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A multi-channel temperature and humidity measurement system based on a

micro-controller

Research in OPTOELECTRONICS AND ADVANCED MATERIALS-RAPID COMMUNICATIONS · April 2016

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OPTOELECTRONICS AND ADVANCED MATERIALS – RAPID COMMUNICATIONS Vol. 10, Iss. 1 - 2, January - February 2016, p. 55 - 58

A multi-channel temperature and humidity measurement

system based on a micro-controller
MEHMET UCKUNa, SERHAT KUCUKDERMENCIb,*, HAKAN KOCKARc
a
Research Centre of Applied Sciences, Balikesir University, 10145, Balikesir, Turkey
b
Electrical-Electronics Engineering Department, Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Balikesir University, 10145
Balikesir, Turkey
c
Physics Department, Science and Literature Faculty, Balikesir University, 10145 Balikesir, Turkey

In recent years, microcontrollers are devices used widely for measuring physical quantities, processing measured values
and controlling systems. Their specifications like conversion into embedded systems, quite convenient price-performance
relationship and repeatable programming ability make these devices candidate for many applications. This study mainly
differs from analog measurement tools since the temperature and humidity can be reliably measured from five different
locations simultaneously with real-time specifications. This multi-channel system can be used specifically in places such as
agricultural fields, greenhouse, server rooms etc. where different environmental conditions from apart locations need to be
measured and controlled. This system can also be used for other purposes since it is open for further studies.

(Received November 21, 2014; accepted February 10, 2016)

Keywords: Microcontroller, Multi-Channel Numerical Control, Temperature and Humidity Sensors

1. Introduction collectors are connected to a host control machine through

RS-485 communication network. The host control
Temperature and humidity are associated physical machine communicates and exchanges data with the
quantities. Temperature refers to a situation which is central PC machine using General Packet Radio Service
proportional to the kinetic energy of atoms. And, mercury (GPRS) connection. But this system cannot measure any
or alcohol thermometers are often used in everyday life for humidity data of the environment.
temperature measurement. On the other hand, humidity is In this paper it is shown that measuring both
proportional to water vapor in the atmosphere. And temperature and humidity can be simultaneously done by
moisture in the air is measured with a tool called the developed multi-channel system based on a
hygrometer. These tools give measurements which are microcontroller and also pc connection is available.
improper for the automated environmental control
systems. 2. Method

It is well-known that the water vapor is always present Firstly, Proteus simulation software (developed by
in the atmosphere due to evaporation of water at any Labcenter Electronics) demo version was used for circuit
temperature. Since the temperature and humidity are simulation. Proteus is a good simulation software for
related to each other, these two physical quantities are various designs with microcontroller. It is mainly popular
required to be within the limits in some environments for because of availability of almost all microcontrollers in it.
temperature-humidity sensitive situations. Wellem et al. So it is a handy tool to test programs and embedded
[1] designed and implemented a microcontroller-based designs. ISIS part of Proteus is a module used for circuit
computer server room temperature monitoring system design and simulations. Printed Circuit Board (PCB)
using Atmel ATmega8535 microcontroller and National design can be made with ARES module in Proteus. VSM
Semiconductor's LM35 temperature sensor. But this (Virtual System Modeling) is embedded software in
system has no ability to measure humidity, it has single Proteus with popular microcontrollers and hardware
channel property and there is no computer connection. Zhu design [3].
and Bai [2] proposed a system for monitoring the PIC Basic Pro (developed by Micro Engineering
temperature of electric cable interface in power Labs) compiler was used for writing codes for the
transmission based on Atmel AT89C51 microcontroller. microcontroller [4]. The program was loaded into memory
The system consists of a central PC machine, host control of Peripheral Interface Controller (PIC) by using
machines and temperature collectors. Several temperature Micropro26 loader [5].
56 Mehmet Uckun, Serhat Kucukdermenci, Hakan Kockar

The system is designed for measuring temperature and 3. Circuit components

humidity at five different measurement points and each
point was selected sequentially by the microcontroller. Sensor named SHT11 (from Sensirion Company) is in
Block diagram of temperature and humidity measurement CMOS structure. It is used for detecting temperature and
system is given in Fig. 1. humidity digitally and simultaneously. It has pins for
power supply, data flow and clock input as shown in Fig. 3
[6].

Fig. 1. Block diagram of temperature and humidity Fig. 3. Pin configuration of SHT11.
measurement unit.
The PIC 16F628 from PIC family was selected for its
low cost and high degree of integration [7]. Raw data from
4066 integrated circuit (IC) was utilized to control
each sensor can be an input for the 16F628
each sensor and 4017 IC was used to control the 4066 IC.
microcontroller. When control pin of the 4066 is set high,
The 4066 IC contains four analogue bilateral switches and
one sensor measures one location data successfully. This
each of them has an active-high enable input (A) and two operation is applied all switches sequentially in the
input/outputs (X and Y). When the enable input is set high, sequence of 0.1 second so that the measurements were
the X and Y terminals are connected by low impedance; done almost simultaneously. All measurement readings are
this is the “on” condition. When the enable is low, there is done when one process cycle is completed for all sensors.
a high impedance path between the X and Y, and the For the next step, reading process ensures the continuous
switch is “off” condition. The 4017 IC is 16 pinned measurement of all sensors in this way. Schematic of the
sequential counters which includes 5-stage Johnson decade application circuit created by ISIS is given in Fig. 4.
counter. Their pin configurations are given in Fig. 2.

