Untitled - Om Agarwal

53 Pages·2012·18.42 MB·English

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Abstract/Synopsis
The high demand of automobiles today, has increased traffic hazards and statistically
road accidents. Life of drivers/passengers is under high risk.
This project is a centralized system which can detect automotive vehicle accidents
significantly in real time, allowing 911 to rush the needed support, to the appropriate
location without someone physically calling for support, potentially saving lives.
It essentially communicates the information to a 911 administrator by appending it to
their server’s database & through emailing; covering geographical coordinates, the time,
impact angle, Vehicle Identification No. (V.I.N.), for involved vehicles, etc.; clustering
them based on an Accident Reference No. (A.R.N.).
When an accident claim is received by the insurer from their client, a request of
authorization (of viewing the accident details) can be initiated (if the insurer is tied up
with 911, and has an account with the system) to the 911 administrator, after filing an
Information Query Request No. (I.Q.R.N.).
Upon receiving this request from a specific registered insurer, the 911 administrator has
the right to provide them with the appropriate accident details, and may also attach an
additional file (PDF/Word/Text/Image), with incident survey details, if any. Then the
insurer can view all this information from their dashboard.
The accident can be detected precisely with the help of the microcontroller and
piezoelectric sensors that will have to be implemented in each vehicle. Then the Ethernet
shield/module at the administrator’s end, turns that incoming data over to a web PHP
script after it has been communicated via radio modules. A dynamic web application has
been built for all the server-side functionalities.
This system provides the optimum solution to detect such collisions in the most feasible
way. Being a very reliable and cost efficient network, it has the potential to save
thousands of lives, of people who die each year because of being left stranded after an
accident too long, along with significantly decreasing the amount fake insurance claims,
and hit-and-run cases.

Web Address
http://www.acdn.omagarwal.net

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Question
HOW CAN WE NOTIFY 911 ABOUT THE OCCURANCE OF AN ACCIDENT IN
+
REAL TIME, IN ORDER TO SAVE LIVES AND LESSEN HIT-AND-RUN CASES
SHARE LEGITIMATE ACCIDENT INFORMATION WITH VEHICLE INSURERS,
ULTIMATELY TO CEASE FAKE INSURANCE CLAIMS?

Hypothesis
In my opinion, making vehicle bodies of piezoelectric material that can sense collisions,
and implementing microcontrollers, in each vehicle to process any impact/disturbance,
and having that communicated (if impact sensitivity is above a certain threshold) to the
nearest radio module, present at the 911 administrator, which then appends the incoming
data to a server-side database along with sending appropriate emails to the 911
administrator/medical rescue team, and giving them the right to authorize insurers upon
their request queries to view the genuine accident details, is a viable way to detect such
accidents.

Purpose/Benefits
The leading purpose of this project is to potentially save drivers’/passengers’ lives, by
notifying 911 administrators of the accident situation about a collision (that is above a
certain threshold in terms of force), in real time, highly increasing chances of survival of
the accident victim(s). The time between someone being left stranded after an accident
and it´s notification to an emergency service is fundamental to save lives. Several papers
claim that 1 in 10 deaths could have been saved if an automatic notification system like
this was implemented.
Additionally a side benefit is that all registered insurers, have a distinct account with 911,
from which, after receiving an accident claim from their client/driver, they can file a
request of authorization (of viewing the accident details) to the 911 administrator, who
has the right to provide them with this, and also attach an additional file
(PDF/Word/Text/Image), with extra incident survey details, which can be viewed from a
separate page within the insurer’s dashboard. This ensures a concrete accident claim
processing procedure, with little to no possibility of fraud in terms of faking the insurance
claim.
The question isn't how you can afford to add this kind of system; the question is, how can
you afford not to.

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Procedure
I. Research topic, gather info. about similar systems, and what they are lacking, in terms of
potentially being implemented

II. Analyze real world-setting dynamic cost & production parameters see pg. “Cost & Production
Analysis”

III. Design tentative project timeline + follow-up see pg. “Tentative Timeline”, and “Factual Timeline”

IV. Analyze & acquire the hardware needed to design a prototype for this project, and create the
circuit, block, and data flow diagrams + process flowcharts of the system see pg. “Electronics
Used”, “Circuit, Schematic & PCB Diagram/Design”, “Block Diagram”, “Data Flow Diagram”, and
“Process Flowchart 1 & 2”

V. Configure radio-modules (XBees S2) to communicate with each other + create a mesh network
see pg. “XBee Configuration”

VI. Program microcontrollers (Arduino Unos’), to process any impact/disturbance in piezoelectric
sensor analog readings, and dispatch that data, along with the impact angle, and the GPS
coordinates + time (received from GPS Module) over to the radio-module see pg. “Piezoelectric
Sensors Logic”, and “GPS Data Gathering”

VII. Configure/program the Ethernet module/shield to send the incoming data from the Xbee over to
a PHP script see pg. “Ethernet Module/Shield Programming”

VIII. Set up a local server (WAMP/XAMPP: localhost - 127.0.0.1), to run server-side scripts, and to
create a local database (after analyzing redundancies, and thorough normalization) see pg.
“LOCALHOST - 127.0.0.1”, and “Database Structure (Data Dictionary)”

IX. Write the PHP code to append the data (acquired from Ethernet module: GET Method) to the 911
administrator’s server’s database + send appropriate emails see pg. “Emailing + Database
Appending - PHP Script”, and “Sample Emails (to 911 admin & insurer)”

