ABSTRACT

In most organizations, security tools are still far below acceptable levels of sophistication

since near-primitive tools are still being used to safeguard lives and property. This paper

presents a prototyped computer controlled security gate system. The system will be

interfaced for control purposes to the computer through the digital computer’s parallel

port. The developed system consists of improvised electromechanically controlled

barricades, a digital camera-based remote surveillance system, an interface circuit, and

control software written in Borland Delphi 6 Programming Language®. This simple but

yet power security system tagged “automatic computer controlled gate with camera”

if properly designed, will go a long way to improving our security systems.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Automatic Computer Controlled Gate with Camera (ACCGC) is the systematic usage of a

stored program digital computer to control Industrial and domestic processes. This

programmable form of automation involves the integration of a digital computer and

associated chips, like programmable logic chips (PLC), and other analog and digital

integrated circuits to design the products, plan the production, and control operations

needed in manufacturing the products. Merits accruable to this type of implementation

include better working conditions for the workers, since there is less direct physical

participation in the production process or possible area of application, increased

productivity, and flexibility to deal with any changes, including waste reduction and

improved quality control. Some possible demerits include acceleration in the rates of

unemployment due to reduction in labor force, high initial costs, and increased

dependence on maintenance. The digital programmability, flexibility, and processing

power offered by digital computers make them applicable in numerous applications

especially as intelligent controllers in different domestic and industrial applications.

Security gate automation is a process designed to extend the capacity of machines to

perform certain tasks formerly done by humans, and to control sequences of operations

with minimal human intervention. Various technologies used in this way range from the

more obvious closed circuit television cameras (CCTV), tape recorders, listening (audio)

devices, and devices designed to record computer key strokes.

This paper presents a “computer controlled gate with camera” system that will allow

security personnel to monitor, control, and organize the security operations in conjunction

with electromechanical devices and a control program based on a set of specified security

considerations in public places for reasons of protection, safety, and detection of crime.

Security personnel will be able to remotely detect the presence of automobile at the gate

and carry out the visual check of the automobile’s front or back boot and plate number

using appropriately placed moveable digital camera(s). The security personnel can then

decide to either open or close improvised electromechanical-based entrance path of the

security gatepost, through the system interface unit directly from the PC.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE

In 1956 Robert Adler developed "Zenith Space Command", a wireless controller. It was

mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed

a button on the controller, it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term "clicker". Each bar

emitted a different frequency and circuits in the television detected this noise. The

invention of the transistor made possible cheaper electronic controllers that contained a

piezoelectric crystal that was fed by an oscillating electric current at a frequency near or

above the upper threshold of human hearing, though still audible to dogs. The receiver

contained a microphone attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency. Some

problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by

naturally occurring noises, and some people, especially young women, could hear the

piercing ultrasonic signals. There was even a noted incident in which a toy xylophone

changed the channels on these types of TVs since some of the overtones from the

xylophone matched the controller's ultrasonic frequency.

The impetus for a more complex type of television controller control came in the late

1970s with the development of the Ceefax teletext service by the BBC. Most commercial

controller controls at that time had a limited number of functions, sometimes as few as

three: next channel, previous channel, and volume/off. This type of control did not meet

the needs of teletext sets where pages were identified with three-digit numbers. A

controller to select teletext pages would need buttons for each number from zero to nine,

as well as other control functions, such as switching from text to picture, and the normal

television controls of volume, station, brightness, colour intensity and so on. Early teletext

sets used wired controller controls to select pages but the continuous use of the controller

control required for teletext quickly indicated the need for a wireless device. So BBC

engineers began talks with one or two television manufacturers which led to early

prototypes in around 1977-78 that could control a much larger number of functions. ITT

was one of the companies and later gave its name to the ITT protocol of infrared

communication.

In the 1950s controllers were extra upgrades options to TV sets. As previously mentioned,

Zenith was ready to change the lives of "lazy" people for good. The initial purpose to the

TV controller was to turn off the TV set from afar, and to change the channels or mute

commercials. People were told that the controller could turn off the TV while they were

still laying in their La-Z-Boy and thus could drift off to sleep without interruption. A

common complaint was that people tripped on the cable that was attached to the first

controllers. It was not until 1955 that Zenith created the “Flash-matic” or their first

wireless controller. While it helped keep the flow of traffic without tripping people along

the way, the “Flash-matic” was not flawless.

Today, this controller is made to control almost all electrical/electronic devices including

the electric gate. Going through the review above, the controls were fully without a

computer serving as the master controller. Here, in this seminar, a different approach is

presented with a view to upgrade the remote control feature of wireless controls.

SCOPE

The basics of a computer controlled automatic gate with camera system and a CCTV

system are almost similar. This system contains several cameras connected to a computer.

The cameras captured images at very intervals and send it to the computer for further

processing. Here the computer is the master controller that oversees the functions of the

gate like; opening/closing the gate as at when due.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH AND DESIGN METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHOD

Basically, research on this project was done both on the internet and on various

Electrical/Electronic textbooks. Finally, we arrived at designing the of a microcontroller

based water. The circuit was built around discrete electronics components including

resistors, capacitors, transistors and as the microcontroller as the core.

COMPONENTS DESCRIPTION

1. Resistors

Resistors are the most commonly used component in electronics and their purpose is to create specified values of current and voltage in a circuit. A number of different resistors are shown in the photos. (The resistors are on millimeter paper, with 1cm spacing to give some idea of the dimensions).  Photo 1.1a shows some low-power resistors, whilephoto 1.1b shows some higher-power resistors. Resistors with power dissipation below 5 watt (most commonly used types) are cylindrical in shape, with a wire protruding from each end for connecting to a circuit (photo 1.1-a). Resistors with power dissipation above 5 watt are shown below (photo 1.1-b).

The symbol for a resistor is shown in the following diagram (upper: American symbol, lower: European symbol.)

Fig. 1.2a: Resistor symbols

The unit for measuring resistance is the OHM. (the Greek letter Ω - called Omega). Higher resistance values are represented by "k" (kilo-ohms) and M (meg ohms). For example, 120 000 Ω is represented as 120k, while 1 200 000 Ω is represented as 1M2. The dot is generally omitted as it can easily be lost in the printing process. In some circuit diagrams, a value such as 8 or 120 represents a resistance in ohms. Another common practice is to use the letter E for resistance in ohms. The letter R can also be used. For example, 120E (120R) stands for 120 Ω, 1E2 stands for 1R2 etc.

2. Capacitors

Capacitors are common components of electronic circuits, used almost as frequently as resistors. The basic difference between the two is the fact that capacitor resistance (called reactance) depends on the frequency of the signal passing through the item. The symbol for reactance is Xc and it can be calculated using the following formula:

f representing the frequency in Hz and C representing the capacitance in Farads.

For example, 5nF-capacitor's reactance at f=125kHz equals:

while, at f=1.25MHz, it equals:

A capacitor has an infinitely high reactance for direct current, because f=0.

Capacitors are used in circuits for many different purposes. They are common components of filters, oscillators, power supplies, amplifiers, etc.

The basic characteristic of a capacitor is its capacity -  the higher the capacity, the higher is the amount of electricity it  can hold. Capacity is measured in Farads (F). As one Farad represents fairly high capacity, smaller values such as microfarad (µF), nanofarad (nF) and picofarad (pF) are commonly used. As a reminder, relations between units are:

1F=106µF=109nF=1012pF,

that is 1µF=1000nF and 1nF=1000pF. It is essential to remember this notation, as same values may be marked differently in some circuits. For example, 1500pF is the same as 1.5nF, 100nF is 0.1µF. A simpler notation system is used as with resistors. If the mark on the capacitor is 120 the value is 120pF, 1n2 stands for 1.2nF, n22 stands for 0.22nF, while .1µ (or .1u) stands for 0.1µF.

