ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846

Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 9(45), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i45/106909, December 2016 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

Prototype Development to Detect Electric Theft

using PIC18F452 Microcontroller
Saad Bin Yousaf1, Mohsin Jamil1,2, M. Zia ur Rehman1, Asif Hassan1 and Syed Omer Gilani Syed1
Department of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering (SMME),
1

National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Rawalpindi, Pakistan; saadyousaf45@gmail.com,

mohsin@smme.nust.edu.pk, ziaurrehman@smme.edu.pk, asifhassan@gmail.com, omer@smme.nust.edu.pk
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University Madinah,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; mohsin@smme.nust.edu.pk

Abstract
This paper presents the development of a prototype to detect electric theft using PIC18F452. The proposed prototype
is robust, adaptable, repairable and easy installable. It monitors the flow of charge from the phase line i.e. supply line,
the neutral line and constantly compares them. Moreover, it shows real time flow of charge in the both phase line and
the neutral line. It also represents the real time voltage and the power being supplied to the load. It is also fitted with an
alarm system that sounds an alarm when there is any electric theft. The prototype was able to adapt to different kinds
of attenuating voltages between 200-240 volts. It was tested at different loads and findings were inconsistent with the
theoretical ones. What makes this device unique is that it can be fitted anywhere in any electrical system. It can be used as
metering device. It can also be used as a smart grid surveillance device when used in collaboration with multiple devices
of same or different kind.

Keywords: DSP, Electric Theft, MATLAB, Meter, PIC18F452, Prototype

1. Introduction Electricity theft is not only a major reason for load

Electricity theft is a major problem in any electrical sys-
tem16. It is a major reason for the decline of the quality of
life. There exist many cases of immense amount of power
theft in industrial sectors in the world which caused
the loss to the power companies in millions of dollars.
Electrical energy theft is common in many countries and
a substantial quantity is stolen annually from electricity
grids. It degrades the economic condition of utilities, cuts
back new investments for electrical capacity development
that finally leads to electricity shortage. In Pakistan it is
reported that all the electric supply companies together
lost a total of 90 billion Rupees on account of theft and
line losses. The total mounts to 90 billion in a Year1.
shedding, while the financial loss happening from stealing
of electrical energy also does not allow electricity com-
panies to improve their distribution system of electricity.
What thieves usually do in their homes is that they hook
a wire to the main phase wire before the meter or they
connect the load from one phase wire from the electricity
pole and the other neutral wire they take from the meter
or it is the other way round2. Electric theft has become
such a big problem in our country. Our government has
opted for many different plans to prevent electric theft
but mostly these strategies were non-technical in nature.
These plans included making legislature and defining
hard punishments for thieves3. The block diagram of pro-
posed model is shown in Figure 1.

*Author for correspondence

 Prototype Development to Detect Electric Theft using PIC18F452 Microcontroller
Figure 1. Block diagram of system.
The basic principle for theft detection in this device is
current sensing. Current sensing is used to perform essen-
tial circuit functions. In our case we will use it to measure
how much current is flowing in a circuit, and then make
decisions on it6. The main difficulty while designing this
device was which type of electronic component to use to
sense the currents flowing in the wires. There were num-
ber of options such as Hall Effect Integrated Circuit (ICs)
such as ACS712 or to use current sensing relays. Basically
it came down to the two methods direct or indirect cal-
culation of current in a wire. The direct method used
current sensing resistors, Inductor Direct Current (DC)
resistors (using Ohms law to calculate I=V/R).The second
method was the indirect method, in this method the cur-
rent transformer, Rogowski Coil, RDS on and Hall Effect
devices are used5. There have been other proposals by dif-
ferent individuals proposing technical solutions such as
smart meters and using wireless billing techniques.4 We
used the current transformer due to its availability and
reliability.
2. Prototype Architecture
We divided the Prototype into five sections on the basis of
design and principle.
1. The signal conditioning section
2. The power section
3. The theft indication section
4. The PIC 18F452
5. The coding section
2.1. Signal Conditioning
The voltage signal is stepped down using a 220-12v trans-
former. Now a voltage divider circuit is used to further
step it down to approximately to 1volt Rms peak. Then
a coupling capacitor is used to separate the resistors and
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then a potentiometer is used to give the DC shift to the
signal. The DC shift is given so that the negative and the
positive peaks fall in the range of the PIC microcontroller
(i-e 0-5 volts). Then a buffer circuit is used. This circuit
is used so that two kilo Ohm pull up resistor that is used
with the microcontroller does not combine with the
potentiometer at the back end and form a voltage divider
circuit thus disrupting the circuit. A DC shift of 2.5 volt is
given by adjusting the potentiometer
2.2. Power Section
Firstly I used an adapter to convert 220v to 12volt dc and
one ampere current. And in this section I used a simple
regulator LM 7805 to convert to 12 volt to 5 volt dc. I
additionally used a Light Emitting Diode (LED) to indi-
cate whether the circuit is receiving the power or not. This
section is necessary to give the microcontroller the power
and also to power all the integrated circuits.
2.3. Theft Detection
The main purpose of this section is to sound the alarm. A
simple Field Effect Transistor (FET) is used in this section
as trigger mechanism. The signal from the microcon-
troller acts as a trigger which sounds the alarm through
the FET.
2.4. The PIC 18F452
The PIC 18F452 is the heart of the project all the cod-
ing done is C language is in the controller. My reasons for
choosing PIC 18F452 were its unique capabilities of low
voltage detection and digital signal processing. We used
MPLAB software and PIC2 programmer to burn the cod-
ing on to the Microcontroller.
3. Working Principle
The main principle on which the device works is to read
the current value and the voltage value at 220V 50 Hz and
then step it down to the level of the PIC microcontroller
and detect theft by comparing the forward current (main
phase line) and the reverse current. (Neutral line). This
device can be mounted before the meter. It will have to
be installed permanently before every meter. We can also
modify it so that it can be used as movable electricity theft
detection unit. There are various different applications for
this type of prototype. First of all it can be used as a theft
Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Saad Bin Yousaf, Mohsin Jamil, M. Zia ur Rehman, Asif Hassan and Syed Omer Gilani Syed

