Sensor Based Project Ideas for Final Year Engineering Students

Sensors are the backbone of plant automation and robotics. Interfacing their output to the firmware is one of the important areas in industrial applications. Understanding their parameters is of great importance in designing a control system. Sensors such as temperature, gas, humidity, IR, ultrasonic laser, PIR sensor, etc are widely used in the industries. Developing projects involving such sensors give a clear idea in understanding their use & limitations. Data acquisition, SCADA, fuzzy logic control are few advanced level projects that usually adopt embedded systems and require software domain knowledge particularly the “C” language. This article discusses an overview of Sensor-based Projects for engineering students.

Sensor based Projects for Engineering Students

The sensor based projects for engineering students are discussed below.

Contactless Liquid Level Controller

A water-level controlling mechanism is developed to sense the water level in the tank without any contact with the tank and accordingly controls the pump to fill water into the tank. Here ultrasonic sensors are used to sense the water level in the tank.

The ultrasonic sensor senses the liquid level in the water tank and feeds this information to the microcontroller. Based on the input from the sensor, the microcontroller accordingly controls the switching of the relay switch, which is a combination of a transistor and a MOSFET in this case. The relay is accordingly controlled to switch on the load in case the water level is less or switch off the load in case the water level is more.

Using a TV Remote as a Cordless Mouse for Computer

This system uses a TV remote as a cordless mouse to perform operations on a computer. The TV remote works on the principle of IR communication and the commands are sent to the computer through a control unit.

Here the commands are sent from a TV remote in the form of modulated IR rays. These rays are received by the IR receiver and converted to electrical signals which are given to the microcontroller. The microcontroller converts these signals to binary commands and sends these commands in serial form to the computer through a level shifter IC.

Remote Jamming Device

Here a device is developed which produces IR rays which can block the rays from the TV remote. The frequency of the IR light is the same as the frequency of IR light by the TV remote. This can be placed at the TV receiver such that the rays received by the remote are superimposed by the IR rays emitted by this device.

Here a timer powered by a battery is used to produce pulses at a frequency equal to the remote output signal frequency and more than 50% duty cycle, to drive the transistor, which in turn provides power to the IR diode and accordingly the IR diode emits IR rays at that frequency.

Speed Checker to Detect Rash Driving on Vehicles

Rash driving is one of the major reasons for road accidents. Most of the road accidents can be prevented if the rash driving is controlled. This is achieved by monitoring the speed of the vehicles and accordingly generates a warning when the speed of the vehicle increases. Here a speed checker system is designed where the time taken by the vehicle to travel from the spot on the highway to another is measured and the speed of the vehicle is accordingly calculated.

Here two IR sensors are used at two different locations. Two timers are used which receives input from the two sensors. The output from both the timers drives a NAND gate which in turn drives another timer to trigger a buzzer in case of the speed going more than the set limit. A decade counter shows the time count of the output pulses or counts the clock pulses, i.e. the time is taken to move from IR sensor position to another. A speed limit is set and the distance between the two spots is fixed. In case the timing count is less than the set time limit, the speed is known to be exceeded and correspondingly a buzzer starts ringing to give the indication.

Distance Measurement by Ultrasonic Sensor

The ultrasonic sensor can be used to measure the distance of any object from a certain position. The sensor emits ultrasonic waves which are reflected by the object. The time taken by the waves to travel back and forth is calculated and multiplied with a velocity of sound to get the distance measurement.

Optimum Energy Management System

This system is used as a way to manage the consumption of energy optimally. It defines an easy way to save energy by controlling the switching of loads in a room only based on the number of persons entering the room. The project uses IR sensors to sense the persons entering and leaving the room and accordingly the control unit controls the switching of the load.

Bidirectional Rotation of Induction Motor with Remote Control Device

The exhaust fans used at homes are used only to expel out hot air from the room. These fans are operated using split-phase induction motors which consist of the main winding which gets the mains supply directly and an auxiliary winding that gets the main supply through a capacitor. By interchanging the supply between the two windings, the windings can be interchanged and the direction of the motor can be changed. This project uses this principle to achieve the bidirectional rotation of the motor. The commands for the desired direction are given by a TV remote and accordingly the motor is rotated in the desired direction.

Street lights that Glow on Detecting Vehicle Movement

The major advantage of using LEDs as street lamps is that their intensity can be controlled by controlling the power supply to the LEDs. By sensing the arrival of vehicles, the LED street lights can be made to be switched on only at the time when the vehicle passes through it. This helps to save a relevant amount of energy. This project develops a way to achieve this by using an array of LEDs to represent the street lights and a pair of IR sensors is used to sense the number of vehicles on the way.

Density Based Traffic Signal System using PIC Microcontroller

This system defines another way to optimize the use of energy and also to overcome the problem of traffic jams. By sensing the number of vehicles on each side of a junction, the time for which red light of the traffic signal glows can be controlled accordingly. This project achieves this by using LEDs as the traffic lights for each side of the junction and using IR sensors for each side to sense the number of vehicles.

Sensor-based Projects without Microcontroller

The list of sensor-based projects without a microcontroller is discussed below.

Testing of Alcohol Level using Alcohol Sensor

This project is used to test the alcohol level to test a vehicle driver whether he is drunk or not. This circuit works with +5V power supply. This system is very simple to utilize, low cost. The alcohol indication can be determined through different LEDs.

Security Light using Motion Sensor

The project security light can be designed with a motion sensor. This project is mainly used to sense the motion of a person within the room. Once the motion is detected through a motion sensor then room light will automatically turn ON. This circuit uses a PIR sensor & the analog & digital circuit. Here this sensor detects the motion of a person whereas the analog & digital circuit turns ON the light for the specific time duration.

Generating Alarm through Over Temperature by Fan ON

The proposed system is used for monitoring over-temperature and generates an alarm using a temperature sensor. This system sets to the highest limit of temperature control points. When the temperature increases the fixed temperature then it generates the sound to give an alert to the user for his attention.

Infrared Obstacle Sensor without Microcontroller

This project is used to design an obstacle sensor without using a microcontroller. This sensor is used in many applications and it is inexpensive. Furthermore, this project can be enhanced to the fire alarm systems by changing the sensor.

Automatic Water Tap without using Microcontroller

The proposed system namely smart water tap is used to reduce the wastage of water from the tap. This tap automatically turns off whenever we are not using it. This project can be designed with two IR proximity sensors where one sensor detects the hand which is near to the tap so that water flow can be stopped. Similarly, another sensor is placed on the top of the water tap. This sensor mainly detects the level of water.

Once this tap detects any hand/glass near to tap then it automatically turns off once the bucket is filled. This system is used in water vending machines & industrial automation.

Sensor-Based Biomedical Projects

The list of sensor-based biomedical projects is listed below.

Tracking of Leg Motion using Compass Sensor

The main function of this project is to design a device used to track body motion within a virtual situation. Human motion tracking mainly attracts major attention from different locations like the production of animation, sports medicine, biomedical analysis & ergonomics. Human motion can be detected with the help of an accelerometer but it has some limitations to detect the motion.

One accelerometer cannot notice horizontal movements. Compass sensors are used to compensate for the limitations of accelerometers. To detect the motion of different parts of the human body, there are three accelerometers are required. Gyroscopes using accelerometers will enhance the results drastically but gyroscopes are expensive. But in the future, these are highly recommended.

Accident Detection System & Rescue System for Ambulance

Traffic jams & road accidents are major issues in urban areas due to the high population. At present, there is no technology for detecting the accident but the delay in reaching the ambulance to the accident area due to heavy traffic can cause the victim to die. To overcome this problem here is a solution namely an accident detection system using sensors.

The database of all the hospitals in the city is stored in the main server. A GSM & GPS module in the vehicle will share the accident location to the major server so that an ambulance will reach the accident spot from the nearest hospital. Using RF communication, traffic light signals can be controlled in the ambulance path. So the time of ambulance to arrive at the hospital can be reduced.

A patient monitoring system in the ambulance will send the vital parameters of the patient to the concerned hospital. This system is fully automated, thus it finds the accident spot and helping to reach the hospital in time.

