Development of SMS Initiated Start Stop and Changeover System for Choke Operated Gasoline Generators

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Abstract

Small-sized gasoline generators over the years have been the reliable source of electrical energy especially in Nigeria. The normal procedure to start the power generating set is to adjust the choke and pull the crank to start. Newer versions of the generating sets are now equipped with key start and remote start systems. However, these starting methods have constraints of having to contact the generator and distance of the infrared remote control. This experiment is carried out to achieve contactless operations of starting and stopping the generator as well as switching the power source from national grid to generator for supply to the load using the SMS integrated mechatronics module. This embedded module, designed, and constructed is also capable of pulling and returning the choke during the starting operation. The automatic SMS module was tested for performance and functionality. It was observed that sending the GENSTART and GENSTOP codes initiated the SMS module to start and stop the generator automatically. It also automatically switched to the power source to supply the load. However, an issue detected with the development was the time taken for the SMS code to be delivered to the SMS module which is a factor of network strength and latency based on the network provider, location and bandwidth which are relative to the systems reliability. The overall functionality of the experiment is measure at 0.95 appending the integration with existing system.

Keywords: Mechatronics, SMS Start-Stop, Embedded System, Automatic Changeover, Gasoline Generators

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