a) 4066 b) 4017

Fig. 2. Pin configurations of IC’s. Fig. 4. Schematic working diagram of temperature and
humidity multi-channel system based on a
microcontroller.
 A multi-channel temperature and humidity measurement system based on a micro-controller 57

4. Programming but also to the RS232 (serial communication port). The

“RA2 port” on the 16F628 microcontroller is connected to
An algorithm was developed in accordance with the the second pin (receive data) on the RS232 port. Reading
designed system. Then the program was written using pic- data from the computer can be done in standard 8N1 for-
basic-pro command system. Hexadecimal (HEX) source mat. The schematic view of a typical RS232 communica-
file was produced from the program file. This file was tion port is given in Fig. 5 [11].
loaded to the 16F628 microcontroller by Micropro26 load-
er. Raw digital data of temperature and humidity associat-
ed with the binary code was generated in the 16F628 pro-
gram algorithm. This raw data was converted into real
digital value by calculation and then sent to the liquid
crystal display (LCD) screen and personal computer using
appropriate commands [8].
The 4017 IC starts counting the clock signal received
from the 16F628 IC. Each of the counter outputs is set
high when the others are low [9].
LCD screen with 2x16 character format was used in
the circuit. The appropriate information about
measurements appeared on LCD while simulation.

5. Reading data and calculations

First of all, at least nine clock signals from clock input

is sent to delete the data from a previous reading when the
data pin is high. In addition, "start protocol” should be sent
to start readings. To do this, the data pin is set to low when Fig. 5. View of a typical RS232 communication port.
the clock input level is high. Then, the clock signal is sent
one more time and the data pin is set to low when the
clock input level is high. After this starting protocol, the 5.3. Implementation
command related to the temperature and humidity is sent
to the sensor. This process is repeated for each sensor. The multi-channel system based on a microcontroller
was run with simulation program then all circuit devices
5.1. Temperature reading process were transferred on project board to verify that everything
works fine. At last, system elements were mounted on
(i) sending 000 address code, printed circuit board (PCB) which was created with
(ii) sending 00011 temperature measuring code, ARES.
(iii) waiting till the level of the data pin is low, While implementation of the system by using real
(iv) sending the clock signal and reading 14 bits value. hardware components, there was no technical difficulty we
encountered. After tests which we made in laboratory, the
After these steps, the actual digital value can be experiment results showed that our system works success-
calculated in the program by substituting raw digital value fully as expected. The system showed temperature and
“A” in the following equation [10]: humidity data correctly on LCD screen.

Temperature (°C) = 0.01*A – 40 (1)

6. Conclusions
5.2. Humidity reading process
This study presents an example of temperature and
(i) sending 000 address code, humidity measurement multi-channel system by using
(ii) sending 00101 temperature measuring code, sequential sensors. For each sensor, designed system can
(iii) waiting till the level of the data pin is low, measure the temperature and humidity of the medium
(iv) sending the clock signal and reading 12 bits value. simultaneously from five different locations. The digital
data obtained from each sensor can be kept on a
After these steps, the actual digital value can be microcontroller for a while and evaluated independently
calculated by substituting raw digital value “B” in the from the computer and then sent and used for control
following equation [10]: purposes of other connected systems. Alternatively, data
can also be sent to the computer for other types of usages.
rH (%) =28*10 -7 *B2 - 0.0405*B + 4 (2) Structure of the system is properly designed for situations
where technological control applications are needed such
The digital values calculated by running the program. as agriculture, greenhouse etc. Additionally, this system
And data sent simultaneously not only to the LCD screen can be used for other purposes since it is open for further
studies.
58 Mehmet Uckun, Serhat Kucukdermenci, Hakan Kockar

References [7] T. Wilmshurst, in: Designing Embedded Systems

with PIC Microcontrollers: Principles and
[1] T. Wellem, B. Setiawan, International Journal of Applications (2nd ed.), Newnes, Oxford, p. 10, 2009.
Computer Applications (0975 – 8887), 53(1), (2012). [8] J. Iovine, in: PIC Robotics: A Beginner’s Guide to
[2] HongLi Zhu, LiYuan Bai, ITIME, 1, 316 (2009). Robotics Projects Using the PICmicro, Newnes,
[3] M. Bates, in: PIC Microcontrollers an Introduction to Oxford, p. 3, 2004.
Microelectronics (3rd ed.), Newnes, Boston, p. 62, [9] D. Ross, C. Shamieh, G. McComb, in: Electronics
2011. for Dummies, Wiley, West Sussex, p. 160, 2010.
[4] D. Ibrahim, in: PIC Basic Projects, Newnes, Boston, [10] M. Zhu, in: Elec. Eng. and Control, 2, Springer,
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[5] http://www.altaskitap.com/DOSYA- INDIR, DP- [11] J. Iovine, in: PIC Projects for Non-Programmers,
11.html (20.11.2014). Newnes, Oxford; p. 151, 2004.
[6] K. Iniewski, I. Nikolaidis, in: Buildıing Sensor
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