IO, Bandung – Three students from ITB’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering class of 2015 have created a device they named the “Smart Power Socket” (SPOS), created to prevent MCD trips resulting from a surge in demand for current by electronic devices when no one is at home. MCBs are devices used to connect power mains transmission to electronic devices in the home and are generally branched in accordance with the number of rooms.
With a branched networking system, MCBs often face a surge of demand for current which can cause the phenomenon of sudden current failure, due to the number of devices turned on simultaneously such as what happens when electricity is restored by PLN after a blackout. As a result, there is a need for a device which delays the time electronic devices turn on and when a device is fed current. This was the inspiration for SPOS.
SPOS was the final thesis of Sayyid Irsyadul Ibad, Frits Elwildo, and Dany Hadyan Rusman, who put their device on display in the 2019 Electrical Engineering Days (EE Days) in ITB’s East Aula. According to Sayyid, the innovation of SPOS as a device which uses a delay method to turn on electronic devices is the first in Indonesia. In order to function, SPOS must be installed on power sockets of electronic devices with various delay times with intervals of two seconds starting from 0-12 seconds. The main feature of SPOS is to detect the condition of blackouts in homes and to control the time several electronic devices turn on in the home.
“Besides those main functions, SPOS is also equipped with a number of other features including an indicator light to show which device is selected, an indicator light to show the current process happening, a delay time which can be turned off or on alongside two operation modes,” said Sayyid on Monday (19/8/2019).
During the research, SPOS prototypes in three different dimensions were created with the biggest being 8x6x13 cm and weighing a maximum of 300 grams. The SPOS has a maximum capacity of 6 A, 1320 V. Using SPOS’ are quite easy, just attach them to normal power sockets found on house walls and set them to the control mode. Controls include delay time which can be set manually, through wifi, or through the internet depending on which type of device is used.
IN the manual version, control can be done directly on a SPOS device. For the wifi and internet of things (IoT) version, users need a phone connected to wifi and can control the SPOS through the Android-based SPOS app which comes in a lite (wifi) version and digital (IoT) version. Afterward, choose the electronic device to be connected to the SPOS and set it to standby. Lately, connect the electronic device to the SPOS and operate the device normally.
Sayyid explained that the SPOS app was created by the team itself. Before the application can be used, users must register first. Specifically, for the IoT version, a number of additional features are present such as a remote timer and on/off switch.
The SPOS app saves a database consisting of the user’s profile, SPOS status showing time delay, timer, power status, registration status, connected devices, and a selection of devices such as refrigerators, washing machines, rice cookers, to water pumps.
Concerning plans for the future, Sayyid stated that his team still needed to upgrade the SPOS to a terminal version which would be more practical and flexible. Other than that, the mobile application for the IoT version needed to be improved. “The hope is after it is further developed, SPOS can be useful and be well received by the public,” said Sayyid. (*/est)