Digital Tachnometer And Revolution Counter For Car Engine.

(1)

DIGITAL TACHOMETER AND REVOLUTION COUNTER FOR CAR ENGINE

MUHAMMAD FARID BIN SAMSURY

This report is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Electronic Engineering (Computer Engineering) With Honours

Faculty of Electronic and Computer Engineering Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka


(2)

ii

UNIVERSTI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN ELEKTRONIK DAN KEJURUTERAAN KOMPUTER

BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS LAPORAN PROJEK SARJANA MUDA II

Tajuk

Projek :

DIGITAL TACHOMETER AND REVOLUTION COUNTER FOR CAR ENGINE

Sesi

Pengajian : 2008/2009

Saya MUHAMMAD FARID BIN SAMSURY (HURUF BESAR)

mengaku membenarkan Laporan Projek Sarjana Muda ini disimpan di Perpustakaan dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut:

1. Laporan adalah hakmilik Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka.

2. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan untuk tujuan pengajian sahaja.

3. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan laporan ini sebagai bahan pertukaran antara institusi pengajian tinggi.

4. Sila tandakan ( √ ) :

SULIT*

(Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau kepentingan Malaysia seperti yang termaktub di dalam AKTA RAHSIA RASMI 1972)

TERHAD* (Mengandungi maklumat terhad yang telah ditentukan oleh organisasi/badan di mana penyelidikan dijalankan)

TIDAK TERHAD

Disahkan oleh:

__________________________ ___________________________________

(TANDATANGAN PENULIS) (COP DAN TANDATANGAN

PENYELIA)

Alamat Tetap: Lot 583, Jalan Semabok Dalam,

Semabok, 75050,

Melaka.


(3)

iii

“I hereby declare that this report is the result of my own work except for quotes as cited in the references.”

Signature : ……… Author : MUHAMMAD FARID BIN SAMSURY Date : ………..


(4)

iv

“I hereby declare that I have read this report and in my opinion this report is sufficient in terms of the scope and quality for the award of Bachelor of Electronic Engineering

(Computer Engineering) With Honours.”

Signature : ……….. Supervisor’s Name :


(5)

v

Specially dedicated to my beloved family especially my parents and family members. Last but not least, to my supervisor, my friends and all the UTeM lecturers.


(6)

vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all that have been contributed especially to my supervisor Professor Madya Dr. Ahmad Jamal Bin Salim for his supervision and guidance. Then, I want to express my special thank to all the FKEKK staff, PSM committee for their time, patience and professionalism. Beside that, my appreciation goes to my beloved parents and to all my extended family because of their full support, inspiration and encouragement in doing this project. Without their support, this project may have not come to fruition. There are other thank, namely those with whom I did not pleasure of interacting personally, but whose contributions are extremely valuable, nevertheless.


(7)

vii

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, the usage of digital tachometer is rare and revolution counter is non existent due to the fact that these electronic devices are quite expensive in the market. A digital tachometer and revolution counter will be displaying digitally the revolution per minute and total number of engine revolution of a car’s engine on the liquid crystal display. The digitally displays are more accurate and precise compared to analogue. A tachometer is a device that measures the rotation speed of a shaft in a car’s engine. A revolution counter concept is similar to an odometer where the revolution counter measures the rotation of crankshaft coverage while the odometer measures the distance coverage. The main objective of this project is to design and develop a low cost digital tachometer and revolution counter by using Microchip PIC microcontroller. A car maintenance schedule base on the total number of engine revolution will be proposed in this project as a reference for the driver to do his car maintenance. There are four phases of methodology to complete this project which are literature review, PIC source code development, hardware development and thesis writing. The expected result of this project is that, the circuit will be able to measure and display the revolution per minute readings and total number of engine revolution digitally on the liquid crystal display. Hopefully, this project can be implemented in our national automotive industry.


