International Journal of Engineering and Techniques - Volume 1
Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN: 2395-1303
http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 55
Design and Implementation of Data Logger for Vehicle Safety EiEi
Thwe1, Theingi2 1(Mechatronic Engineering Department,Mandalay
Technological University, Mandalay, The Republic of the Union of
Myanmar) 2 (Mechatronic Engineering Department,Western Yangon
Technological University, Yangon,The Republic of the Union of
Myanmar) I.INTRODUCTION The vehicle accident is a major public
problem in manycountries,particularlyMyanmar.Despite awareness
campaign, this problem is still increasing
duetodriver'spoorbehaviourssuchasspeed
driving,drunkdriving,drivingwithoutsufficient
sleep,etc.Thenumbersofdeathanddisabilityare
veryhighbecauseoflateassistancetopeoplewho
gottheaccident.Thesecausehugesocialand
economicburdenstoppeopleinvolved.Therefore,
severalresearchgroupandmajorvehicle
manufacturershavedevelopedsafetydevicesto
protectdriversandpassengersfromaccidental
injuries.However,goodsafetydeviceforvehicles is difficult to
implement and very expensive. On the
roadwaydriverusuallykeepasafetydistancefrom
oneanother.Ontheotherhand,duetothedrivers
interruption,long-timedrivingtiredness,ora
suddenbreakappliedbyanothercar,aserious collision may occur. Even
though the driver is in a
consciousmind,hecannotrespondimmediatelyto control his/her vehicle.
Sometimes crash may occurs
duetobadweathersituationsasmist,vapour,fog and so on. Many cases
remain pending due to unknownreasonofanaccident[1].Forvehicle
safetyandsafetyforpassengersinvehicleisan
importantparameter.Mostofthevehiclesget
accidentbecausenopropersafetymeasuresare taken especially at curves
and hair pin bends humps and any obstacles in front of the vehicle
[2].Vehicle is the first place where safety starts. Hence we must
trytoequipitwiththelatesttechnologiesand measures to make it a safe
machine and also to keep our self and our loved ones safe. Always
remember thatsafetystartsandendswiththepersonwho drives the
vehicle. The cars and trucks found today
havehighrangeofinbuiltsafetyaccessoriesto
protecttheirpassengers.Beforeitusedtobejust seatbelts, but now more
features have been included whicharemoreadvancedandefficientthan
seatbelts.Warningalertsandalarmsareother security systems
incorporated in the cars and trucks
toalertusaboutvariousfactorslikeexceeding speed limit or smoke
alarms. These are designed to makethepassengersawareofcrossingthe
limitationswhichisimportantinmostofthetime
andinmostcases.Inthesamewayherean RESEARCH ARTICLEOPEN ACCESS
Abstract: Astherisingof transportationsystem design,
somanydatalogger designwasdeveloped forsafety. Inour country, there
are many accidents on highways. Both drivers faults and road
construction cause accidents. To reduce these condition some safety
systemsuchasobstacledetectionsystem,vehicledeclinationalarmsystem,temperatureandsmokeleveldisplayunit,
signboardwarningonroadsidesshouldbeusedforbothdriverandpassengers.Inadditiondataloggersystemforwhole
vehiclemustbeequippedforsafety.WiththeimplementationofPICmicrocontrollerasanEmbeddeddevice,thislogger
designwasconstructedwithmanysensorsandC#service-baseddatabase.UsingArduinoboards,vehicledetectionsensing
circuit, Check point radio signal sensing circuit for dangerous
road sector, hall-effect magnetic wheel revolution sensing circuit
were designed tobe connected withmain PIC microcontroller and
PersonalComputer.Real time resultwas displayedon C# Graphical User
Interface and Vehicle data log could be easily exported to
Microsoft Excel report. Keywords -Arduino, alarm and alert
system,C# service-based database, PC based control system, Vehicle
datalogger. International Journal of Engineering and Techniques -
Volume 1 Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN: 2395-1303
http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 56
embeddedsystemhasbeendesignedtomakethe
journeyofthepassengersinsideavehiclesafeand
securewithvariousrecentlyfoundsafetyand security measures [3].
