Freighter Fuel Level detection and Overload Alarming System with Safety Notification via GSM Sayidul Morsalin 1 , Khizir Mahmud 2 1 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering 2 Dept of Electrical Engineering & Automation School 1 Chittagong University of Engineering & Tech, Bangladesh 2 Northwestern Polytechnical University, P.R. China morsalinbd@yahoo.com 1 , khizirbd@gmail.com 2 Md. Reduanul Halim, Prattay Saha, Insan Arafat Jamil Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology Chittagong, Bangladesh mrh.eee.cuet@gmail.com, prattayeee08@gmail.com, iaj.ankon@gmail.com Abstract—A PIC microcontroller based digital electronic system has been designed to monitor the fuel level and total amount of load on the freighter and generate scan report for the captain of the freighter. The system is designed for three different freighter load levels; no load, optimal load and over load. At initial level it remains in no load status, when load increases and still remain in optimal level then the system notify crews to initiate voyage. If the load increases to over load level then the system gives alarm and sends alert message to the main control tower for necessary initiative. The communication between the vessel and main control tower is done by GSM module to ensure long distance reliable communication. For amenity, freighter fuel level is monitored in both analogue and digital scale. The system is implemented by PIC midrange microcontroller based hardware and low cost GSM module which makes it more economic, reliable and efficient. Keywords-freighter; fuel level; GSM; PIC microcontroller; safety notofication system; overload alarming I. INTRODUCTION Freighter is a cardinal part for the transport, especially for the inland, inshore and seaward navigation system. It provides a better alternative to other modes of transport by being energy efficient and reliable since it can carry large number of people and goods at the same time. Especially for the lower land and populated countries like Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Indonesia etc; it becomes an inevitable part for the transport system. By carrying goods inside and outside the country it is contributing a lot to the economy. So it is a major concern to make the freighter based transportation system more safe and reliable. But some hazardous incidents in recent years have instigated the researcher to make the system more reliable. In a report it has been seen that only in Bangladesh around 3869 people have been died since 1976 by water vessel hazard [1] and in US around 651 people have been died in the year 2012 [2]. A case study reveals that about 80 per cent of the accidents occurring at water body were the result of human errors [1]. The major cases for hazards are excessive speed, failure of ventilate, operation inexperience, operation inattention, navigation rules violation, improper anchoring, improper loading, machinery failure, electrical system failure, fuel system failure, boisterous weather etc. A case study reveals that about 25 per cent of the causes of sinking of freighter or water vessel are for overloading [2]. In low income, populated and lower land country, overcrowding is the major factor for overloading accident. Most of the overloading cases indicate that the vessels were loaded as many as 3-5 times of their capacity. On the other hand, maximum boat sailors are not concerned about freighter loading condition and fuel level. Most of these level sensing are analogue or a personnel is engaged to monitor loading and fuel level. Besides, it’s a boring and difficult task to check the fuel level frequently in running condition. Sometimes if the bilge pump seems to be working overtime it may result vessel to be filling with water and seems to feel heavy. So in this research, the soul idea and motivation is to design a system to avoid freighter hazard due to overloading and lacking fuel level surveillance. Since the system is digital, it requires no personnel to monitor fuel level and water level again and again on running condition. The system will work automatically according to the load and in any hazard condition it will give alert alarm and send notification message and call to the central ship monitoring unit for necessary initiative. Moreover, for overloading, high pressure falls on engine which may cause degradation of engine performance. Overloading alert can save this degradation. When optimal loading occurs it generates sound to inform the passengers that the vessel is secured with loading and ready for voyage and signal lights gives notification in sailor room to start the freighter. By this system, freighter fuel level can be monitored in both analogue and digital scale with greatest flexibility to take necessary steps in any condition. So, if for any reason digital system fails, the mechanical niddle and pointer system shows the fuel level on display. In most of the luxurious freighters, different system like this is integrated, but for the low cost freighter for developing countries such device is not commercially available as separate device to use in all kinds of boat. The system has a scope to implement solar power as auxiliary power supply if main supply fails. The proposed system is implemented by the economic electronic circuitry and based on GSM so that easily can retain reliable communication between the freighter and the central monitoring unit from far distance. 3rd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATICS, ELECTRONICS & VISION 2014 978-1-4799-5180-2/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE