DIGITAL TIMER

MULTI-PLUG
Design and Process

Group No. 27
Ravikumar S.
EN14061844
Seneviratne E.G
EN14055904
Kogulram P.
EN14528852
Fernando I.S.N

Executive Summary
o

Problem Statement

The greatest problem that is faced in the resent era is over use of electricity because people are too
busy and forget to switch off the wall plugs which are connected to appliances.
The solution for this is to time how long the current flows to an appliance. Therefore a simple
solution could be a plug that could be timed. This could provide the people with an advantage for
them to select the required time.
o

Rhetorical Purpose

This report gives a fully accounted detail of the product along with the background of the products
that is the steps of the design and the cost of production.
The purpose of this report is to show the people how this product helps them save time as well as
electricity.
Objective and background
People are too busy and forget to switch off bulbs or cell chargers or, our product The timer multiplug, lets people time which appliance or electronic device works for how long, that is, the current
supply to any particular product such as a mobile charger, could be cut down according to the time set
on the timer.
Methodology and experiment procedure
In order to solve the problem of overcharging/overuse and to save electricity. More research had to be
done on how the components of The timer multiplug is fixed.
The people who were involved in the research were Erandi, Sharunie, Sarujan, kogul and sithira.
The timer plug might seem complicated, but, it was made with a single programmable arduino board,
and few other components combined. The program for the arduino was written step by step,
alterations had to be done at some points, and more background research had to be done to finalize the
program.

The PCB was make with the help of another person, where, he taught us how it was made, and the
instructions were given to us.
The finalization of the product was done, and it was successful.
Conclusion
The objective of this product is to stop the current according to the time set, and we were was able to
achieve this.

Implication of the organization

The below table gives the cost of production:
Item
Arduino
LCD Screen
PCB
Power Pack
Multi plug
Plastic casing
TOTAL

Price (LKR)
2000
450
100
380
60
800
3790

The total production cost was LKR: 3690, therefore the product will be a bit more expensive than the
production cost, but this product could save more money by saving forgotten electricity.

Content
Introduction..04
Background...05
Design specification..09
Tools and technics for design and Evaluation...11
Preliminary design...14
Discussion..20
Conclusion.2
3
References.23

Introduction
This project we carried out is related to the field of electrical and electronics. We thought of
designing a multi-plug which can be controlled according to our desire and which basically
means designing a multi-plug plug which can be controlled by time. As we know multi-plug
is an electric device that allows more than one plug to connect to a single socket by
containing multiple similar sockets; particularly for means electricity and over the decades
we have considered the multi-plug as a very useful device not only in the field of electrical
but also in our day to day lives. Yet people still had not thought about going to the next level
of multi-plugs by adding a little more technology to it.
There were many problems that led us to think far beyond a simple multi-plug which has
been remained unchanged over the years. One of the most common problem was feeling lazy
to get up (especially if youre involved in some important work) and go all the way up to the
multi-plug which is fixed to the wall socket just to switch it off. Another issue was

overcharging and overheating of electrical appliances like mobile phones due to the inability
of switching off the multi plug at the proper time. This reason has even made electrical
appliances blast causing danger to human lives as well. Also we thought if we could have a
device to stop the current flowing to electrical appliances like the refrigerator during the peak
hours of the day (that is usually in evening of day) it would reduce the cost of electricity thus
saving money.
Thereby these types of above mentioned problems gave us the idea of combining the multiplug which is a very useful device with a timer which could be used to set a specific time of
our desire and thus would automatically stop the current flowing to the multi plug and stop
the multi-plug from working after the assigned time to it is passed. Initially we thought an
analogue timer would be appropriate but considering the convenience of the users we
switched to the idea of making a digital timer instead of an analogue.
Furthermore, in this report you would be given a detailed idea about the background,
Structure, organizational uses and applications of our project.

