PROJECT PROPOSAL

FOR
TI INDIA ANALOG DESIGN CONTEST 2014

On-
On-Road Accident Avoidance and Intimation
System

Submitted by:
Swapnil Jha
Prashant Gupta
Nikhil Kaira

Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Sandeep Singh Solanki
Associate Professor
Department of Electronics and Communication

Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra (Deemed University)

Ranchi
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. No. Title Page No.

1. Abstract 1

2. Introduction 2

3. Problem Statement 4

4. Proposed Solution 5

5. Technical Details 7

6. Details of Students and Mentor 12

 ABSTRACT

In today’s world with the ever expanding networks of roads and highways, the problem of road
accidents has emerged as a major concern for Governments around the world. These accidents are a
major cause for the increase in fatality rate. Though, about 3/4th of these accidents occur due to the
driver’s fault, people choose to overlook this fact and blame the entire responsibility on the
government. It can be said that the Government has been totally ineffective in implementing the
prescribed safety norms for driving. The minimal monetary funding given to the traffic regulation
institutions can be stated as an example while discussing the government’s poor work in
implementation of its own policies. However, the basic question comes to the point of the people’s own
responsibility in terms of usage of helmets and other protective gear, the use of dipper at night and
maintaining a proper speed. Most people ignore these very basic safety norms, thus increasing the
probability of suffering severe or even fatal injuries when involved in these accidents.

Keeping in mind the above facts and with the aim of enforcing the safety norms for driving on
the people, this project proposal discusses the design and application of a microcontroller based
Accident Intimation and Prevention Unit for two wheelers. The design includes the use of force sensors,
alcohol sensor, LDR and use of data from speedometer, microcontroller MSP430G2553 to analyze the
data and GSM modem for conveying the message to the concerned authorities in case of accidents.

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 INTRODUCTION

With the expansion in road network, motorization and urbanization in countries across the
world, the number of road accidents have been on a rise. Road traffic injuries (RTIs) and fatalities have
emerged as a major public health concern, with RTIs becoming one of the leading causes of deaths,
disabilities and hospitalizations thus imposing severe socio-economic costs across the world. Road safety
is an issue of national concern, considering its magnitude and gravity and the consequent negative
impacts on the economy, public health and the general welfare of the people.

World Health Statistics 2008, after a thorough research on this matter, cited in Global Status Report on
Road Safety that RTIs in 2004 were the 9th leading cause of death and at current rates by 2030 are
expected to be the 5th leading cause of death, overtaking diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
Here are some Key facts published by WHO:

• About 1.24 million people die each year due to road accidents.
• Road Traffic crashes have become the leading cause of death among young people, aged 15-29
years.
• About 50% of those fatalities on the roads are “vulnerable road Users”: pedestrians, cyclists and
motorcyclists.
• Only 28 countries of the world, have adequate laws that address all five risk factors (speed,
drunk-driving, helmets, seat-belts and child restraints).

Road accidents have earned India a dubious distinction. With over 130,000 deaths annually, the
country has overtaken China and now has the worst road traffic accident rate worldwide.
During the year 2010, there were around 5 lakh road accidents, which resulted in deaths of
134,513 people and injured more than 5 lakh persons in India. These numbers translate into 1 road
accident every minute and 1 road accident death every four minutes. Two-wheelers accounted for the
highest share in total road accidents (23.8%), followed by trucks, tempos, tractors and other articulated
vehicles (23.3%), cars, jeeps and taxis (21.8%), buses (9.5%), auto rickshaws (7.3%) and other motor
vehicles (7.8%).
The analysis of road accidents in terms of causal factors reveals that drivers’ fault is the single
most important factor responsible for accidents, fatalities and injuries. Drivers’ fault accounted for 78.0
% (389,885 accidents) of total accidents; 74.6 % (100,319) of the total number of persons killed and 79.8
% (420,823) of the total number of persons injured in road accidents in 2010. (Reference Report: Road
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accidents in India 2010- Government of India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Transport
Research Wing, New Delhi)
In category of the drivers’ fault, most common causes are: drunk driving, over-speeding, over-
loading of the vehicle. No helmet protection to the rider increases the fatality rates of these accidents.
While drunk driving and over-speeding, are concepts we are over familiar with, as the major causes of
accidents especially in the city, overloading of the vehicles is a common phenomenon in the rural parts
of the country. In recent studies it has been found that bikers with no helmet protection are likely to
suffer a head injury during a crash which may be 3.5 times severe than those with a helmet protection.
According to WHO helmet protection decreases the fatality rate by 40% and severity of the injury by
90%. The delay in communication of the accident information to the concerned authorities results in the
late arrival of medical services. Although there are several norms set by the governments around the
world, their ineffective implementation has failed in decreasing the rate or severity of the accidents.
The Accident Intimation and Prevention Unit is an effective way of ensuring that drivers carry
their helmets with themselves all the time. Also with the help of GSM module the information is
conveyed to the concerned person or authority at the time of accident. The speedometer data will alarm
the rider in case over-speeding. Same will be the case with over-loading. The doped alcohol sensors on
the helmet will ensure the effective reduction in drunk driving cases.