Capacitors come in various shapes and sizes, depending on their capacity, working voltage, type of insulation, temperature coefficient and other factors. All capacitors can divided in two groups: those with changeable capacity values and those with fixed capacity values. These will covered in the following chapters.

4. Transistors

Transistors are active components and are found everywhere in electronic circuits. They are used as amplifiers and switching devices. As amplifiers, they are used in high and low frequency stages, oscillators, modulators, detectors and in any circuit needing to perform a function. In digital circuits they are used as switches. 

There is a large number of manufacturers around the world who produce semiconductors (transistors are members of this family of components), so there are literally thousands of different types. There are low, medium and high power transistors, for working with high and low frequencies, for working with very high current and/or high voltages. Several different transistors are shown on 4.1.

The most common type of transistor is called bipolar and these are divided into NPN and PNP types.Their construction-material is most commonly silicon (their marking has the letter B) or germanium (their marking has the letter A). Original transistor were made from germanium, but they were very temperature-sensitive. Silicon transistors are much more temperature-tolerant and much cheaper to manufacture.

DIODE

This is an electronic device that allows the passage of current in only one direction. The

first such devices were vacuum-tube diodes, consisting of an evacuated glass or steel

envelope containing two electrodes—a cathode and an anode. Because electrons can flow

in only one direction, from cathode to anode, the vacuum-tube diode could be used as a

rectifier. The diodes most commonly used in electronic circuits today are semiconductor

diodes. The simplest of these, the germanium point-contact diode, dates from the early

days of radio, when the received radio signal was detected by means of a germanium

crystal and a fine, pointed wire that rested on it. In modern germanium (or silicon) point-

contact diodes, the wire and a tiny crystal plate are mounted inside a small glass tube and

connected to two wires that are fused into the ends of the tube.

This is called a BRIDGE or BRIDGE RECTIFIER. Examples of a bridge are shown in the diagram below:

You must be able to identify each of the 4 leads on a bridge so that it can be inserted into a circuit around the correct way. The surface-mount device above is identified by a cut @ 45° along one side.  The leaded bridge has one leg longer than the others and the top is

marked with AC marks and "+." The high-current bridge has a corner cut off and the other surface-mount device has a cut or notch at one end.

These devices are added to a circuit as shown in the next diagram:

The 4 diodes face the same direction and this means a single diode can be shown on the circuit diagram:

Symbols in 5.2 show a number of diodes. There are a number of specially-designed diodes: for high current, high-speed, low voltage-drop, light-detection, and varying capacitance as the voltage is altered. Most diodes are made from silicon as it will withstand high temperature, however germanium is used if a low voltage-drop is required. There is also a light emitting diode called a LED, but this is a completely different type of diode.

Fig. 5.2: Diode symbols: a - standard diode, b - LED, c, d - Zener, e - photo, f,g - tunnel, h - Schottky, i - breakdown, 

j - capacitative

LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are constructed from a crystalline substance that emits light when a current flows through it. Depending on the crystalline material: red, yellow,

green, blue or orange light is produced. The photo below shows some of the colours hat can be produced by LEDs:

BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION

MICROCONTROLLER UNIT (MCU)

The AT89S52 is a low-power, high-performance CMOS 8-bit microcontroller with 8K

bytes of in-system programmable Flash memory. The device is manufactured using

Atmel’s high-density nonvolatile memory technology and is compatible with the industry-

standard 80C51 instruction set and pin out. The on-chip Flash allows the program

memory to be reprogrammed in-system or by a conventional nonvolatile memory

programmer. By combining a versatile 8-bit CPU with in-system programmable Flash on

a monolithic chip, the Atmel AT89S52 is a powerful microcontroller which provides a

highly-flexible and cost-effective solution to many embedded control applications. The

AT89S52 provides the following standard features: 8K bytes of Flash, 256 bytes of RAM,

32 I/O lines, Watchdog timer, two data pointers, three 16-bit timer/counters, a six-vector

two-level interrupt architecture, a full duplex serial port, on-chip oscillator, and clock

circuitry.