X. Design/develop the web application, to view accident records + vehicle details, file & authorize
I.Q.R.N.’s, and also explain about the implemented functionalities/system see pg. “Web-Based
Tech. Used”, “Distinguished Features”, and “Web Application Outlook/Design”

XI. Host website on private server, and provide access for the Super-User, 911 Admin., Insurer, and
the Motor Vehicle Registry Dept. see pg. “User Management & Rights”

XII. Study any scope of improvement & brainstorm extra features that can be implemented, along
with other external applications that the system can be applied to, that utilize essentially the
same procedural logic (component-wise) see pg. “Scope of Improvement”, and “Additional
Applications”

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Observations/Conclusion
The current version of this prototype (A.C.D.N. v1.2), includes all the features as initially
intended to fulfill the purpose…

The microcontrollers (Arduino Unos’) gather GPS coordinates, the automotive vehicle’s
V.I.N., and the piezoelectric sensor’s readings whenever they are out of a certain range
(force of impact). Then they forward that data, to the radio module (Xbee S2), over
serial, which is preconfigured to dispatch that data to the one at the 911 end that turns it
in to the microcontroller, over serial.
After that, the microcontroller (at the administrator’s end) forwards that data to the
Ethernet shield/module which puts it over to a PHP script, which appends the
appropriate data to the server’s database + sends emails to the 911 administrator(s), who
additionally have the right to authorize registered insurers, upon request, to view the
accident data.
All of this data can then be viewed, and manipulated by a web application, that has
been additionally built to serve the purpose.

So all in all, considering the current stage of the project, I’ve realized that this project has
the potential to not only benefit the society at a local community-level, but
internationally. But for now I believe, that every system always has some scope of
improvement, and this is no exception, therefore I would welcome any suggestions that
can aid in the further enhancement of this system.

Innovation
Although, in the initial stages of my research I did come across a few applications (listed
below) that can detect automotive collisions, they are based upon completely different
frameworks than this, and in my opinion lack some of the key features that are vital to
achieve the purpose of accident detection.
Accelerometer or GPS/GSM utilizing applications (“iBump”, “SOSMartApp”, “Collision Messaging Structure”, etc.):
Though these kinds of apps detect accidents in a fairly reliable way… and send information to 911, they can’t
detect any other automotive vehicle’s V.I.N. that was involved, and associate/cluster multiple incidents together.
Furthermore, due to the lack of piezoelectric sensors, they can’t estimate the force of the impact based on any
voltage produced. They also don’t save any kind of data to any database, for accountability/statistics, nor do
they provide any insight as to what is the angle of impact, as they’re completely dependent on the availability
of independent smart phones/available cellular networks. Additionally, insurers have no intuition whatsoever,
as to what sort of accident claim to pursue, ultimately defeating the purpose of ceasing fake insurance claims.
In contrast, evidently this project is a novel approach to deal with such an issue of
detecting automotive collisions. Now with all this dynamic/diverse functionality, I'm in
the process of achieving a copyright/patent for this application.

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Acknowledgments
Mr. Preston Stronach: Engineering Technician at Saint Mary’s University (Halifax, N.S.)
(cid:1) Presented helpful links regarding a few of my technical problems
Dr. Adam Sarty: Physics Professor at Saint Mary’s University (Halifax, N.S.)
(cid:1) Supplied informal guidance as to how to go about my project
My Parents
(cid:1) Gave intuition as to what extra a layman might be looking for in my project
(cid:1) Provided much non-technical guidance
(cid:1) Provided financial support
References/Bibliography
Video Training/Tutorials

- lynda.com
(cid:1) HTML & CSS Responsive Web Design
- udemy.com
(cid:1) PHP & MySQL Dynamic Web Development

Topic Research

- cbc.ca/news/canada/hit-and-run-cases-shoot-higher-across-canada-1.824886
(cid:1) Hit-and-run; helped with analysis + gave insight to some background statistics
- meaforensic.com/biomechanics-of-auto-accident-expert-witness-testimony-injury-causation
(cid:1) Presented understanding towards importance of insurance/insurer notifications
- ibc.ca/ns/auto/insurance-crime/
(cid:1) Fake insurance claims; provided intuition in regard to severity of insurance fraud

Technical Websites

- stackoverflow.com
(cid:1) Used for troubleshooting technical errors, and gaining insights into dynamic practices from other
programmers
- freecodecamp.com
(cid:1) Used for learning JavaScript & JQuery scripting, through an interactive programming environment
- sparkfun.com
(cid:1) Used for clarification on the distinction/properties of various electronic components, needed for this project
- digi.com
(cid:1) Used for learning about various RF modules and their specs – helped me decide to use Xbee S2
- arduino.cc
(cid:1) Used for downloading the IDE and learning about Arduino compatibilities, with other sensors/modules, and
the appropriate procedures
- jquery.com
(cid:1) Used for downloading and learning about the JQuery Libraries
- w3schools.com
(cid:1) Used for learning HTML attributes, and CSS styles
- php.net
(cid:1) Used for learning PHP functions, statements, and error codes
- mysql.com
(cid:1) Used for learning MySQL statements, clauses, and error codes

Textual

- Book
(cid:1) PHP and MySQL Bible by Tim Converse, Joyce Park and Clark Morgan (Wiley Publishing Inc.)
- PHD Thesis
(cid:1) Intelligent Methods for Embedded Systems by Wilfried Elmenreich

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