Electrocardiogram Detection Wirelessly for Monitoring Personal Health

By using this project, personal health can be checked using an IIHMS (interactive intelligent healthcare & monitoring system) including BSN (body sensor network) & Power-efficient LSN (local sensor network). The acquisition of bio-signal used for BSN applications can be applied to get the data of the real human body through ZigBee communication. Additionally RF receiver with ARM, A/D mixed-mode board & displayer based on ARM for demonstrating the values.

Detector Robot for Detecting Alive Humans through PIR Sensors in War Fields

At present, automated systems are flexible, accurate, and reliable. So in every field, automated systems are used because of this demand. These systems are mostly used in the electronics field because they give a good performance. In war fields, robots are playing a key role to reduce human losses. The main intension of this proposed system is to detect an injured person for rescue operations with the help of a PIR sensor. If an injured person finds out then the root can inform through a wireless technology with the help of RF.

Anesthesia Control System using Heartbeat Sensor

In any surgery, giving anesthesia to the patient is very important in a particular dose. Once the doctor gives the anesthesia to the patient, the patient won’t get any pain during the surgery. Based on the duration of surgery only the dosage will depend otherwise it can cause serious health issues. To overcome that situation, the proposed system is designed namely an automatic anesthesia controller with Arduino Uno

The dose of anesthesia can be set by the anesthetist. By using the switch panel, the process can start by the anesthetist. Once the start signal is obtained through the Arduino Uno then it regulates the entire system and sends a command to the motor driver to make the motor run. Once the motor starts running then the anesthesia can be infused.

The fixed amount of anesthesia can be injected into the patient’s body and while doing this process, the patient’s heartbeat can be checked. The second dose of the anesthesia can be injected based on the heartbeat count of the patient. The heartbeat can be checked by the administration. If they observe any abnormality then they will stop injecting.

Sensor Based Project Ideas

Sensor-based project ideas for engineering students are listed below.

• Movement Sensed Automatic Door Opening System
• Closed-loop control of BLDC motor
• Noncontact Tachometer
• Line Following Robotic Vehicle using Microcontroller
• Predefined Speed Control of BLDC motor
• Industrial Temperature Controller
• Microcontroller based speed checker system
• Speed Synchronization of multiple motors
• Dish Positioning Control by IR remote
• IR obstacle detection to actuate loads
• Speed Synchronization of multiple motors
• Precise Digital Temperature Control
• The automatic wireless health monitoring system
• Object Counter with 7 segment display
• Obstacle Avoidance Robotic Vehicle
• Tampered Energy Meter Sensing System
• Solar Energy Management System
• Object detection by ultrasonic means
• IR controlled Robotic Vehicle
• Thyristor power control by IR remote
• Advanced Wireless Automatic Digital Pumping System for Agriculture using Soil Sensor
• Advanced Wireless Earth Quake Alarm System for Early Warning
• Temple Security System — Hi-End Temple Security System with Frequency Jammer
• Integrate Intelligent Security System for Industrial Surveillance with WAP & Auto Dialer
• Driver Fatigue Accident Prevention Using Eye Blink Sensor
• Eye Ball Controlled Automatic Wheel Chair
• Multisensor – Smoke, Fire, Temperature, Gas, Metal & Intruder based Security Robot – Zigbee
• RF Enabled ICU Care Taker – Life Support System
• American Sign Language based Hand Gesture Recognition & Performance
• Library Robot – Path Guiding Robotic System with Artificial Intelligence using Microcontroller
• Advanced Wireless Bank Security System with Remote Alarm and Sensor for Modern Security Application
• Design & Implementation of Railway Automation System with Sensors Network
• Motion Detection, Robotics Guidance & Proximity

Different Types of Sensor-based Projects

There are different types of sensors are available like temperature, proximity, accelerometer, infrared, pressure, light, ultrasonic, smoke, alcohol, gas, touch, color, humidity, tilt, flow & level sensor. The projects based on different kinds of sensors for engineering students are listed below.

IR Sensor-based Projects

IR/Infrared Sensor is one kind of light sensor, used in different applications namely detection of object and proximity in all the mobile phones. The list of IR sensor projects is listed below.