In this design the microcontroller forms the core of the system, meaning that all

mathematical and logical operation of the system is executed from within it.

POWER SUPPLY UNIT

the power supply ection is built around a conventional components and also run directly

from a 6VDC that is stabilised down to 5VDC for proper operation of the microcontroller.

Below is the power supply circuit when running from the utility supply.

As seen on the above figure, in order to enable microcontroller to operate properly it is

necessary to provide:

Obviously, all this is about very simple circuits, but it does not have to be always like

that. If device is used for handling expensive machines or for maintaining vital functions,

everything becomes more and more complicated! This kind of solution is quite enough

for the time being. The circuit, shown on the figure above, uses cheap voltage stabilisator

LM7805 and provides high-quality voltage level and quite enough current to enable

microcontroller and “peripheral electronics” to operate (sufficient current in this case

amounts to 1A)!

METHODOLOGY

In any given design there must be a set rules and regulation guiding it, in view of this our

project “microcomputer based programmable water heater” is not a left out. Our design

was triggered off by first; trying to figure out how the project can be actualized, getting

the desired clue, surfing online to gather more “Intel”, and behold the Ideal was achieved.

Below are some of the steps taken during the hardware development of this project;

Block Diagram Design

A rough sketch on how the project would look like was first drawn, detailing all the

components blocks that would make-up the complete system. Once drawn and checked

for consistency we proceeded to the second phase.

Schematic Design

Schematic design poses one of the most difficult constraints in the design of this project

because here for sure, we are dealing with discrete components that have one common

goal “speak the language of electronics effectively” this simply means that all sections of

the system should work in harmony with little deviation from the target.

Soldering

Soldering is the process of a making a sound electrical and mechanical joint between

certain metals by joining them with a soft solder. This is a low temperature melting point

alloy of lead and tin. The joint is heated to the correct temperature by soldering iron. For

most electronic work miniature mains powered soldering irons are used. These consist of

a handle onto which is mounted the heating element. On the end of the heating element is

what is known as the "bit", so called because it is the bit that heats the joint up. Solder

melts at around 190 degrees Centigrade, and the bit reaches a temperature of over 250

degrees Centigrade. This temperature is pretty hot enough to inflict a nasty burn,

consequently care should be taken.

Good soldering is a skill that is learnt by practice. The most important point in soldering

is that both parts of the joint to be made must be at the same temperature. The solder will

flow evenly and make a good electrical and mechanical joint only if both parts of the joint

are at an equal temperature. Even though it appears that there is a metal to metal contact

in a joint to be made, very often there exists a film of oxide on the surface that insulates

the two parts. For this reason it is no good applying the soldering iron tip to one half of

the joint only and expecting this to heat the other half of the joint as well.

TESTING THE CIRCUIT

After the construction, the circuit was properly analyzed and short circuit and open

circuits were all corrected, the circuit is then powered.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

All microcontroller embedded system runs on an internal firmware burnt into the chip or

outside the chip in a ROM. Our design uses the ever familiar MCU “microcontroller unit”

from Atmel semiconductors owing to the fact that its brand of MCU has a wider data I/O

lines for the job.

The firmware “program” was written in assembly language and compiled using the

ASEMW brand of macro cross-assembler to finally get the machine executable file.

Once the exec file is gotten, we downloaded it into the MCU internal flash memory

from where it is to be executed using a gadget called a “Programmer”.

Programmers are device used to get the executable file that resides in the computer

down to the microcontroller for final execution of the program.

CHAPTER FOUR

Introduction

There is nothing more dreadful than having to climb out of your car in the evening after a

long day at work to open your security gate. With a computer controlled automatic gate,

you can stay snugly inside your car until you get inside. The following morning, instead

of having to open the door, drive the car out, get out and close the door, and then crawl

back into the car, you simply click the button! In addition to an abundance of

convenience, this scheme provides safety. 

