Car Safety System With Airbag Notification

Car Safety System With Airbag Notification

How It Works

• A camera module continuously watches the driver's eyes/face; when closure duration or inattentiveness crosses a threshold, the controller logs a fatigue event and — where a network connection is available — uploads a captured frame for review.
• A vibration or MEMS accelerometer sensor mounted on the chassis detects the sudden deceleration signature of a collision.
• On impact detection, the controller triggers the airbag inflation mechanism (a relay-actuated CO2 cartridge in a full build, or a servo-actuated demo mechanism for a prototype) and simultaneously commands the GSM module to send an SMS with GPS coordinates to emergency contacts.
• A confirmation sensor checks whether the airbag actually inflated within a short time window; if not, the controller treats this as a system failure and sends a second, escalated distress message — flagged for emergency/police attention — so the lack of an airbag confirmation doesn't leave the incident unreported.

Components

Raspberry Pi or ESP32-CAM (camera-based fatigue monitoring)
Camera module
Arduino Uno/Mega (impact + airbag + GSM control)
Vibration sensor or MEMS accelerometer (impact detection)
GSM module (SIM800L/SIM900) for SMS alerts
GPS module (NEO-6M) for location data
Relay module + airbag/inflation actuator (demo: servo-actuated mechanism)
Buzzer (local alert)
Battery pack / vehicle 12V supply regulation

Applications

• Personal and commercial passenger vehicles
• Fleet and long-haul trucking driver monitoring
• Insurance telematics and post-accident reporting
• Two-tier safety add-on for older vehicles without built-in accident alert systems

Advantages

• Preventive (fatigue detection) and reactive (impact response) layers in one system
• GPS-tagged GSM alerts cut the time to locate and reach an accident
• Fail-safe escalation covers the case where the airbag itself doesn't deploy
• Demonstrates a realistic embedded + IoT + GSM integration for a final year viva

Sample Code — Impact Detection with GSM Alert & Airbag Fail-Safe

// Simplified impact -> airbag -> GSM alert logic — Arduino
int vibrationSensor = 2;
int airbagRelay = 7;
int airbagConfirmPin = 8; // HIGH once airbag inflation is confirmed
bool alertSent = false;

void sendSMS(String message) {
  // AT command sequence to GSM module (SIM800L) - simplified
  Serial.println("AT+CMGF=1");
  delay(200);
  Serial.println("AT+CMGS=\"+91XXXXXXXXXX\"");
  delay(200);
  Serial.print(message);
  Serial.write(26); // Ctrl+Z to send
}

void setup() {
  pinMode(vibrationSensor, INPUT);
  pinMode(airbagRelay, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(airbagConfirmPin, INPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
  if (digitalRead(vibrationSensor) == HIGH && !alertSent) {
    digitalWrite(airbagRelay, HIGH);      // trigger airbag
    unsigned long t0 = millis();
    bool confirmed = false;

    while (millis() - t0 < 2000) {        // 2s confirmation window
      if (digitalRead(airbagConfirmPin) == HIGH) { confirmed = true; break; }
    }

    if (confirmed) {
      sendSMS("Accident detected. Airbag deployed. Location attached.");
    } else {
      sendSMS("ALERT: Accident detected, airbag FAILED to deploy. Immediate assistance needed.");
    }
    alertSent = true;
  }
}

Related Research

• Automatic Driver Drowsiness Alert and Health Monitoring System using GSM — IJERT
• Driver Drowziness Detection System with GSM Alert using Piezoelectric Sensor — IJERT