Design, Simplification and Implementation of a Combinational Dam Gate Control Circuit with a Critical-Level Alert
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This work presents the design, simplification and experimental verification of a combinational circuit thatcontrols the gate of a dam from a rain sensor and two water-level sensors. The circuit obtained directly from theproblem statement, S = CH·(N1 + N2) + N1·N2 + N2, was simplified by three methods — Boolean algebra, thecanonical sum of products and a three-variable Karnaugh map — which all led to the same minimal equation, S =CH·N1 + N2. The minimal function was also rewritten using only NAND gates and only NOR gates, each requiringthree gates of a single type. The original and minimal circuits were assembled on an Exsto XD201 educational kitand simulated in Logicly, and the NAND and NOR versions were simulated; all outputs matched the truth table inthe eight input combinations. As an improvement, a second output F = N1·N2 was added as a critical-level alert,using one extra AND gate and leaving the gate command unchanged; it was also verified on the kit and insimulation. The simplification reduced the circuit from five gates to two without changing its behavior.
Author: Faria Rezende, João Bruno
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7224797229