Background
This project is based on a on a multi plug which could be timed and controlled according to
the consumers will. This product is designed in a way the current flowing through the
appliances could be stopped according to the hours/minutes/seconds set on the time. This
product Timer multi plug prevents overheating/over charging and damage of the electrical
appliances. In the past there were solutions to this problem which used analogue timer which
was helped to control the flow of current for a limited range of time, but the Digital timer
multi-plug has no time limits. This product was designed using a programmable Arduino
board, PCB, LCD screen and other electrical components. More research were done to fix all
these components together to make this useful Digital Timer multi-plug.
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Previous work

Many efforts were done, and many ideas were put forward, one of them was to use an
analogue timer, and since it had a limited timing interval, this idea was rejected, and then the
idea of using electronics was brought in. Afterwards, the group members had to do a lot more
research on electronics since using electronics was not the initial idea. The project, as a whole
includes electronics and electrical.
The basic concept used in the current product is a microcontroller (Arduino) and some set of
programing language which controls the microcontroller. By the help of a relay, two circuits
could be controlled, one which is connected to the plug, and the other from the
microcontroller, and using a program, the current to the relay could be controlled, and the
second circuit could be switched on and off.
Our Project could be broken down into 4 parts: the brain storming, programming, circuitry
and electrical. Brain storming includes in discussing new ideas, and designing the process,
including deciding the components for the digital timer multiplug. The second is the
programming, this is where the programming for the microcontroller is done, and the third is
the circuitry. This is where the PCB is made, and the components such as LCD display is
fixed to the PCB, and the wiring is done. Lastly is the electrical, this is the power supply for
the microcontroller, and the connection of relay.Power to the Digital Timer multiplug is
given by connecting it to a wall socket using a powerpack. This power pack reduces the 230V
to a much simpler 6-12V range which the microcontroller (Arduino) works on.The
microcontroller (Arduino Uno ) features a USB interface, 6 analog input pins, as well as 14
digital I/O pins which allows the user to attach various extension boards. The Arduino could
also be run on regular personal computers and which allows us to write programs for Arduino
using C or C++. Each of the input pins and output pins are programmed for different

functions. The system is programmed in a way that the current passing through the multi plug
is controlled for the given period of time. This is fixed to the printed circuit board (PCB),
which contains most of the circuitry.
A simply illustrated diagram of the function decomposition is given below to simplify the
process.

Simple Function Decomposition Diagram for Digital Timer multi-plug

Digital Timer
Multi-plug

Brainstorm

Drawing
design

Programmi
ng

Deciding
component
s

Circuitry

PCB
Fixing
Connectingcomponent
s
relay to
microcontroller

Electrical

DESIGN SPECIFICATION

Purpose of the DIGITAL TIMER MULTI-PLUG document

The DIGITAL TIMER MULTI-PLUG document documents and tracks the necessary
information required to effectively define architecture and system design in order to
give the development team guidance on architecture of the system to be developed. The
DIGITAL TIMER MULTI-PLUG document is created during the Planning Phase of the
project. Its intended audience is the project manager, project team, and development
team. Some portions of this document such as the user interface (UI) may on occasion
be shared with the client/user, and other stakeholder whose input/approval into the UI is
needed.

General overview and design guidelines/approach

This section describes the principles and strategies to be used as guidelines when
designing and implementing the system.
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ASSUMPTIONS / CONSTRAINTS / STANDARDS

The basic model we assume for our analysis and design is to use a digital timer
connected to a circuit board (Arduino Uno) and a relay so that we can control the
current flow in the circuit using the timer and the relay switch.
One of the main constraints is the programming, which we are going to design for the
circuit board. It is complex and we have to bug the errors that will occur while running
the code. The other constraint is the size of the final product and portability. As it is a
multi-plug it will be more user-friendly if the size of the product is comparably small
which the user can handle and also light weight so it is portable.

ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
This section outlines the system and hardware architecture design of the system that is
being built.
O HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE
When it comes to the hardware, an Arduino board is used to program the timer, and the
LCD display is used to display the time the, we will set using the buttons that were
fixed in the circuitry. The relay is used to cut the current flow in the specified time
given by the user using the program.
O SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
The software we used to program the Arduino board uses the C+ programming
compatible with the board. Using this we can program the board to set the time and
make the circuit to stop the current flow at the required time.
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O SECURITY ARCHITECTURE
The safety of the product is taken into account. There won't be any flaws in the circuit
that would harm the user. The whole circuitry is enclosed into a casing that seals all the
wires and it will be leakage proof, so no harm done for the user.