Therearedifferenttypesofvehiclecontrol
systemsthathavenoflexibilityoverchoosingthe
typesandnumberofsensorsused.Thesesystems are rebuilt devices with a
limited number of sensors,
withalimitedareaofcoverageandwithalimited capacity to control the
electronic devices. Therefore theidea of vehicle control system was
proposed, to overcomethelimitationsofthesystemalready
available.Theusercanchoosethenumberof sensors, type of sensors, the
area of coverage of the systemalongwiththenumberandtypesof
electronicdevicestobecontrolled.Thecostofthe
systemcanbedeterminedbytheuserasthecost depends on the hardware in
the system. Fig.1. Block Diagram of Vehicle ControlSystem
Theblockdiagramofvehiclecontrolsystem
showninFig.1isforoveralldesignofsafety
systemforbus.Inthisblockdiagramseatandbelt
sensingcircuit,smokeleveldetectioncircuit,
temperaturesensingcircuit,obstacledetection
circuit,wheelrevolutionsensingcircuit,traction
sensingcircuit,radiofrequencyreceiver,radio
frequencytransmitter,alertsystem,personal
computer,C#service-baseddatabaseandliquid crystal display are
shown.TractionSensingCircuitgivesthedeclination
angleofthebusandthedrivercanknowiteasily.
WheelRevolutionSensingCircuitgivesalsothe
actualdistancetravelled.ObstacleDetectorisused
forfrontandbacksection.Alertsystemisadded
toofordangerousconditions.Theradiofrequency
module,thebuswillgetspecificsignalfromthe
transmitterplacedondangerouscheckpoint.
Importantrecordsuchasrecordtime,engine
temperature,enginesmokelevel,backobstacle detection status, front
obstacle detection status, mile
travelledanddeclinationangles.Thesystemwas
implementedusingMPLABsoftwarewithHi-tech
CcompilerandC#programmingbasedon PIC18F4550 as USB HID. It was
tested for stability and satisfactory operation. II. COMPONENTS OF
THE SYSTEM Thedataloggersystemisconsideredwiththe following
implementation of: DesignforRadioTransmitterandReceiver section
Design for Traction Sensing section Design for Wheel Revolution
Sensing section Design for Obstacle Sensing section
DesignformaincontrolsectionbetweenC#
programminglanguageandUSBHIDPIC microcontroller Design for
Graphical User Interface section Design for Database section. A.
Radio Transmitter and Receiver Circuit Design Fig.2. Checkpoint
Placement on Highway Theblockdiagramofbussafetysystemshown
inFig.3istodesignthesafetysystemfor
transmittersection.Inthisblockdiagramsolar panel with battery
charger, battery and 5V regulator,
microcontrollerandradiotransmitterareshown.
Eachradiotransmitteroneachdangerous
checkpointonhighwayshouldtransmitdifferent
signalsothatreceiveronbuscandistinguish International Journal of
Engineering and Techniques - Volume 1 Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN:
2395-1303 http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 57
specificcheckpoint.AcceptablebaudrateforRF
moduleKST-TX01is1200.Thelunchdistanceof
thatmoduleis150metershowninFig.2.Sothe minimum distance between two
checkpoints should be greater than 300 meter. Fig.3. Block Diagram
ofCheckpoint Transmitter Section
Eachcheckpointcoverswholecircleof150
meterradius.Thetransmitsignaluses8bitswide
sonumberofcheckpointscanbeextendedupto
255accordingASCIIcodetable.Solarpanel
generatesupto12Volts,andthebatterywillstore
andrechargepowertoregulatorcircuit.The7805
regulatorICcircuitwilldrivemicrocontrollerand RF module with 5
Volts. Necessary circuit diagram is shown in Fig.4. Fig.4. Circuit
Diagram of Checkpoint Transmitter Section Fig.5. Flowchart of
Checkpoint Transmitter Section The flowchart shown in Fig.5 is for
the operation ofcheckpointtransmitter.Firstlythe
microcontrollerwillinitializeinput/outputports.
