Automobile Black Box for Accident Simulation ABBAS

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Automobile Black Box for Accident Simulation
ABBAS
The American University of Sharjah
Sharjah, UAE
Team Members
Ghaleb Al Habian
Yousif Al Ali
Sadiq Saifi
Sameh Dana
Team Mentors
Dr. Mohammad Al Rousan
Dr. A. R. Al-Ali
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BOUNDRY
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Outline

• System Overview
• Why ABBAS and not the existing systems?
• System Requirements Hardware and Software
• System Architecture
• Hardware components
• System Software
• System Cost
• Limitations and Future Enhancements
• Marketing Plan
• Short Demo
• Distribution of Tasks
• Conclusion

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System Overview

• A black box is a device usually installed on a
  plane, its sole goal is to gather various types
  of data and store it.
• If an accident occurs to the plane, the data
  gathered by the black box can be used to clarify
  the accident.
• Our system achieves a similar goal, but for
  vehicles.
• It gathers data for the purpose of simulating an
  accident.
• A full system, from A-Z

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Why ABBAS and not the existing systems?

• National Safety Council statistics
• Death every 12 minutes in US
• Injury every 14 seconds in US
• 40,000 deaths in West Europe each year.
• On International rate, one death each minute.
• Limitations existing systems
• EDR (Event Data Recorder)
• RS-1000
• Other products by car companies

• No simulation.
• No data interpretation.
• No info about the surrounding environment.

• No simulation provided, only reports are
  generated
• Dependable on the car model.

• Concerned with position of the accident not the
  simulation or the causes.

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Hardware Requirements

• The system shall
• Have a single chip microcontroller with a
  built-in digital I/Os, ADCs, and memory (RAM
  EEPROM).
• Use only Gyro, Accelerometers and sonar sensors.
• Detect the surrounding objects around the car
  using the sensors.
• Use a serial communication capability to download
  the collected data to a host PC.
• Be compacted to be installed in the car.
• Operate using the car battery.
• Consume minimum power.
• Use a rechargeable battery to prevent loosing the
  data.
• Have keyed communication cable between the black
  box and the host PC.
• Stop recording at the moment the air bags is
  activated.
• The system design shall be scalable for easy
  future expansion.

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Software Requirements

• The Data Acquisition Engine shall be able
• to read from the sonars, gyro-meter and the
  accelerometer, and store all data in the memory.
• to read a minimum of 25 samples from each sensor
  per second.
• to record the last 30 seconds in before the
  accident occurs.
• to keep updating the data to have the latest
  30-second readings.
• The Simulator Engine shall be able to
• read the data from the serial port and store them
  in txt file.
• convert the data to a flash file format (binary
  format).
• scale the data to an appropriate readings.
• update the position of the car and surrounding
  objects.
• show the point of collision after the simulation
  ends.

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System Architecture
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Hardware Components
Sonars
CAR
Gyro
Axl-meter
12 V DC Supply
Sonars
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System Software

• Interactive C
• Efficient use of the memory.
• Smooth transition through the readings.
• Circular arrays.
• C
• Converts all numbers to binary.
• Fixed binary patterns for easy parsing.
• Flash
• Convert all the readings to appropriate pixels.
• Fade in and fade out according to the distance.
• Show all data to the right of the movie.

• Used for configuring the handy board to gather
  data and update them regularly.
• Concerned about what happened before the
  accident.
• Sample rate of 30 readings per second.

• Acts like a intermediate level between the handy
  board readings and flash simulation format.

• Regeneration of the accident using all the info
  retrieved from the handy board.

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Raw Accident data from Sonars, Gyro and
Accelerometer
Black Box
Sonar 1 Readings
Sonar 2 Readings
Sonar 8 Readings
Gyro Readings
RS232 Serial Interface Channel
Accelerometer Readings
Flash MX Simulator
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System Cost
Updated Cost()
Original Cost ()
Item
120 (40) (using single- chip µController)
360
Handy Board HC11
8X25200
8X60480
Sonar
50
50
Gyro
1X1111
2X1122
Accelerometer(s)
380 (300)
912
Total
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Limitations

• Simulations are not time-stamped
• The case of the car turning over was not
  considered
• The system is not able to differentiate between
  objects being cars or any other objects

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Future Enhancements

• Measure car rotation around z-axis to account for
  car turning over
• Increase simulation time, by increasing available
  memory
• Include more sensors for better accuracy
• Approach virtual reality using a 3-D simulation
  engine.
• Add GPRS and GPS modems to locate the exact
  location of the accident and transmit the data,
  time-stamped, to the police station and insurance
  servers.

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Marketing Plan

• System is independent of car brand, expandable
  and customizable to be interfaced with other
  existing car sensors.
• Custom Chips can be made to produce the product
  in Bulk quantities.
• The black box can be packaged in Resistant
  packaging to ensure safety of readings.
• Car manufacturers should be contacted for
  placement of Black Box in a safe chamber, that is
  strongly wielded to the Chassis of the car, and
  that has a controlled access mechanism.
• Finally, Legislation Issues, including patenting,
  privacy issues, and others

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Short Demo
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Team Members Contributions
Documentation
Hardware Design
Port mappings, expandability, hardware interface
Flash file format conversion
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Conclusion

• A full system, providing a solution for
  simulating an accident happening to the car from
  A-Z.
• Such a System has applications in
• Insurance firms.
• Legal issues.
• ITS (intelligent transportation systems)
• A manufacturable, marketable product utilizing a
  simple and effective design.
• With the future enhancements mentioned earlier,
  system has potential to become an essential
  element in all cars.

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Questions?