Tools & Techniques

Ishikawa Diagram

Fogetting to switch of
elec. appliances
Digital Timer Multi-Plug

Convenience for
elderly people

Reducing energy
consumption during peak
hours

Objective Tree
Har
d
Saf
e
10

Digital Timer Multi plug

Portable

Properly
Working

Marketab
le

Usef

Light Weight
Multitaskin
g

Durable

Inexpensiv
e

Mind Map

Prevents electrical appliances

from over charging and

Forgetting to switch of
electrical appliances
when leaving home

Digital Timer
Multi Plug
Convenien
ce for
elderly
people

Reducing Energy
Consumption
during peak hours

Saves
Money

Saves
Electricity

Easy

Less
tiring

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Feeling lazy to walk up

to the multi-plug just to
switch of when youre
involved in an
important work

Time
Saving

Alternative Analysis
Matrix
1 represent yes , 0 represent No
DESIGN ALTERNATIVES
USER ATTRIBUTES

Digital Timer Multi Plug

Analogue Timer Multi-plug

Potable

Light in Weight

Legible Display

Restricted time duration to

set time

Convenient manipulation to
set time

Cheap

Detailed Design process

Firstly to do any designing, a problem should be identified. In this case the problem we
encountered was overcharging and overheating of electrical appliances as we forget to switch

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them off at the correct times. This has led to damaging of these electrical appliances and has
even cause a threat to human life since some appliances tend to burst.
After identifying our problem we next did a background research. This research was mainly
done to get a clear understanding on what type of product we are going to make and what
types of components are there in the market which can be used to make our product. This step
was a very important step as it made us interfere with the market and check on what is
available in the market and whether they were affordable. This even allowed us to get a rough
idea on the price of our product. Also when interfering with the market we realized analogue
timer multi-plugs were already there in the market which led us to use a digital timer instead
of an analogue timer. Then we realized microcontroller (Arduino) coding was necessary to
make a digital timer and that led us to find a way to get assistance on it as we were not very
capable at it.

Preliminary design
Design
The main objectives of our design is to provide a failsafe, cost efficient product that is easy to
use and can be purchased at a relatively low cost. This makes it available to almost everyone
in the general public, regardless of their social status. Moreover, the use of this product
should not require any technical knowledge and therefore can be used by individuals of all
ages.
Diagram
The LCD screen has 16 columns and 2 rows. This displays the time duration for which the
appliance has kept on. Once it is switched off the screen displays OFF. The LCD is
connected to the microcontroller (arduino). The microcontroller (arduino) is programmed to
show the time allocated on the screen. A relay is connected into pin 13 of the microcontroller
(arduino) where the control over the main current takes place.
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*********Sketch with dimension included**********

Design calculations
Performance estimates:

Weight of product 750 grams

Dimensions 11.5 cm *10cm * 6cm
Speed about 1 second delay
Operation time 3-4 years

Testing plan
The testing plan was carried out in a number of pre-planned steps. Almost all possible
scenarios were covered. Essentially the testing was done in three main categories.
1. Usual conditions
2. Unusual Conditions
3. Extreme Conditions

Usual Condition
This includes typical, everyday situations. This is the type that the product is most likely to
encounter once in use. For the product to be failsafe it should always produce the desired
result in these situations.
To test our product we connected it to a number of electrical appliances typically used in
homes. This included
1.
2.
3.
4.

A charging phone
Electric iron
Electric heater
Television

Each of these appliances was tested separately. Once it was connected to a particular
appliance. The result was noted down. It was then connected to another appliance. This
process was repeated for all the appliances.
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The desired result was achieved. It worked with all the appliances, turning them off after a
delay of about 1 second.
Unusual condition
These are situations which are not likely to happen in everyday use. These are situations in
which the boundaries of the performance estimates are tested. The outcome of such situations
cannot be predicted exactly.

Extreme condition
These are situations which are not possible. The device should not respond at these situations.
These circumstances would never arise in everyday life and the outcome should always be
the same, the device must not work.
Design implementation
The product was first implemented onto a charging phone. The device was connected onto
the circuit which drew power from the main line. When time was completed the relay in our
device disconnect by cutting off power for the charging phone.

Production schedule
Week 2

Buying LCD and connect it to the arduino

Run pre-stored test programs to ensure that the LCD is functioning properly.