Andthenbaudrate1200issetupandspecific signal for its checkpoint
will be generated. Until the
programisrestarted,thesignalwillbegenerated repeatedly. B. Traction
Sensing Circuit Design Fig.6. Block Diagram ofADXL345 Accelerometer
and RF Receiver Section Theblockdiagramofvehiclesafetysystem,RF
receiver,microcontroller,ADXL345accelerometer and speaker are shown
in Fig.6. Fig.7. Circuit Diagram of ADXL345 Accelerometer and RF
Radio Receiver USBtoRS232moduleisusedtocommunicate
ArduinowithPC.Fortractionsensingcircuit,
ArduinoprominiisusedwithADXL345(3axis)
sensorsothatthedangerousdeclinationangleof the bus will be sent
back to PC. The receiver needs to check incoming signal from
road-side checkpoint towers placed on dangerous zone. It needs to
check thelistedorpredefinedcheckpoints.Accordingto
checkroutinethebuzzerwillmakesound.PC
displaywillbeupdatedwithcheckpointnumber.
Eachradioreceiveronbusshoulddistinguish
incomingsignalwhetherbusreachdangerouszone or not. Necessary
circuit diagram is shown in Fig.7. International Journal of
Engineering and Techniques - Volume 1 Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN:
2395-1303 http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 58 Fig.8. Flowchart for
ADXL345 and RF Receiver System The flowchart represents loop
function of traction sensingandradioreceivershowninFig.8. Typically
baud rate 9600 is used for communication
betweenmicrocontrollerandPC.AnotherUART
communicationof1200baudrateisusedas
softwareserialforradioreceivingpart.Whenever
checkpointdatareceive,buzzerwillbeenergizing as beat of alarm
signal. C. Wheel Revolution Circuit Design Fig.9. Wheel Revolution
Sensing Circuit Hallsensorisusedforwheelrevolutioncounter is shown
in Fig. 9. is added and total mile travelled
willbedisplayedonLCDdisplay.Thesensor generates 2.5V normally but
when magnet on wheel approaches near to sensor, it will generate
greater or lessthan2.5V.Inabovedesignbyturningpolarity magnet is
placed so that sensor generates over 2.5V.
Variableresistorcanbeadjustedtomeetrequired
intensity.LM358OpAmpisusedforcompare positiveterminal
andnegativeterminal.The output terminal of Op Amp is connected to
Arduino digital input pin. D. Distance Sensing Circuit Design
Fig.10. Block Diagram of Obstacle Detection Circuit
InFig.10,anultrasonicdistancesensoris
mountedinfrontandbackofthevehicletodetect
theobstaclesupto13ftapart.Ultrasonicsignal
transmissionandreceivingareperformedby
ArduinoProMiniboard.Ifnearbyobstaclesare
detected,ArduinowillsendsignaltoPIC microcontroller. Fig.11.
Flowchart for Obstacle Detection System Above flow chart shows how
ultrasonic distance sensingworks.Whensenseddistanceislessthan
200cm,Arduinopinforbuzzerwillbehighand
outputpintoPICwillbeactivated.Whenthe International Journal of
Engineering and Techniques - Volume 1 Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN:
2395-1303 http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 59
distanceisgreaterthan200cm,Buzzerwillbe
stoppedandoutputpintoPICwillbedeactivated.