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 PROBLEM STATEMENT

The project deals with the basic concerns associated with safe driving. It also hopes to solve the
problem of immediate communication of information to the concerned authorities after the accident.

The basic problems that the project addresses are:

• Drunk-Driving: This category involves the maximum number of accidents in present time. It has
been a center of attraction for quite some time, with the number of cases rising every year. The
limited number of proper checking stops for drunk driving cases are unable to control this
problem.
• Over-speeding: Although every vehicle is provided with a speedometer, most people choose to
ignore it. Over-speeding is a problem usually associated with places with less traffic, highways,
and city roads after mid-night.
• Over-loading: The most common problem especially in a populous country like India. This
problem however is more common with the transport services of raw materials, where weight
of the materials exceed far more than the standard recommended weight. This may cause the
vehicle to slip or turn or put pressure on its internal parts.
• Helmet: Although mandatory in most of the countries, people choose to disregard this rule of
wearing a safety helmet while driving. Many researches support the fact that helmets are an
essential part of protective gear while driving.
• Switching on the Headlights: A major cause of concern for the long distance and weary drivers,
as they forget to switch on the lights while traveling. This is a prime reason for road crashes on
highways and hilly areas.
• Intimation of the Accident to the concerned Authority: Without proper knowledge of an
accident, the delay in the arrival of medical services may cost a person his/her life. Thus it
becomes important that the information of the accident is instantly conveyed to the concerned
authorities or the relatives of the driver.

These are the very basic causes and problems that the project hopes to deal with, and find a
proper solution.

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 PROPOSED SOLUTION

In this section, we propose a solution to all the major factors leading to motorbike accidents. The system
can be installed by the motorbike manufacture which will lead to better security of drivers and
passengers, and fast response from authorities and emergency contacts in case of an accident.

1. Over speeding
Recently, most of the motorbikes are installed with digital speedometer which continuously
shows the current speed of the motorbike. The proposed solution for this factor is continuous
monitoring of the speed with alarming system which is enabled when the safe speed is
crossed. This will enable the driver to drive safely and responsibly.

2. Over loading

The maximum capacity of a motorbike is two persons. Overloading not only reduces the drivers
control over the vehicle but also decreases the motorbike’s performance. The proposed solution
for this factor is monitoring the load on the motorbike with the help Force Resistive Sensors
placed in the seat. The driver will be alarmed if the load on the motorbike crosses the safety
standards.

3. Driving under influence of alcohol

The proposed solution for the factor is equipping the helmet with an alcohol sensor which
measures the alcohol content in the driver’s breath. If the system detects alcohol, it will not
allow the motor bike to start. This will prevent the driver to drive in a drunken state.

4. Low Light Intensity

It may happen that the driver overlooks low light intensity or the light from other vehicles
makes him unaware of the situation. This may be lead to serious accident. The proposed
solution for the factor is automatic switching on the headlights in case of less light intensity
with the use of Light Dependent Resistors and sensors.

In spite of taking all necessary measures there may be a chance of accident due to some unavoidable
mistakes not only on the driver’s part but due to other vehicles on the road as well. In such a case it will

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be critical for the security of the driver that he wears a helmet and in case of an accident, proper
information must be sent to authorities as well as to family members or emergency contact.

• In order to ensure that the driver has worn a helmet, we propose the following solution. We will
fit Force Resistive Sensor on the inside of the helmet which will detect the normal force when
the driver will wear it. The data from the sensor will be searched by the control unit of the
system. If the signal is not received, the control unit which will not allow the motor bike to
start by overriding the power system of the motorbike.

• To inform the contacts in case of an emergency, we propose the following solution.

Piezoelectric sensor will be fit close to the outside layer of the helmet. When a major accident
will occur, according to statistics, head is most likely to receive the impact. The mandatory
helmet will protect the driver. Along with this, the sensor will sense the impact and data will
be sent to the control unit, which will then send the information via a GPRS/GSM module to
the authorities and emergency contacts. The GSM section of the module will be used to
call/SMS and to get the exact location of where the accident occurred.

All the technical details of system and subsystems will be discussed in the next section.

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 TECHNICAL DETAILS

The system consists of 2 parts: 1 mounted inside the helmet and other in the motorcycle. The
system will be designed ergonomically keeping in mind the comfort of the driver.
We have used MSP430G2553 microcontroller for processing data received from various sensors.