Connect a relay to the arduino and do a few dry runs to ensure that the voltage
of the signal given out by the arduino is sufficient to operate the relay

Week 3

Week 4
15

Program the arduino to get the necessary outputs from the LCD

Design the PCB

Give the design for production

Connect everything onto the PCB

Test it on an appliance

Carry out the testing phase

Carry out the implementation phase

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Cost analysis
Our cost estimate and total budget

Cost of the Arduino board Rs:2000

Cost of the LCD Rs.450
Power Pack Rs.380
Multi-plug- Rs.60
Cost of production of a PCB Rs.100
Plastic casing -800

TOTAL: Rs. 3790

User manual

2
16

1 3

RES
ET

Buttons-side view

Parts Identification
1. Set button
2. UP of minutes,seconds and hourss
3. Down of minute, seconds and Hours
4. UP- increase time

5.
6.

Down decrease time

Reset- press UP- changing from hour to minute, on the right and DOWN -time
decreasing button together.

Circuit Diagram

Saftey instructions
Warning!When using mains-powered appliances, basic safety precautions, including the
following, should always be followed to reduce the risk of fire, elecrict shock, personal injury

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and meterial damage.

Read all this manual carefully before using the appliace.

The use of any accessory or attachment or the performance of any peration with this
appliance other than those recommended in this instruction manual may present a risk

of personal injury.
Retain this manual for future reference.

How to use the digital timer plug

1. Make sure that you havent plugged any electrical device to the appliance.
2. Plug the appliance into the main power supply.
3. Do the time settings as you want and plug the electrical device to the digital timer
plug.
4. Press the set button then it will run as the time you selected.
5. After all reset the time and unplug the device and the timer plug from main supply.

After Use

Switch off and remove the plug from the main supply before leaving the appliance.
When not in use, the appliance should be stored in a dry place. Children should not
have access to stored appliance.

Technical Data
Digital timer plug (DTP)
Voltage
Frequency
Rated Power

220-240V
50-60Hz
1450-1750W

Specify requirements

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Talking about the electronic side of our product first we decided on buying an analogue timer
and directly fixing it series with a multi-plug. As this idea was simple and is readily available
in the market we thought of making an analogue timer. While we were planning on making
an analogue timer we got the idea of making a digital timer too. When it came to the
electrical part first we dint have any problem as we just had to connect the multi-plug to an
analogue timer which was readily available in the market. But with the digital timer idea we
had to find a way to power up the microcontroller (arduino) board and the multi-plug, so we
thought of using two separate current connections one for the microcontroller (Arduino)
board and other for the multi-plug. At the same time we thought of using the same connetion
and split it between the two though it was a bit inconvenient since microcontroller (Arduino)
board needed only 9V whereas multi-plug needed 230V. Also to break the circuit after the
assigned time is gone we thought of using two relays but at the same time we found out that
there are relays of 230v to 5v and thought whether to use one relay of that instead of two.
Out of the many ideas we thought of we decided to use a digital timer in our product instead
of an analogue as analogue timer multi-plugs were already available in the market. Then we
decided to use a power pack and get the power supply to the microcontroller (arduino) board
and multi-plug from it without using to separate connections. Also we thought of using one
230v to 5v relay without using two separate relays.
After finalizing our ideas we started on making a product. We started off with making the
digital timer as it requires more time. First we did the circuit on a breadboard and later
transferred it on to a PCB. Then we moved on to making electrical circuit by connecting
components properly. Finally we made the plastic casing in such a way to fit everything into
it. This how we gradually developed and made the prototype.

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Finally we tested our prototype. We were able to change the time in the digital timer but there
was an issue with the set button and we could not the time. So we went back to redesigning
and found out that there was a problem in the programming of that button and started to fix
that.