Untilprogramstop,theroutinewillberepeated infinitely. E. Main
Control Section Fig.12. Flowchart for Alarm and Alert Control When
program start, it will send bus temperature, engine temperature,
bus smoke level, front obstacle
detectorandbackobstacledetector.Ifall
temperatureisexceededdesiredtemperature,
temperaturealarmwillbeON.Ifnot,temperature
alarmwillbeOFF.Andthen,smokelevelis
exceededdesiredsmokelevel,smokelevelalarm will be ON. If not, smoke
level alarm will be OFF. Therefore,ifthereissomethingfrontandbackof
thecar,obstaclesaredetected,obstaclealarmwill be ON. If not,
obstacles alarm will be OFF. Fig.13. Flowchart for PIC
Microcontroller in Vehicle System International Journal of
Engineering and Techniques - Volume 1 Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN:
2395-1303 http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 60
Wheninputbufferstartedwith0x86addressis
receivedfromPC,themicrocontrollerreadsADC
valuesatitsanalogpinsandthensendsthevalues as array of hexadecimal
value to PC.Wheninputbufferstartedwith0x99addressis
receivedfromPC,themicrocontrollerreadspin status at its digital
pins and then sends the values as array of hexadecimal value to
PC.Wheninputbufferstartedwith0x88addressis
receivedfromPC,themicrocontrollerreadsclock pulse at its digital
pins and then sends the values as array of hexadecimal value to
PC.Wheninputbufferstartedwith0x84addressis
receivedfromPC,themicrocontrollerreads incoming data from and then
drives its digital pins.Wheninputbufferstartedwith0x81addressis
receivedfromPC,themicrocontrollerreads
incomingdatastringinmessageandthendisplays on LCD display.
StartSearch USB HID and USB SerialCalculate MileTravelled
andDisplay on GUIControl Alarm andAlertExit?Endes!oDisplay
Declination an"les and Chec#pointAdd Data to Data$ase per
second%ead Data &rom USB Serial and Display on GUISend %e'uest
Start (ith )x*+Display Analo" ,alue on GUISend %e'uest Start (ith
)x--Display Seat . Belt on GUISend %e'uest Start (ith )x**Send
Strin" (ith %e'uest Start (ith )x*/ Send 0utput Status (ith %e'uest
Start (ith )x*1 Fig.14. Flow Chart for C# Program Control for
Vehicle System Whenprogramstarts,itwillsearchUSBHID device
according to their ID and also lists the serial
COMportoftractioncontrolcircuit.Asthe
frequentlyrepeatrequestitwillsendcommand started with 0x86
addresses. And then program will
acceptincomingdataandwilldisplayandrecord
analogsensormeasurementvalues.Itwillsend
requeststartedwith0x99addressforseatandbelt
GUIrepresentation.Fordistancetravelled measurementoption,it
willsend commandaddress
0x88.Accordingtothedesiredtemperature,alarmand
alertwillbeoperatedanditwillwritedatatoPIC
withaddresscommand0x84.Fordisplayoption
programwillcollectbusinformationandwillsend
toPICwithcommandaddress0x81fordisplay option.Usingonesecondcounter
,someimportant input data will be recorded in database.
ProgramwillcollectserialRS232signalwith
baudrate9600.ArduinoprominiusingADXL345 library is used for
displaying X,Y,Z axis declination angle reading and checkpoint
indicating. Fig.15. Main controller Circuit Diagram
USBinterfaceofmicrocontrollerwasusedto
connectC#GUIofpersonalcomputer.USBHID
(universalserialbushumaninterfacedevice)was implemented with MPLAB
software with Hi-TechC compilersothatnomoreUSBdriverisneeded.
