A Smart Vehicle Safety-Security System for the Prevention of Drunk Driving and Theft Based on Arduino and the Internet of Things

This paper addresses two safety issues regarding smart vehicles: that of intoxicated drivers (one of the most common causes for car accidents) and that of theft. More specifically, it presents the design and implementation of an intelligent system based on the Arduino-Mega2560 board. The issue of intoxicated drivers is addressed by using an MQ3 alcohol sensor that is capable of sensing the driver’s breath and a relay that immobilizes the vehicle if it detects alcohol above the permissible limit. Regarding theft, there are two safety layers: the first layer uses a fingerprint sensor which would not let the vehicle move unless the user is authenticated, while the second layer includes a GPS module that collects the information about the vehicle’s location and, through an incorporated GSM module, transmits the location data to an Internet-of-Things (IoT) server. The main contribution of the proposed system is that it treats two essential safety-security issues (drunk driving and theft) at the same time with the additional merits of low-cost implementation and easy placement and use within a vehicle.