RTC Based Automatic Street Light Using Arduino & LDR

RTC Based Automatic Street Light Using Arduino & LDR

In this project, we will learn how to design RTC Based Automatic Street Light Using Arduino & LDR. The concept of this project is based on a low consumption of energy. In this project, street lights turn on or off on the basis of day & night timing controlled by real-time clock module DS3231. The timing is set via programming to determine ON and OFF time. Similarly, LDR is used to detect the quantity of light and on that basis, the street Light intensity is controlled. The LDR Arduino works well here.

The main advantage of street lights is that they increase safety and prevent accidents and collisions. Generally, street lights are turned on during evening time and will continue to glow till morning. This might result in unnecessary usage of power as the lights will be glowing at full intensity all the time. But using the Auto Intensity Control of Street Lights, the intensity of light can be controlled on light conditions.

Components Required:

1. Arduino UNO Board
2. DS3231 RTC Module
3. LDR
4. 16*2 LCD Display
5. Push Button
6. 10K Resistor
7. LED – 3 to 5
8. Connecting wires
9. Breadboard

Circuit: RTC Based Automatic Street Light Using Arduino & LDR

First, connect the SDA and SCL pins of the DS3231 RTC Module to A4 (SDA) and A5 (SCL) pins of Arduino. A 10KΩ Resistor and an LDR are connected in a voltage divider format and its output is given to the A0 pin of Arduino.

The data pins of 16×2 LCD Module i.e. D4 – D7 are connected to 5, 4, 3 & 2 pins of Arduino respectively. The RS and E pins are connected to pins 12 and 11.

Working of the circuit:

The project RTC Based Automatic Street Light Using Arduino & LDR operates in two modes i.e. RTC Mode and LDR Mode. In RTC Mode, the street lights turn on automatically based on the ON Time set in the code and turn off based on the OFF Time. In the LDR Mode, the street lights have an intensity control based on the ambient light near the LDR.

After the code is uploaded the project runs in RTC Mode. There are two times set in the code, i.e. the ON TIME and the OFF TIME.

Arduino compares the ON TIME with the time from RTC Module and when they match, the LED is turned ON. After this, the Arduino waits for the OFF TIME and once the time from RTC Module reaches the OFF TIME, the LED is turned OFF.

But during any time of this operation, if the push button is pressed, the Arduino enters LDR Mode. In this mode, the Arduino reads the value of the LDR on the basis of the quantity of light falling on LDR, then it adjusts the intensity of the LED. In order to switch back to RTC Mode, you need to press the push-button again.

Source Code/Programs:

The code for RTC Based Automatic Street Light Using Arduino & LDR is given below. But before that upload the library for RTC. Download the library from here: DS3231 RTC Library