LCDDisplaycanbeupdatedeasilyfromGUI control. So any other messages
can be applied to all passengers. International Journal of
Engineering and Techniques - Volume 1 Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN:
2395-1303 http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 61 III.GUI IMPLEMENTATION
AND TESTING Fig.16. Real Time Control C# GUI
TheGUIwasimplementednotonlyfor
monitoringsystembutalsofordynamiccontrolin
thealarmandalertsession.Drivercanalsoeasily repair message signal
on LCD display to passengers. IntherunningconditionshowninFig.16
softwaresystem,passengersarealreadysatand
buckledthesignalwillbealertisgreen.Ifnot,the
signalwillnotbealertgreen(onepersonortwo
personetc.)isabsent.Andthen,alarmsystemis
addedonthebus.Therefore,alsoaddedfront
obstaclealarm,backobstaclealarm,temperature alarm (engine
temperature and car temperature) and smoke level alarm. If there is
something front of the car,alarmwillringandfrontobstacleswitchwill
showredsignal.Similarity,ifthereissomething
backofthecar,alsoalarmwillringandback obstacle button will show red
signal.Whentheinputtemperatureforvehicleand
engineisincreasedoverdesiredlimit,thealarm
systemwillstartandthisconditionwillbe
displayedonLCD.Itwillrepeatandcheckuntil
programstops.Thedesiredlimitsfortemperature
sensingcanbeeasilyupdatedwhileprogram executing. IV. DATABASE
DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING Fig.17. Database Table Design
ByusingC#service-baseddatabasefeature,
abovetableisconstructedwithseventypesof
vehicleinformation.Ineverysecond,programwill store not onlyrecord
time but also temperature and
smokelevelofvehicleengine,FrontandBack
Obstacledetectionstatus,travelledlengthand
vehicledeclination.Thedatabasefileisplacedat the specific place on
hard-drive. Fig.18. Recorded Log in every second
WithGUIimplementation,startandend button were created for start and
end of storing data. Clear button stands for Database clear option.
For userfriendly,ShowandHidebuttonwere
createdforshowandhidefordatagridview.User
caneasilycheckbackvehiclestatusforevery second. Sample of recorded
data table was shown in above figure. International Journal of
Engineering and Techniques - Volume 1 Issue 4, July Aug 21! ISSN:
2395-1303 http://www.ijetjournal.orgPage 62 Fig.19. Exported data
in Microsoft Excel format Exportbuttonwascreatedforexportdatato
MicroSoftExcelsothatdatacanbesavedas MSOFFICE format. For security
reason, start and endbuttonwerelockedwithadministrator password.
V.SOFTWAREREQUIREMENTSAND SYSTEM WORKING
WhilePIC18F4550isconnectedwithPC,no
moreUSBdriverisneededbecauseitis
programmedasUSBHIDdevice.Butwhileusing
ArduinoProMinasaUSBcompatible,USBto
TTL(Prolific)moduleanddriverareneeded.
DevelopedProgram(.exe)willworkonmostof
windowssuchaswindow732-bitand64bit, window xp 32-bit and 64-bit
because it is compiled with any CPU option. VI. CONCLUSIONS
Thisvehiclecontrolsystemiseffectively
achievedbyusinggraphicaluserinterface,visual
C#programminglanguage.Theinterfacebetween
thecomputerandthevehiclecontrolsystemis
controlledbyUSBHID.Inthissystem,GUIis
developedtomonitorandcontrolthesystem.
Hardwareofvehiclesystemisdesignedwiththe
prototype.Theoperationistestedbyinterfacing
withGUI.Itcanbemonitored fromcomputer.The
loggeddataineverysecondcanbereviewednot
onlyindevelopedprogrambutalsoinMicrosoft
excel.Thedisadvantageisthatsystemcanonly detect obstacle within
13ft range by using ultrasonic
sensor.Thereareothertypeofsensorswhichcan
detectmorerange.Asadvantage,therecanbe
reductionofoccurringaccidents,safetyand comfortable of passengers
by using this system. It is possibletouseasnotonlyanautomatedalert
system but also good data logger, it also saves time and cost.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT TheauthorisdeeplygratefultoDr.WutYiWin,
AssociateProfessorandHead,Departmentof
MechatronicEngineering,MandalayTechnological University,
accomplishedguidance, herwillingness
toshareherideaand,helpfulsuggestionsandfor
herpatience,continuoussupervisionand encouragement during a long
period of this paper. REFERENCES
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