Students develop low-cost sensor to help prevent road accidents

The system would monitor the driver’s health when she enters the car. The device, equipped with several sensors, can check the driver’s pulse rate and blood alcohol level, too. “This system is designed to prevent road accidents, monitor the health condition of the driver and report the results using a GPRS module,” Nandhini S, who led the team from SA Engineering College, told DT NEXT on Wednesday. 

She said a web page has also been created to update the observations periodically. The data would be used for analysis and research.

“If the device detects that the driver is under the influence of alcohol, it will ensure that the vehicle cannot be started,” said Priyanga T, a team member. 

An ultrasonic sensor fitted on the vehicle would measure the distance between any obstacles in its way at a 360-degree angle. According to Priyanga, the sensor would measure the distance between other vehicles from all directions. “If any vehicle goes beyond the threshold value, then it automatically alerts the driver with a buzzer,” she said, adding that the values which are recorded by the sensors would be displayed to the driver. 

Another team member R Raajasree said the sensor would alert the driver if the driver’s pulse rate was abnormal. The date would be periodically updated on a cloud platform and an alert SMS would be sent. 

“A SIM card will be inserted into the GPRS/GSM module to send the message instantly,” she said adding, “the alert message will be sent instantly to the nearby hospitals and the relatives of the driver.” 

The device would be powered by the vehicle’s battery.