.
to control machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement Deployment of open source platform eliminates the concern
rides, or centrifuges. Stuxnet functions by targeting machines regarding reliability & security of the safety/safety
using the Microsoft Windows operating system and networks, related/strategic application as complete source code
then seeking out Siemens Step7 software. Stuxnet reportedly implementation is open & fully accessible & controlled by the
compromised Iranian PLCs, collecting information on user.
industrial systems and causing the fast-spinning centrifuges to
The proposed system facilitates automated circuit breaker
tear themselves apart. Stuxnet’s design and architecture are
monitoring & control that diagnose the electrical and
not domain-specific and it could be tailored as a platform for
mechanical health of circuit breaker in real time. This is a
attacking modern supervisory control and data acquisition
shift in the maintenance paradigm from time-based
(SCADA) and PLC systems (e.g., in factory assembly lines or
maintenance to as-needed maintenance. This shift comes with
power plants). Stuxnet reportedly ruined almost one fifth of
the benefit of maintaining adequate circuit breaker
Iran's nuclear centrifuges. Targeting industrial control
performance while reducing overall maintenance costs &
systems, the worm infected over 200,000 computers and
unnecessary downtime.
caused 1,000 machines to physically degrade. This thing can
be avoided if the development environment is open &
completely in user’s control.
B. Objective
In this paper, an attempt was made to develop monitoring & a) The main objective of this paper is to use open
control scheme of a typical circuit breaker using open source source platform to continuously monitor and
Arduino Mega 2560 embedded microcontroller along with control the circuit breaker.
Ethernet Shield for integration of Internet of Things. Circuit b) There is a shift in the maintenance paradigm
breaker parameters like load current, trip coil current, close from time-based maintenance to as-needed
coil current, spring charging motor current, number of closing maintenance. This shift comes with the benefit
operations, number of tripping operations etc. are monitored. of maintaining adequate circuit breaker
The monitored data are uploaded to Internet of Things performance while reducing overall maintenance
platform “ThingSpeaks” in order to make circuit breaker data costs & unnecessary downtime.
available on the fly for effective decision making. Monitored
circuit breaker parameters are used to determine health of the
circuit breaker in order to ascertain its reliable operation & to C. Block Diagram of the proposed system
determine its maintenance/replacement needs. This paper is an
For rapid prototyping, Arduino/BeagleBone board can be used
effort to develop automated circuit breaker monitoring &
to prove the concept. But in this project we used an Arduino
control systems that diagnose the electrical and mechanical
Mega 2560 board where 10 bit ADC are used to log the
health of circuit breaker in real time. This is a shift in the
continuous data and digital pins are used to control the circuit
maintenance paradigm from time-based maintenance to as-
breaker. The circuit breaker mechanism is simulated through
needed maintenance. This shift comes with the benefit of
contactors. An indicative schematic of the system is shown
maintaining adequate circuit breaker performance while
below.
reducing overall maintenance costs & unnecessary downtime.
Moreover, open source platform is used which eliminates the
concern regarding reliability & security of the safety/safety
related/strategic application as complete source code
implementation is open & fully accessible & controlled by the
user.

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 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 13, Number 10 (2018) pp. 7806-7810
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

Modem cum Cloud Platform

Router (ThinkSpeaks)
User PC

CB Trip Request PB
Load Current CB Close Request PB
Permissive
Trip Coil Current
CB On FB
Arduino Relay
Close Coil Current Driver CB Off FB
Mega 2560 Board
Spring Charge Limit Switch
Spring Charging Current CB Trip Command
CB Close Command

protocol over the Internet or via a Local Area Network.

D. Hardware required for the system ThingSpeak enables the creation of sensor logging
applications, location tracking applications, and a social
network of things with status updates". ThingSpeak was
Arduino Mega 2560 Development Board
originally launched by ioBridge in 2010 as a service in
8-Channel Relay Driver Board support of IoT applications. ThingSpeak has integrated
support from the numerical computing software MATLAB
ACS712 Current Sensor
from MathWorks, allowing ThingSpeak users to analyze
Contactors for Simulating Circuit Breaker Mechanism and visualize uploaded data using Matlab without
requiring the purchase of a Matlab license from
Push Buttons & Switches Mathworks. ThingSpeak has a close relationship with
Lamp with Holder for Simulating Load Mathworks, Inc. In fact, all of the ThingSpeak
documentation is incorporated into the Mathworks' Matlab
Modem cum Router documentation site and even enabling registered
User PC to View Data Mathworks user accounts as valid login credentials on the
ThingSpeak website.[5] The terms of service[6] and
privacy policy[7] of ThingSpeak.com are between the
E. Familiarization of ThingSpeak agreeing user and Mathworks, Inc. ThingSpeak has been
According to its developers, "ThingSpeak is an open the subject of articles in specialized "Maker" websites like
source Internet of Things (IoT) application and API to Instructables, Codeproject and Channel 9.
store and retrieve data from things using the HTTP