(8)

viii

ABSTRAK

Pada masa kini, penggunaan takometer digit amat terbatas dan pembilang putaran masih belum direka disebabkan faktor harga perkakasan elektronik terbabit amat mahal di dalam pasaran. Secara asasnya, takometer dan pembilang putaran memaparkan bacaan putaran per minit dan jumlah putaran engkol enjin kereta secara digit di paparan hablur cecair. Projek ini memberikan bacaan digit yang tepat berbanding dengan bacaan analog. Konsep mengira putaran adalah sama seperti odometer di mana pengiraan putaran adalah mengukur putaran engkol manakala odometer pula adalah mengukur jarak perjalanan kereta. Objektif utama projek ini ialah mereka bentuk dan membangunkan takometer dan pembilang putaran digit yang murah dengan menggunakan PIC. Satu jadual penyelenggaraan kereta berdasarkan jumlah putaran engkol turut dicadangkan sebagai rujukan yang tepat untuk pemandu-pemandu kereta melakukan penyelenggaraan dan pemeriksaan kereta. Metodologi projek ini dibahagikan kepada empat fasa yang berlainan iaitu kajian latar belakang, membangunkan program untuk PIC, membangunkan litar dan penulisan tesis. Jangkaan hasil untuk projek ini ialah litar takometer dan pembilang putaran digit dapat mengukur putaran engkol dan seterusnya memaparkan bacaaan putaran per minit and jumlah putaran engkol di paparan hablur cecair. Secara amnya diharapkan, projek ini dapat digunakan di dalam industri automotif Malaysia.


(9)

ix

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

TITLE i

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vi

ABSTRACT vii

ABSTRAK viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

LIST OF TABLES xiii

LIST OF FIGURES xiv

LIST OF ABBREVIATION xvi


(10)

x

I INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Project Objectives 2

1.3 Problems Statement 2

1.4 Scope of Work 3

1.5 Short Brief of Project Methodology 3

1.6 Report Structure 4

II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 5

2.2 The Operation Of Digital Tachometer and

Revolution Counter 6

2.2.1 Electronic Control Unit 7

2.3 Crankshaft 9

2.3.1 The Basic Operation of Crankshaft 10

2.4 The Total Number of Engine Revolutions 15

2.5 Car Maintenance Schedule 17

2.5.1 Advantage of Car Maintenance Schedule Based On the Total Number of Engine

Revolution 22

2.6 Microchip PIC Microcontroller 22

2.6.1 PIC Microcontroller 24

2.6.2 Limitations of PIC 25

2.6.3 Applications of PIC 26

2.7 Liquid Crystal Display 26


(11)

xi

2.9 Function Generator 31

III METHODOLOGY 32

3.1 Introduction 32

3.2 Flowchart of Project Methodology 33

3.2.1 The Explanation of the Flowchart 36

3.2.1.1 Phase 1-Literature Review 36

3.2.1.2 Phase 2-PIC Source Code

Development 36

3.2.1.3 Phase 3-Hardware Development 37

3.2.1.4 Phase 4-Write Thesis 38

3.3 Gant Chart 38

3.4 Block Diagram of Project 40

3.5 Software Utilization 44

3.5.1 MPLAB 44

3.5.2 Proteus 7.0 45

3.5.3 Ares 7 46

3.5.4 Picshell 47

IV RESULT AND ANALYSIS 48

4.1 Introduction 48

4.2 Hardware Analysis 49

4.2.1 Power Circuit Analysis 51


(12)

xii

4.2.3 LCD Circuit Analysis 53 4.2.4 Hardware Assemble on Breadboard 54

4.2.5 Hardware Assemble on PCB 55

4.2.6 Hardware Casing 56

4.3 Software Analysis 58

4.4 Discussions 59

V CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 60

5.1 Introduction 60

5.2 Conclusion 61

5.3 Recommendation for Future Work 61

REFERENCES 62

APPENDIX A 66


(13)

xiii

LIST OF TABLES

NO TITLE PAGE

2.1 The Various Firing Order 7

2.2 Transmission Ratio Proton GEN 2 1.6 16

2.3 Pin Information for LMB16AFC Controller Chip 27

2.4 Instruction Code 30


(14)

xiv

LIST OF FIGURES

NO TITLE PAGE

2.1 The Basic Operation of Ignition System 6

2.2 ECU 8

2.3 Crankshaft 9

2.4 Basic Parts for Four Stroke Engine 10 2.5 Intake Stroke 12

2.6 Compression Stroke 13

2.7 Combustion Stroke 14 2.8 Exhaust Stroke 14

2.9 The Crankshaft Movement 15

2.10 Car Maintenance Schedule Based on the Total

Number of Engine Revolution 21 2.11 Harvard Architecture Block Diagram 24


(15)