The following is a block diagram of our system:

HELMET MODULE

Alcohol Sensor

Signal
conditioning unit

ADC
Signal
Impact Force RF Tx-Module
Sensing Unit
Conditioning
ADC MCU1 USAR
Unit T

Power Circuit

ACCIDENT INTIMATION MODULE

LDR for Automatic

Headlight Switching Overload Over-speed Detection
Detection Unit Unit Impact Sensors

ADC ADC ADC ADC

RF Rx-Module USART MCU2 GSM module

Input Power
Source Power Supply

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 The helmet module is powered from AA cells attached inside the helmet. The system has an
Alcohol Sensor ergonomically attached on the front side of the helmet which is used for sensing alcohol
content in driver’s breath. It also consists of several Force Sensing Resistances attached which will
measure the impact of force in case of accidents. RF transmitter is also attached which can be used for
sending the processed data from various signals. Various sensor modules used are:

• ALCOHOL SENSOR

We will use a MQ-3 alcohol sensor to sense if the driver is drunk or not. The MQ series of gas
sensors use a small heater inside with an electro-chemical sensor. They are sensitive for a range of
gasses and are used indoors at room temperature. They give analog output corresponding to the
presence of alcohol in person’s breath. The following circuit will be used as the alcohol sensor module.
The sensor needs a load-resistor at the output to ground. Its value could be from 2kOhm to 47kOhm.
The sensitivity of sensor is directly proportional to the resistor value whereas the accuracy is inversely
proportional to the value. It is shown as RL in the following diagram: -

• FORCE SENSING RESISTANCE (FSR)

A force-sensing resistor is a material whose resistance changes when a force or pressure is
applied. Force-sensing resistors consist of a conductive polymer, which change resistance in a
predictable manner following application of force to its surface. FSR is set up in a voltage divider
configuration along with a unity gain buffer. Texas Instruments’ LM358 Operational Amplifier will be
used for this purpose. The variation of force vs. load is shown below. As we can see that with increase in
force or impact the voltage output of the configuration increases. This allows us to choose a threshold,
when output voltage crosses that limit means accident has occurred.

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 • RF MODULE

The RF module, as the name suggests, operates at Radio Frequency. The corresponding
frequency range varies from 30 kHz to 300 GHz.

Transmission through RF is better than IR (infrared) because of many reasons. Firstly, signals
through RF can travel through larger distances making it suitable for long range applications. Also, while
IR mostly operates in line-of-sight mode, RF signals can travel even when there is an obstruction
between transmitter & receiver. Next, RF transmission is more strong and reliable than IR transmission.
RF communication uses a specific frequency unlike IR signals which are affected by other IR emitting
sources.

This RF module comprises of an RF Transmitter and an RF Receiver. The transmitter/receiver

(Tx/Rx) pair operates at a frequency of 434 MHz. A RF transmitter receives serial data and transmits it
wirelessly through RF through its antenna connected at PIN4. The transmission occurs at the rate of
1Kbps - 10Kbps.The transmitted data is received by an RF receiver operating at the same frequency as
that of the transmitter.

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The various pins of RF module are:
VCC -Voltage to be applied(5V)
GND- to be grounded
NC- Not connected
DATA- For transmitting and receiving data
ANT- To be connected to the antenna

The main accident intimation unit is attached to the motorcycle. It is powered from Motorcycles
battery so that as soon as the motorcycle is started the battery starts to power the system. Generally,
the output of motorcycle’s battery is 12V .This voltage is converted to 5V using LP-2951 Low Dropout
Voltage Regulator with Adjustable Output, for powering various peripherals of the system. The various
peripherals attached to the system are:

• GSM MODULE

We will use SIM900 GSM module for sending SMS in case of any accident to the concerned authorities.
The SIM900 Modem is coming with RS232 interface, which allows us to connect directly to the
microcontroller. Using AT command feature of GSM module we can also tell about the location of the
accident. This will help in bringing the help to that location as soon as possible.

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 • Over-Speed Detection Unit

The speed recorded by the inbuilt speedometer of the motorcycle can be used to detect if the person is
over speeding or not. Two modes of operation will be there Highway mode, wherein maximum speed
limit will be 80Km/hr. while in other mode of operation that is general mode the maximum speed limit
will be 50Km/hr. If the driver crosses this speed an alarm will ring. If the driver decelerates then only
the alarm will go off.

• Over-Load detection unit

FSR will be placed inside the seats and will be calibrated so that if more than 3 people are there an alarm
will go on which will only switch off if the load decreases or number of riders decreases to two.

• LDR Based automatic headlight switching

A photo resistor or light dependent resistor (LDR) is a resistor whose resistance decreases with
increasing incident light intensity. LDR’s will be used to measure the amount of light falling on
the vehicle which will decide whether it is day or night. Then accordingly headlight will be
automatically switched on.

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 DETAILS OF STUDENT TEAM MEMBERS AND FACULTY ADVISOR

Student Team Members

1. Swapnil Jha (Student Team Coordinator)

BE/1270/2011
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) - Electrical and Electronics Engineering
5th Semester
2. Prashant Gupta
BE/1485/2011
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) – Electronics and Communication Engineering
5th Semester
3. Nikhil Kaira
BE/1360/2011
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) - Electrical and Electronics Engineering
5th Semester

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Sandeep Singh Solanki

Associate Professor
Electronics and Communication Engineering
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi

Contact Details

Student Team Members Email Id Mobile No.

Swapnil Jha (Student Coordinator) swapniljha.jha@gmail.com 9572227745

Prashant Gupta prashantgupta2293@gmail.com 9570110159

Nikhil Kaira nikhilkaira05@gmail.com 9570110250

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Sandeep Singh Solanki sssolanki@bitmesra.ac.in 9334424256

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