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 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 13, Number 10 (2018) pp. 7806-7810
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

F. Experimental Setup

G. Arduino Code to Read Voltage char ssid[] = "<YOURNETWORK>"; // your

#include "ThingSpeak.h" network SSID (name)
char pass[] = "<YOURPASSWORD>"; // your
#if defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP8266) || network password
defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32) int status = WL_IDLE_STATUS;
#error "EPS8266 and ESP32 are not compatible with WiFiClient client;
this example." #elif defined(USE_ETHERNET_SHIELD)
#endif // Use wired ethernet shield
#include <SPI.h>
#if !defined(USE_WIFI101_SHIELD) && #include <Ethernet.h>
!defined(USE_ETHERNET_SHIELD) && byte mac[] = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE,
!defined(ARDUINO_SAMD_MKR1000) && 0xED};
!defined(ARDUINO_AVR_YUN) EthernetClient client;
#error "Uncomment the #define for either #endif
USE_WIFI101_SHIELD or USE_ETHERNET_SHIELD" #endif
#endif
#ifdef ARDUINO_ARCH_AVR
#if defined(ARDUINO_AVR_YUN) // On Arduino: 0 - 1023 maps to 0 - 5 volts
#include "YunClient.h" #define VOLTAGE_MAX 5.0
YunClient client; #define VOLTAGE_MAXCOUNTS 1023.0
#else #elif ARDUINO_SAMD_MKR1000
#if defined(USE_WIFI101_SHIELD) || // On MKR1000: 0 - 1023 maps to 0 - 3.3 volts
defined(ARDUINO_SAMD_MKR1000) #define VOLTAGE_MAX 3.3
// Use WiFi #define VOLTAGE_MAXCOUNTS 1023.0
#include <SPI.h> #elif ARDUINO_SAM_DUE
#include <WiFi101.h> // On Due: 0 - 1023 maps to 0 - 3.3 volts

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 International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 13, Number 10 (2018) pp. 7806-7810
© Research India Publications. http://www.ripublication.com

#define VOLTAGE_MAX 3.3 CONCLUSION

#define VOLTAGE_MAXCOUNTS 1023.0
This paper shows a conceptual implementation of IOT based
#endif
Circuit Breaker Monitoring & Control which will reduce the
size of the circuit breaker & facilitate the concept of as needed
unsigned long myChannelNumber = 31461;
maintenance approach. Moreover, this will eliminate the
const char * myWriteAPIKey =
concern regarding security vulnerability of third party system
"LD79EOAAWRVYF04Y";
as the platform is opensource. Being a prototype conceptual
implementation, future work can be done on EMI/EMC
void setup()
compliance, implementation of open source inferential engine
{
in order to receive recommendation on maintenance,
integration with computerized maintenance management
#ifdef ARDUINO_AVR_YUN
software, development of open source hosting server etc.
Bridge.begin();
#else
#if defined(USE_WIFI101_SHIELD) ||
defined(ARDUINO_SAMD_MKR1000) REFERENCES
WiFi.begin(ssid, pass); [1]. Jason M. Byerly, Carey Schneider, Robert Schloss, Isaac
#else West “Real-Time Circuit Breaker Health Diagnostics,”
Ethernet.begin(mac); 43rd Annual Western Protective Relay Conference,
#endif October 2016.
#endif
[2]. M. Kezunovic, G. Latisko, N. Ved, “Real-Time
ThingSpeak.begin(client); Monitoring and Assessment of Circuit Breaker
Operations for Diagnostics and Control Applications”,
} Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-
3128.
void loop() [3]. Payman Dehghanian, Tomo Popovic, Mladen
{ Kezunovic, “Circuit Breaker Operational Health
// Read the input on each pin, convert the reading, and set Assessment via Condition Monitoring Data”,
each field to be sent to ThingSpeak. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
// On Uno,Mega,Yun: 0 - 1023 maps to 0 - 5 volts Texas A&M University College Station, Texas, 77843,
// On MKR1000,Due: 0 - 4095 maps to 0 - 3.3 volts USA.
float pinVoltage = analogRead(A0) * (VOLTAGE_MAX
/ VOLTAGE_MAXCOUNTS); [4]. Brent L. Carper, Principal Engineer, “The X, Y and Z of
ThingSpeak.setField(1,pinVoltage); Circuit Breaker Control”, 34th Annual Hands-On Relay
School, March 2017.
// Write the fields that you've set all at once.
ThingSpeak.writeFields(myChannelNumber,
myWriteAPIKey);

delay(20000); // ThingSpeak will only accept updates

every 15 seconds.
}

H. Advantage of the Proposed System

Circuit breaker health data can be accessed from anywhere
in the world.
Efficient and low cost design.
Real time monitoring.
Improve circuit breaker reliability and minimize downtime
through as needed maintenance approach.
Minimize condition monitoring costs through unified
monitoring of various parameters for the entire circuit
breaker.
Integrate with your facility's computerized maintenance
management software (CMMS).

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