DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A DARK-ACTIVATED EMERGENCY MAINS FAILURE TORCH

Abstract

This paper presents the design and construction of a dark-activated emergency mains failure (DAEMF) torch mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). The battery-powered torch called a DAEMF is intended to automatically light up a home and its surroundings in the dark, but it will turn off if it detects the presence of a power source, even if the lighting system is not on. The charging, switching, and lighting sections comprise the three main sections. During the dark period, the switching circuit was switched ON by a voltage of 1.7 volts, and a current of 0.006 mA measured across the light-dependent resistor (LDR) at the switching section. The charging section uses a linear Integrated Circuit (IC) LM 317 as the main electronic component to charge the battery with about 0.65A load current. The high-voltage transformer (HVT) at the lighting unit inverts and converts a 12 Volts direct current (DC) to approximately 100 Volts alternating current (AC) to drive the 6 watts 12 volts fluorescent tube in the lighting section to illuminate the household and its surrounding for 10.5 hours of continuous use