Microcontroller-based Security System for an Industrial Complex: Design, Fabrication and Testing

Aims: The necessity by man to protect his life, investment and property has called for security which is essential in maintaining law and order in a society. Study Design: For effective realization of these goals, the security system must be able to incorporate different functions and monitor several activities instantaneously in real time. These activities include access, motion detection, fire hazard, plant production control etc. Methodology: In this study, the concept of real time central monitoring security systems was adopted with emphasis on industrial security. The industrial complex needs to have a way of authenticating individuals requesting access to the complex as well as reactively responding to intruder attempts. To achieve these, a simple hardware data acquisition unit based on a microcontroller was designed. With the microcontroller, many sub systems (access, intrusion, motion detection, surveillance) were integrated into one module and monitored continuously. A central monitoring unit was also implemented using a PC. The software for analysis and display of the data was designed using an object oriented approach and is GUI based for easier monitoring. When tested, the GUI provides graphic display of the trends from the sensor device. The data from the hardware unit was connected to the PC via the parallel port interface. Results: The designed and fabricated microcontroller-based security system performed effectively for the industrial complex with no reported issue or failure. Conclusion: Microcontroller-based security system is an effective tool for the industrial complex.