xv

2.12 Types of PIC Microcontroller 25

2.13 LCD 26

2.14 Register Selection 28

2.15 LED 30

2.16 Function Generator 30

3.1 Flowchart of Project Methodology 33

3.2 Gantt Chart 36

3.3 Block Diagram of Digital Tachometer and Revolution Counter 37

3.4 Flowchart Calculations of RPM 39

4.1 The 3 Main Block Diagram 49

4.2 Simulation using Multisim Power Supply Circuit 50

4.3 Control Circuit Analysis 51

4.4 LCD Screen Circuit 52

4.5 Hardware Assemble Breadboard 54

4.6 Display RPM and REV 54

4.7 PCB Layout 55

4.8 PCB 55

4.9 Stripboard 56

4.10 Casing of DTRC 57


(16)

xvi

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

RPM – Revolution per Minute PIC – Peripheral Interface Controller PSM – Projek Sarjana Muda

LCD – Liquid Crystal Display PCB – Printed Circuit Board IC – Integrated Circuit LED – Light Emitting Diode VSM - Virtual System Modelling

DTRC – Digital Tachometer and Revolution Counter RPS – Revolution per Second


(17)

xvii

LIST OF APPENDIX

NO TITLE PAGE

A Assembly Language Programming 65


(18)

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION

A tachometer is an instrument that measures the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated analog dial, but digital displays are increasingly common. The term comes from Greek Ταχος, tachos, "speed", and metron, "to measure"[1]. Basically, the purpose of digital tachometer can assist the driver in selecting appropriate throttle and gear settings for driving conditions. Thus, the prolonged use at high speeds may cause excessive wear and the other damages to engine. A revolution counter is an electronic instrument that measures the average of each of rotation shaft in car engine. The device usually displays the total number of engine revolutions in revolution (Rev).


(19)

2

The purpose of digital revolution counter is more as a reference to the engine lifetime and do car maintenance schedule. The car maintenance schedule such as changing the spark plugs, timing belt, engine oil, gear oil, oil filter and the others was proposed based on the total number of engine revolution recorded. These two instruments were implemented and also combined together in one system using the Microchip PIC microcontroller. The digital tachometer and revolution counter will give more accurate reading compared to analogue reading. The usage of digital tachometer is rare because the price is quit expensive while digital revolution counter is non existent. So, the purpose of this project is to build a low cost and efficient digital tachometer and revolution counter by using Microchip PIC Microcontroller.

1.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this project is to design and develop a low cost digital tachometer and revolution counter using Microchip PIC Microcontroller. A maintenance schedule will be proposed based on the total number of engine revolution.

1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Nowadays, everybody wants good quality equipment but the cost must be low. In the market, the use of digital tachometer is rare and revolution counter is non existent. Car users usually refer to the odometer to do their car maintenance. Basically, the odometer measures the distance coverage only. So, the true condition of the lubrication oil, spark plugs, oil filter and the others do not often relate to distance coverage. This situation can be compared to city and country driving which obviously requires the former one to change much earlier in time the engine oil, spark plugs, oil filter and others.


(20)

3

1.4 SCOPE OF WORK

In this project, there are three scope of work that must be implemented to make sure the project is successful. Firstly, design a low cost circuit by using Microchip PIC microcontroller. Secondly, program the PIC for this project. Thirdly, propose a maintenance schedule for car such as changing engine oil, oil filter, transmission oil, spark plugs and the others.

1.5 SHORT BRIEF OF PROJECT METHODOLOGY

In this PSM I, project methodology is divided into literature review, PIC source code development and hardware design development. The combination of both parts will be added on the PSM II report. The project methodology details are shown in Chapter 3 of this report.

In literature review, all the information regarding this project will be stated such as the type of PIC to use, types of LCD, the operations of electronic tachometer, the operations of crankshaft, the car maintenance schedule and the others.

In the PIC source code development, the PIC source code for this project will be developed by using MPLAB software. The MPLAB software was used to build the source code or program in assembly language.

In the hardware development, the circuit will be simulated in Proteus software. Once the simulation is correct, the circuit will be tested on the breadboard. After that, the circuit will be transferred on the PCB when all the connections on the breadboard are running properly. The LCD is used to display values of RPM and total number of engine revolutions.


(21)

4

1.6 REPORT STRUCTURE

This report consists of five chapters which are Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Result and Discussion, and Conclusion and Suggestion.

In Chapter 1 is introduction. It discussed about project background, project objectives, problem statement, scope of work, short brief of project methodology and overview of the remaining chapters.

In Chapter 2 is literature review. It reviews some references from previous project, journals, articles, books and datasheet. All the materials are useful information to this project.

In Chapter 3 is methodology. It discusses the approach to complete this project. This project was divided into two parts which are software development and hardware design. The details of the process for both parts will be presented in this chapter.

In Chapter 4 is result and discussion. It shows the result that had been obtained in this project.

In Chapter 5 is conclusion and suggestion. It concludes the entire project and proposes some future plan for this project.


(22)

5

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic. This chapter reviews some references from previous projects, journals, articles, books and datasheet. All these information was collected from different sources such as library, internet and product manual. The useful data of this project will be discussed in this chapter. This chapter will study the fundamental theories on an electronic tachometer, the engine revolutions mechanism, the car maintenance schedule, the Microchip PIC microcontroller and others.


(23)

6

2.2 THE OPERATION OF DIGITAL TACHOMETER AND REVOLUTION COUNTER

The signal driving digital tachometer and revolution counter is originate from an ignition coil. An ignition coil is an induction coil in an automobile’s ignition systems which transform the battery 12V to the thousand of volts needed to ignite the spark plug [2]. Firstly, the ignition system will produce a high voltage electrical charge and transmits it to the spark plugs via ignition wires. The first electrical charge flows to the distributor. The distributor is to distribute the high voltage from the coil to the cylinders to perform the power stroke or combustion stroke. Thus, the distributor has one wire going in the center and some wires on the number of cylinders such as 4, 6 or 8 wires coming out of it. These ignition wires send the charge to each spark plug. The engine is timed so that only one cylinder receives a spark from the distributor at a time. The ignition system is shown in Figure 2.1.


(24)

7

The sequence spark plugs ignition is called the firing order. The firing order is the order in which combustion is initiated in an internal combustion engine and normally it starts from cylinder number 1. There are various firing orders for different engine layouts as shown Table 2.1[4].

Table 2.1 The Various Firing Order

Number of Cylinder Firing Order

3 1-3-2

4 1-3-4-2

5 1-2-4-5-3

6 1-5-3-6-2-4

A four stroke engine requires four strokes of the piston which are two up and two down movement. So, one complete combustion cycle of ignition system will make two revolutions of crankshaft. That means one revolution of crankshaft needs 2 pulses of ignitions [5].

2.2.1 ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT

In modern car, the digital tachometer and revolution counter get the input signal which is ignition coil signal from the electronic control unit compare to the old car where a tachometer get the signal from contact breaker. An electronic control unit is an embedded system that controls one or more of the electronic systems or subsystems in a vehicle [6]. Normally, an electronic control unit has many control unit such as


(1)

The purpose of digital revolution counter is more as a reference to the engine lifetime and do car maintenance schedule. The car maintenance schedule such as changing the spark plugs, timing belt, engine oil, gear oil, oil filter and the others was proposed based on the total number of engine revolution recorded. These two instruments were implemented and also combined together in one system using the Microchip PIC microcontroller. The digital tachometer and revolution counter will give more accurate reading compared to analogue reading. The usage of digital tachometer is rare because the price is quit expensive while digital revolution counter is non existent. So, the purpose of this project is to build a low cost and efficient digital tachometer and revolution counter by using Microchip PIC Microcontroller.

1.2 PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this project is to design and develop a low cost digital tachometer and revolution counter using Microchip PIC Microcontroller. A maintenance schedule will be proposed based on the total number of engine revolution.

1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Nowadays, everybody wants good quality equipment but the cost must be low. In the market, the use of digital tachometer is rare and revolution counter is non existent. Car users usually refer to the odometer to do their car maintenance. Basically, the odometer measures the distance coverage only. So, the true condition of the lubrication oil, spark plugs, oil filter and the others do not often relate to distance coverage. This situation can be compared to city and country driving which obviously requires the former one to change much earlier in time the engine oil, spark plugs, oil filter and others.


