Accident Avoidance and Detection on Highways

Abstract

AbstractMethods and technologies to monitor fatigue levels of driver are being developed, tested and implemented. This project makes use of such technologies which make the car more intelligent, thereby preventing road accidents. There are very few systems existing that record and process data related to the human behavior, and even fewer that are implemented in commercial vehicles. In the current article, a real-time speed regulator in which the vehicle speed is a function of driver fatigue levels, location of the vehicle and its surrounding environment have been proposed. The proposed model uses an advanced method to identify signs of tiredness in drivers and adjust the vehicle speed accordingly to evade road accidents. The key apparatuses of the system consist of real-time sensors like gas sensors, eye blink sensors, blood alcohol level sensors, fuel gauges, impact sensors and a software interface with GPS for finding the location. The proposed project is an attempt to take a step toward safe vehicle navigation. The system automatically senses certain predefined zones and signboards, like school zone, residential zone, Ghat section, blind turn, sharp curve etc. For example, drivers usually over-speed on hilly roads, causing inconvenience and danger to the oncoming vehicles. Though there are safety signs along the road, they are violated by the vehicle drivers. This objective is achieved by using embedded systems to design a vehicle controller that controls speed by sensing the different zones or by defining specific color stripes for different zones and making use of a color sensor to sense the respective zones. The project comprises of the transmitter unit and the receiver unit. The transmitter unit is fitted with a transducer that senses the zone in which the vehicle is present. It then sends this zone status to the receiver unit. The receiver unit is fitted with a microcontroller for the embedded system implementation that takes the zone status from the transmitter and sends out a warning signal to the driver. After a few seconds, if the vehicle speed persists above a set threshold, the receiver unit adjusts the vehicle speed accordingly. Speed control is the need of the hour due to the increased rate of accidents reported every day. Road accidents can be reduced by taking measures like improved road traffic control and management, making the quality of road infrastructure better and making use of safer vehicles. The current safety systems are not sufficient to decrease the number of road crashes. It is necessary to make use of smart speed control in which vehicle speed limit is set by vehicle itself, based on zones, traffic density, etc. In case the color sensor is used, the developed system detects color of specific intensity and accordingly activates/deactivates the speed control system inside the color strips marked on the road. When the vehicle enters roads where the speed is required to be limited, the automobile transducer detects the color and the position of throttle/fuel pump/engine valve which determines vehicle speed control within the established limit is adjusted accordingly. When the system is triggered, the vehicle is controlled within that limiting speed and until the next color strip is crossed. Both the methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. The embedded system approach is futuristic but difficult to implement while the color strip approach is simple and economical. The systems can also be used to alert traffic authorities if rash driving persists, which can be deduced by analyzing the speed control system operation data. The existing devices can only detect rash driving on highways but cannot control it. Also, they involve a lot of human effort, which makes them inaccurate. In this paper, we design a system that not only detects but also regulates dangerous vehicle driving patterns. With the quick development of automobile industry, road safety is becoming a serious problem in recent decades. Major accident-prone areas are sharp turnings, steep slopes, pot-holes, a concealed crossroads, covered safety signs or conditions where the oncoming traffic is obscured. However, it is difficult to find a perfect solution to the problem as a vast majority of vehicles are manned, not automated. Driver weariness is a major reason behind a most accidents. Majority of the traffic accidents occur due to human error and can be avoided by the use of the above-mentioned systems.KeywordsAccident avoidanceSpeed limit sensorColor sensorCurve detectionAuto braking