detection meter. Then this meter can also be used to find 5.1. Case1: No Theft Condition
the power consumed by the load and also this meter can
The Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5 shows the results
be used in the industry to manage their loads and to con-
when no energy theft was taking place. The Phase line and
trol electricity usage at the peak hours, thus playing an
Neutral Line currents are shown.
instrumental role in managing unit consumption in the
industry. This project can also be used for telemetry appli-
cations. It can also be used in industrial control system
and also it can be used in SCADA (Supervisory Control
and Data Acquisition System).

4. Flow Chart and Code

Description
Figure 2 shows the simplest flow chart. The proposed
hardware compares the forward and reverse currents. If
these are not equal, then alarm is ON which is indication
of energy theft. All calculations were done in RMS values.
Figure 3. Real-time current Signals (phase line current
The used code is given in appendix.
and neutral line current).

Figure 4. Real-time current values are shown on the LCD

(when no theft occurs).

Figure 2. Flow chart explaining logic.

5. Simulation and Results

The simulations were carried out using Proteus software.
The actual hardware was tested under no theft (Case1) Figure 5. Simulation on proteus software (real time values
and theft conditions (Case 2). can easily be compared to simulated values).

Vol 9 (45) | December 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 3
 Prototype Development to Detect Electric Theft using PIC18F452 Microcontroller
5.2. Case 2: At Theft Condition
The Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8 show the results
when energy theft was taking place. Now when theft
occurs the code in PIC microcontroller detects it and
sounds the alarm and displays it on the LCD. The oscil-
loscope shows the difference of the current in the two
wires.
Figure 6. Real-time current signals (phase line current
and neutral line current) are shown on the oscilloscope
(when theft occurs)
Figure 7. Real-time current values are shown on the LCD
(when theft occurs).
The LCD clearly shows the difference of the two cur-
rents and also shows the extra power being consumed at
the Load.
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6. Conclusion
The simplest and economical prototype was developed
and tested for energy theft applications. The results were
satisfactory.The most challenging part of the project was
current sensing part. We had decided that we would use
the Hall Effect IC to detect theft but due to the attenuat-
ing supply and undependable power source and also due
to the undesirable results we had to switch over to cur-
rent sensing part through the current transformers. Then
came the coding part the loop that converted the signal
to digital domain was a challenge itself. The time period
for one complete wave was 20ms (1/50Hz). Also the fre-
quency fluctuated. The system will be further developed
for commercialization with the support of local industry.
7. Future Recommendations
In future, a GSM module can be added to message a main
data center of any theft involved. A data Centre can be
made to monitor all meters at all times. A remote switch
can be added to remotely shut down the meter connec-
tion where the theft took place.
This device is just a prototype. To make it a market-
able project there are many different specifications will
have to be added. The improvements that can be made
are as follows:
1. A GSM module can be added to message a main data
center of any theft.
2. A data center can be made to monitor all meters real
time.
3. Theft can be detected and swift action can be taken to
apprehend thieves.
4. A remote switch can be added to remotely shut down
the meter connection.
8.References
1. Jamil M, Munir F, Khan AA, Mirza A. Telemetering and
billing system for spatially distributed electrical power
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Conference (INMIC); 2004 Dec. p. 3540.
2. Jamil M, Hashmi GM. Design and development of wire-
less energy metering for automatic billing in power sectors.
13th IEEE/IFAC Conference on Methods and Models in
Automation and Robotics (MMAR); 2007 Aug 2730;
Poland.
Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Saad Bin Yousaf, Mohsin Jamil, M. Zia ur Rehman, Asif Hassan and Syed Omer Gilani Syed

3. Patil S, Pawaskar G, Patil K. Electric power theft detec- clc;clear all; close all
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Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT); 2015 Feb 1820; USA. MeanSquared=sum(ySquared)/(length(ySquared)-1);
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9.Appendix
The following Matlab Code was used to implement on
DSP/ Microcontroller.

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