(2)

1.4 SCOPE OF WORK

In this project, there are three scope of work that must be implemented to make sure the project is successful. Firstly, design a low cost circuit by using Microchip PIC microcontroller. Secondly, program the PIC for this project. Thirdly, propose a maintenance schedule for car such as changing engine oil, oil filter, transmission oil, spark plugs and the others.

1.5 SHORT BRIEF OF PROJECT METHODOLOGY

In this PSM I, project methodology is divided into literature review, PIC source code development and hardware design development. The combination of both parts will be added on the PSM II report. The project methodology details are shown in Chapter 3 of this report.

In literature review, all the information regarding this project will be stated such as the type of PIC to use, types of LCD, the operations of electronic tachometer, the operations of crankshaft, the car maintenance schedule and the others.

In the PIC source code development, the PIC source code for this project will be developed by using MPLAB software. The MPLAB software was used to build the source code or program in assembly language.

In the hardware development, the circuit will be simulated in Proteus software. Once the simulation is correct, the circuit will be tested on the breadboard. After that, the circuit will be transferred on the PCB when all the connections on the breadboard are running properly. The LCD is used to display values of RPM and total number of engine revolutions.


(3)

1.6 REPORT STRUCTURE

This report consists of five chapters which are Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Result and Discussion, and Conclusion and Suggestion.

In Chapter 1 is introduction. It discussed about project background, project objectives, problem statement, scope of work, short brief of project methodology and overview of the remaining chapters.

In Chapter 2 is literature review. It reviews some references from previous project, journals, articles, books and datasheet. All the materials are useful information to this project.

In Chapter 3 is methodology. It discusses the approach to complete this project. This project was divided into two parts which are software development and hardware design. The details of the process for both parts will be presented in this chapter.

In Chapter 4 is result and discussion. It shows the result that had been obtained in this project.

In Chapter 5 is conclusion and suggestion. It concludes the entire project and proposes some future plan for this project.


(4)

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic. This chapter reviews some references from previous projects, journals, articles, books and datasheet. All these information was collected from different sources such as library, internet and product manual. The useful data of this project will be discussed in this chapter. This chapter will study the fundamental theories on an electronic tachometer, the engine revolutions mechanism, the car maintenance schedule, the Microchip PIC microcontroller and others.


(5)

2.2 THE OPERATION OF DIGITAL TACHOMETER AND REVOLUTION COUNTER

The signal driving digital tachometer and revolution counter is originate from an ignition coil. An ignition coil is an induction coil in an automobile’s ignition systems which transform the battery 12V to the thousand of volts needed to ignite the spark plug [2]. Firstly, the ignition system will produce a high voltage electrical charge and transmits it to the spark plugs via ignition wires. The first electrical charge flows to the distributor. The distributor is to distribute the high voltage from the coil to the cylinders to perform the power stroke or combustion stroke. Thus, the distributor has one wire going in the center and some wires on the number of cylinders such as 4, 6 or 8 wires coming out of it. These ignition wires send the charge to each spark plug. The engine is timed so that only one cylinder receives a spark from the distributor at a time. The ignition system is shown in Figure 2.1.


(6)

The sequence spark plugs ignition is called the firing order. The firing order is the order in which combustion is initiated in an internal combustion engine and normally it starts from cylinder number 1. There are various firing orders for different engine layouts as shown Table 2.1[4].

Table 2.1 The Various Firing Order

Number of Cylinder Firing Order

3 1-3-2

4 1-3-4-2

5 1-2-4-5-3

6 1-5-3-6-2-4

A four stroke engine requires four strokes of the piston which are two up and two down movement. So, one complete combustion cycle of ignition system will make two revolutions of crankshaft. That means one revolution of crankshaft needs 2 pulses of ignitions [5].

2.2.1 ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT

In modern car, the digital tachometer and revolution counter get the input signal which is ignition coil signal from the electronic control unit compare to the old car where a tachometer get the signal from contact breaker. An electronic control unit is an embedded system that controls one or more of the electronic systems or subsystems in a vehicle [6]. Normally, an electronic control unit has many control unit such as