• Contact Less Digital Tachometer Design including Wireless Feature with Low-Cost
• Detection of Obstacle using IR for Load Switch
• Line Follower Robot with IR Sensor & Microcontroller
• Management System for Paid Parking using IR & Automated RF
• IR sensor-based Street Light Glow through Movement of Vehicle Detection
• Controlling of Dish Position using IR Sensor
• Traffic Signal System based on Density through IR Sensor & Microcontroller
• Adjustment of Signal & Detection of Traffic Density using IR Sensor
• Bank Security Monitoring & Controlling Efficiently through IR Sensors
• Auto Metro Train Doors Shuttling in between Different Stations
• IR Sensor-based Car Parking System through WSN
• Rash Driving Detection using Speed Checker on Highways
• Door Opening System Automatically using IR Sensor & Microcontroller
• Railway gate Controlling Automatically using IR Sensor
• Signal Decoder Controlling using IR Remote for Home
• Induction Motor Rotation Bidirectionally using a Remote Control Device

Ultrasonic Sensor based Projects

An ultrasonic sensor is used to detect the target distance from the object by generating ultrasonic waves & changes the reflected sound signals into an electrical signal. The ultrasonic sensor-based projects for engineering students are listed below.

• Arduino based Ultrasonic Sonar or Monitoring of Radar Project
• Ultrasonic Navigation For The Blind
• Ultrasonic Distance Meter using Android by buzzer indication
• Ultrasonic Vibrator Glove for Blind using Third Eye
• Walking Stick for Blind People using Ultrasonic Sensor
• Ultrasonic Radar using PIC Microcontroller
• Distance Measurement System using Ultrasonic Sensor
• Ultrasonic Sensor based Controlling System for Liquid Level
• Acoustic Levitation of Ultrasonic through HCSR04 & Arduino
• Smart Jar based on IoT through Ultrasonic Sensor & MCU ESP8266
• Hand Sanitizer Dispenser Automatically using Ultrasonic Sensor
• Smart Parking System based on Ultrasonic Sensor & ESP8266 MCU
• Ultrasonic Sensor based Robot for Obstacle Avoiding

Temperature Sensor based Projects

A sensor that is used to detect the temperature of its surroundings and changes the input data to electronic data for monitoring, recording, etc. The list of temperature sensor based projects for engineering students is listed below.

• Fault Monitoring in Industries using Temperature Sensor & Arduino
• Overheat detector using Microcontroller &Temperature Sensor through Buzzer
• Smart Helmet used for Coal Miners
• Health monitoring of Patient & tracking with Arduino Uno & IoT
• Fault Detection of Transformer Parameter using GSM
• Reporting of Weather System Project with Arduino Uno
• Weather Station through Digital &GSM
• Home Security System using GSM
• Robot for Controlling the Greenhouse Environment
• Power Transformer Condition Monitoring
• Home security system with IoT & Arduino
• Monitoring of Greenhouse using IoT
• Fire alarm system with Smoke, Temperature Sensor using Arduino
• GPS & GSM based Tracking of Ambulance
• Fault Diagnosis & Monitoring of System in Wind Turbine
• Temperature Controller Precisely with Microcontroller
• Monitoring System of Battery through Microcontroller

Humidity Sensor Based Projects

A humidity sensor is used to detect, measure & report both air temperature as well as moisture. Humidity plays an essential role in the environment as well as the human body. The list of humidity sensor based projects for engineering students is listed below.

• Information System for Weather Report
• Weather Reporting System using Humidity Sensor & IoT
• GPS & GSM based System for Soldier Tracking
• IoT & Arduino based Monitoring System for Patient Health
• Data Acquisition System with 4-Channel using Microcontroller
• GSM based Baby Incubator
• Digital Weather Station using GSM
• GPS & GSM based Ambulance Tracking
• Data Logger using MicrocontrollerGreenhouse Monitoring & Control System using IoT
• Interfacing DHT11 Temperature Sensor & Arduino & Humidity Sensor
• Temperature & Humidity Sensor
• Arduino based Humidity & Temperature Measurement
• Atmosphere Comfort Level Sensing through HUMIDEX
• Calibration of Humidity Sensor
• iShield based Weather Station
• Monitoring of Environment at Workspace

Proximity Sensor Projects

A proximity sensor or distance sensor is used to detect the presence of an object or a human when it is within a predetermined range from the sensor, through reflected infrared beams. The list of proximity sensor-based projects for engineering students is listed below.