Discussion
As mentioned previously due to reasons like feeling lazy to get up and go all the way up to to
the multi-plug just to switch it off when your involved in some other important work,
overcharging and overheating of electrical appliances simply because you couldnt switch it
off at the correct time and also being able to save money spent on electricity by switching off
electrical appliances during peak hours made us think of making which can give a clear
solution to all these mentioned problems which are existing in our day to day lives. Also
thinking in a broader way we realized this product we are going to make should also have the
potential of being useful to human irrespective of age and knowledge thus we realized this
product would be greatly helpful to the aged and disabled as well.
So when taking all these things into consideration we came to the idea of connecting a timer
in series combination to a multi-plug. For convenience of usage we decided to switch on to a
digital timer where the numbers are clearly visible rather than using an analogue timer which
is much harder to manipulate. By designing our product according to our idea we will get the
ability to set the time to a time of our choice and let the multi-plug to work for that assigned
time and cutting off the power after the time has reached. Thereby the objective of this report
is to get a clear understanding on the product we made, generally from the sides of using the
product properly, technical aspects of the product and the uses of the product.
When we sum up and go through the report as a whole it is evident that this report provides a
detailed analysis of the digital timer multi-plug we produced. Starting from the executive
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summary which explains overall purpose and performance of the product, we moved on to
the background which emphasizes on the literature of the materials used for the project. Then
we considered feasibility of the product by analyzing the cost of the components used for the
product thus costing the overall cost of the product. Also a user manual which illustrates the
ways to use our product in a proper manner. Finally we wrapped up the report stating
recommendations and discussion.
Talking about the performance of the product it is obvious that the whole purpose of this
project is to design a multi-plug which can be controlled by time. The LCD screen of the
multi-plug shows hours, minutes and seconds separately which provides us the ability of
setting the time in hours, minutes and even in seconds. The maximum number of hours to
which the multi-plug the multi-plug can be set in is 6 hours. Within this period of 6 hours the
timer can be set in to any time u prefer. Furthermore, there are five buttons to control the
timer of this multi-plug of which two are to increase or decrease the time, two other to change
time between hours, minutes and seconds and the fifth button to set the time. Once the time
of our choice has been set there will be a countdown starting from that set time till the time
arrives to 0. Immediately after this the current which was passing through the multi-plug
would stop serving the whole purpose of the digital timer multi-plug. Also this multi-plug can
be used over and over again like all the other basic multi-plugs since adding up an additional
digital timer circuit would not cause any damage to the product like overheating and also this
mluti-plug will have the capability of cutting off the power immediately after the time is over
and timer is turned off thus making the product more efficient and user friendly. Thus we can
conclude that this product which is the digital timer multi-plug is a product with a high level
of performance.
Finally we thought that discussing on the things we learnt and the new things we experienced
from this project is very important. Therefore first of all we should mention that none of us in
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our group members were very much keen on this electrical and electronic area but knowing
less about the field motivated us learn more. At the start of the project we thought of buying
and fixing a Analogue timer to the multi-plug but over the weeks we realized that is was
costly and that is was pointless which made us move on to making a timer and by doing that
we learnt a great deal about how to do microcontroller (Arduino) coding, about
microcontroller (Arduino) input and output voltages and how to connect microcontroller
(arduino) to the LCD screen. Basically all the knowledge we have about the Microcontroller
(Arduino) was as a result of this project we carried out. The way to make a PCB was also
learnt through this project since making a PCB which will fit to the plastic casing was a main
requirement for us. Talking about the electrical side, we learnt a great deal about the circuit.
One of the biggest problems we had was supplying power to the microcontroller (Arduino)
since using 9v battery was inefficient. Thereby it made us think more and come to the idea of
using a power pack with a 9v output and also using the 230v of the same power pack to the
multi-plug. For this purpose we had to solder the wires which led us to improve our skills on
soldering as well. We also learnt a great deal on many electrical and electronic components
like how they are used and why they are used.
Conclusion
Apart from the above mentioned subject matter learning, we were able to add more important
things which would help us not only today but in the future as well. One most important fact
was learning to work as a team without causing any internal problems and misunderstanding.
Also we learnt to take responsibility on the areas we were assigned to do. Another important
fact is, learning to handle pressure situations. We came across many situations like that
throughout the time of making the project but we worked as a group and systematically
sorted out all these problems. But, on the whole we would like mention that we added many

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things to our life and knowledge while enjoying every bit of our project that is the digital
timer multi-plug which we think will be greatly useful to the people in the society.

Reference

http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage
http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage
http://playground.arduino.cc/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Mind-Map
http://www.siliconfareast.com/ishikawa.htm

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