Automatic Security Light Control System Using Real Time Clock

The energy consumption of manually operated security lights is high, wasting money since the operator cannot be precise when turning on/off the system.Insufficient lighting in the environment at night encourages criminal activity and makes the environment unsafe for people.There is a need for a system that saves energy while ensuring safety by providing constant lighting in the environment at the required time.In this work, a microcontroller, a relay, and a DS1307 Serial Real Time Clock (RTC) were utilized to develop a system that allows a user to set the on/off time for the security lighting system.The power section comprises of a stepped-down and rectified mains backed up by a lithium-ion battery.The RTC, basically set to work on a 24-hour clock, was utilized to provide the user the opportunity to set a specific on/off time.The PIC16F877A Microcontroller programmed using MikroC language serves as the heart of the design.It monitors the time status of the RTC in real time to determine when to energize the switching circuit to turn on or off the AC lamps.Three tests were performed to validate the system's functionality using different time intervals between real time, ON time and OFF time, and these yielded the desired and accurate results.The AC lamps connected were automatically turned on an off during the tests.An automatic control circuit switching was implemented which was extremely efficient, consumed minimal energy and has low maintenance cost.