29-08-2017, 10:42 AM
The level of water in a dam needs to be maintained effectively to avoid complications. This is usually done manually, which requires full-time supervision by operators and has rather large staff complements. On the other hand, the amount of water released is almost never correct resulting in wastage of water and it is impossible for a man to accurately control the doors without knowledge of the exact water level and rate of water inflow. The main objective of this project is to develop a mechatronics-based system that will detect the water level and estimate the rate of water flow in a dam and thus automatically control the movement of the gates in real time, which offers Greater flexibility. This system consists of a set of sensors connected to a stepper motor through an 8-bit microcontroller. The water level and the inlet flow are detected based on the feedback of the sensors used. Based on these data, the level of the dam gate can be controlled automatically using a stepper motor.