Senior Design Projects

ECS193 A/B Winter & Spring 2020

Design a Tracking and Crash Detection Device for All-Terrain Vehicles

Email **********
Name Farzaneh Khorsandi Kouhanestani
Affiliation Faculty at BAE

Project's details

Project title Design a Tracking and Crash Detection Device for All-Terrain Vehicles
Background All-terrain vehicles (ATV) are commonly used on agricultural operations to apply fertilizer and chemicals. inspect livestock and crops. supervise workers. transport personnel. mow grass. round up livestock. and carry and tow implements. However. ATVs are unstable vehicles due to the narrow wheelbase and track width and high center of gravity. which increase the chance of accidents. Many of the crashes occur in rural areas with no cellular service. The off-road crashes are especially problematic because of four main reasons: (1) the difficulty for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and other first responders to locate the crash site; (2) obtain access to the crash location. which may be a trail located in heavy woods; (3) render aid to the injured; and (4) transport the injured to the nearest hospital.
UC Davis Machine Systems Lab (MSL) is seeking a solution to address this issue by creating a portable device that can be installed on ATVs and notify first responders when a crash happens and providing information regarding vehicle’s location.
Description An initial prototype of the system is currently being developed by UC Davis Machine Systems Lab. Students will focus on developing code for the embedded system (probably a Raspberry Pi 4.0. e.g.. Linux/Python). a phone application to communicate with the embedded system and a cloud database. The embedded system must record ATV riding parameters and notify first responders when a crash occurs. Riding parameters will be measured by several sensors such as GPS. accelerometer. IMU. and gyroscope. MSL will be responsible for providing all sensors and codes/libraries on how to access and collect data from sensors.
Crash detection will be based on the status of some of the riding parameters. For example. if the gyroscope sensor indicates a large angle on the vertical axis. it probably means that the ATV is tilted. which indicates that a rollover accident might have happened. In summary. expert feedback will be provided for the students; therefore. their task would be to compare the real-time data to predetermined threshold values.

Design Criteria and Requirements
- Automatically raise a panic alert in the event of an emergency. even when the rider is unable to do so him/herself
- Collect riding parameters such as current ATV location. trip history. speed. acceleration. terrain slope. and vibration level. The riding parameters should be transferred to a cloud database (when internet connection is available)
- Track ATV in real time
- Allow users to create rider credentials. customized geofencing. licensing and servicing. and danger alerts.
- Turn off the ATV remotely if stolen and track it for faster recovery – MSL currently have a system that needs improvement. Detailed instructions and guidelines will be provided
- Improved asset utilization – know when the ATV is being used appropriately and when they are not (Machine Systems Lab will provide guidelines)
- Improve operator behavior – identify high risk operators and understand why they are high risk (Machine Systems Lab will provide guidelines)
Available resources
Machine system lab will provide:
- Knowhow on technical aspects of the project (how to detect a crash. data collection from sensors. etc.)
- Access to two models of ATV for testing the designed prototype
- Access to terrain for testing the prototype
- Pay for purchasing the required hardware and software
- Lab space for conducting the project
Furthermore. students are not required to work on the design and manufacturing of the prototype. However. if they want to participate that is also possible and MSL will provide assistance.
Deliverable Outcome
- A cloud database center maintaining ATV riding parameters of all users
- A phone application to allow users to visualize and interact with data
- A working prototype of the ATV tracking device – An assembled system with an algorithm that is capable of collecting data from sensors. communicating both a phone application and a cloud database. and raising a panic alert to first responders in case of a crash
- Comprehensive documentation of all code developed
Skill set desirable - The ideal team will have experience with cloud database centers. pre-processing data. and data visualization tools
- Phone applications (either Android or iOS)
- Knowledge of embedded systems is not required but can be helpful (a graduate student form BAE will help you to develop the prototype)
Phone number **********
Client time availability 30-60 min weekly or more
IP requirement Client wishes to keep IP of the project
Attachment Click here
Selected Yes
Team members N/A
TA Albara