AN IOT-ENABLED SMART HELMET FOR MOTORCYCLIST SAFETY: HELMET-USE ENFORCEMENT, ALCOHOL INTERLOCK AND AUTOMATIC CRASH ALERTING

Abstract

Motorcyclists account for a disproportionate share of road-traffic fatalities in low- and middle-income countries, and two behavioural factors dominate the fatality statistics: riding without a helmet and the delay between a crash and the arrival of medical assistance. This paper presents an Internet-of-Things (IoT) smart-helmet system that addresses both factors within a single low-cost platform. The system is organised as two wirelessly coupled modules: a helmet-mounted transmitter carrying a helmet-worn switch, an MQ-3 alcohol sensor, an ultrasonic proximity sensor and an OLED head-up display, and a bike-mounted receiver carrying a vibration sensor, a GPS receiver, a GSM modem and a relay in series with the ignition circuit. Ignition is enabled only when the helmet-worn condition is satisfied and no alcohol is detected on the rider's breath; when the vibration signature exceeds a calibrated threshold, the bike module transmits an SMS alert containing the latitude and longitude of the event to pre-registered emergency contacts and the nearest hospital. Blind-spot distance readings are stabilised by a median filter before being rendered on the helmet display, and sensor readings are logged as a CSV array for offline classification with an artificial neural network. The prototype was integrated on an instrumented motorcycle and evaluated at component, subsystem and system level. Bluetooth Low Energy 4.0 sustained the helmet-to-bike link, the median filter suppressed gross ultrasonic outliers that corrupted the arithmetic mean, and the wireless module tolerated under- and over-voltage excursions without damage. The results indicate that a functionally integrated safety helmet can be realised from commodity components at a cost compatible with mass adoption.