Computer-Controlled Systems

Computer-controlled systems use an electronic module located directly above the security

gate (instead of a motor in the middle of the gate) to control the action. When it receives a

signal, the module evaluates the position of the door then activates motors on the door

itself to perform the necessary action. The block diagram below shows a simplified

system assembly of this scheme.

Fig 3.0 Block diagram of a computer controlled automatic gate with camera

THE SYSTEM DESIGN

The system design is premised along monitoring, controlling, and organizing the manual

based entrance and exit security gates operations to an automatic one using digital

computer’s hardware and software control mechanisms with improvised

electromechanical systems that consists of a movable barricade and spiked barricade. This

system aims to control high voltage, high current, electromechanical devices and to

acquire video images with a digital camera. The input to the computer will consist of

sensors that signify presence and absence of automobile. The output of the computer will

be used to activate and deactivate the electromechanical devices introduced to the

entrance and exit security gates. In a bid to achieve these, five questions had to be

answered:

How will the presence or absence of an automobile be detected by the digital

computer?

How will the output of a digital computer be made compatible to drive the high

voltage/ current of the system?

How will the automobile be forced to allow the desired remote security

checkup(s)?

How will the camera be conveyed to the desired location (vertical and horizontal

movements) to give remote visual content of the vehicle’s boot?

What condition(s) or action(s) constitute the required security checks at the gate?

For the sensing control circuit, a simple photo-resistor will be used to detect the presence

and absence of an automobile on the developed entrance and exit security gates. The

74Ls04 Hex inverter/buffer integrated circuit chip is recommended to isolate electrically

the PC from the high current/voltage of the control circuit. The PC, will thus, impart the

desired intelligence onto the control circuit made up of direct current motor control

circuits for both reverse (open) and forward (close) movements using the saturation and

cut-off operation of C1815 fast-switching NPN transistors. The control circuit will

controls a DC motor.

THE SYSTEM CONTROL PROGRAM

The system control program directs the constructed electromechanical devices of the

entrance and exit security gates via the overall system interface unit. The software will be

developed with Microsoft Visual Basic .The software could perform the following

functional objectives:

Sensing the presence or absence of an automobile.

Directing the motorized camera subsystem to move in X-Y plane as the case may

be to locate the contents of an automobile boot based on the command from the

supervisor at the security centre.

Scan the content of an automobile boot and display the video image on a visual

display unit.

Open and Closes the motorized barricade on the road based on the result of scanned

automobile boot content based on the command from the supervisor at the security

centre.

Take a log of automobiles passing for any desired period.

THE SYSTEM OPERATION

The overview of the system operation is shown in Figure 3.0. The digital signal flowing

into the computer will enable the authorized security personnel at the security center to

know the presence of an automobile, control the motorized camera subsystem to move in

X-Y directions (as the case may be) in order to have a remote surveillance of the

automobile’s boot, plate number, and driver’s face. The system is rigged-up such that the

control of the motorized system for opening is engaged during a precise period for an

automobile to move out of the gate so that the exit sensor retriggers the gate drive back to

their previous states. By using this closed loop control, the desired flexible and cost

effective remote surveillance security system will achieved.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION

This paper has successfully presented a functional, low cost computer controlled security

system that controls and monitors some of the operations at typical security gateposts.

Implementation of the surveillance system through the camera mounted on the DC

motorized-camera system helps to incorporate the intelligence of the human eye within

the system. A real-life equivalent of the prototype can be developed with minimal

development costs and with relatively low operational costs as compared to the present

manual operations for such check-points.

RECOMMENDATION

Electric gates alone, however solid and imposing they may be, cannot guarantee a totally

secure environment. Electric gates are recommended to be used in combination with other

security features to install a full security system.

Aside from the additional security features that should go with parking barrier gates,

electric security gates often offer safety features like sensors that determine when there is

an obstruction to prevent the electronic gate from swinging into a vehicle or closing on

somebody's hands. To prevent the electronic gates from being damaged by irresponsible

drivers driving fast speed bumps are also commonly placed before gate entrances to slow

down vehicles.

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