• Railway Crossing Level Automatically using Proximity Sensor & Arduino
• Filing System based on PLC & Proximity Sensor
• Interfacing Proximity Sensor with PLC for Motor Speed Controlling
• Military Robot for Multipurpose
• Wheel Chair Controlled by Neck Movement for Crippled
• Vibrating based Distance Sensor
• Distance Sensor-based PopPet
• Distance Meter using Arduino
• Assistant for Car Parking using Distance Sensor
• Distance Sensor-based DolphinView
• Distance Measurer using Distance Sensor for Bocce Ball
• The Screaming Cauldron using Distance Sensor

Moisture Sensor Projects

The soil moisture sensor is one kind of sensor that is used for measuring the moisture (water content) of the soil. Once the soil moisture is dry, then the output of the module is high, otherwise, the output is low. The list of soil moisture sensor-based projects used for engineering students are given below.

• Irrigation System using Soil Moisture Sensor
• Sensing of Plant Soil Moisture and Its pH through Alarm System using 8051 Microcontroller
• Soil Moisture Sensor using Arduino
• Capacitive Moisture Sensor
• Detecting of the Soil Moisture
• Monitoring and Sensing of Soil Moisture using Wireless Remote & IoT
• Landslide Detection and Its Remote Avalanche Avoidance through Alerting System using IoT
• Automated Irrigation Control System through Remote & IoT

LDR Sensor Projects

The term LDR stands for a light-dependent resistor is one kind of photoresistor. It works on the photoconductivity principle. Generally, this is a resistor where the resistance value of this resistor decreases once the light intensity decreases. These sensors are used in street lights, camera light meters, light beam alarms, clock radios, outdoor clocks, and reflective smoke alarms. Please refer to this link to know more about LDR sensor projects.

Touch Sensor Projects

A touch sensor is mainly used to detect and record physical touch. The list of touch sensor-based Arduino projects is listed below.

• Dimmer Switch Circuit using Touch Sensor
• Capacitive and Metallic Touch sensor interfacing with Arduino Uno
• Light Controlled through touch using Arduino
• Non-contact based Capacitive Liquid Level Detecting through FDC1004
• Paper Controller using Arduino & Capacitive Sensor
• Keyboard Extension using Arduino Leonardo and Capacitive Touch
• Capacitive touch sensor based Proximity Lamp with Arduino
• Habitat using Capacitive Sensor & Arduino
• Arduino Synth using Capacitive Sensor
• Grid using Capacitive Touch Sensor
• MeArm Controlled by Arduino Uno & TTP229-BSF Touchpad
• Controlling of Home Lights using TTP223 Touch Sensor & Arduino UNO

PIR Sensor based Projects

A passive infrared sensor like PIR is one kind of an electronic sensor, used to measure IR light which is radiating from the nearby objects in its surrounding. The list of PIR projects for engineering students is listed below.

• PIR Sensor based Detection of Gesture & Easy Motion
• PIR sensor based Security System 
• Remote Camera Trigger through a PIR Sensor
• Sink Lighting through Switch & PIR Triggered
• Security System of Star Trek LCARS using Bluetooth
• Alarm Tapper using PIR Sensor
• Singing & Blinking of Mario Mushroom Powered by USB
• Smartphone Notifications using PIR Sensor
• Arduino based Room greeter of Super Mario Brothers
• Halloween Greeter through BS1 & PIR
• Screen Unsaver using PIR Sensor

Thus, this is all about an overview of different types of sensor-based projects for engineering students which includes IR based, ultrasonic based, temperature sensor-based, proximity, moisture, LDR, and touch sensor. Here is a question for you, what is the function of IoT Sensor?