Tirur: Imagine a car that will stop on its own if there are vehicles or any blocks in front of it. A car that doesn't start if the driver is drunk or if the seat belt is not fastened. A car that shuts down if the person behind the wheel sleeps while on the move. A 'white box' that has several such features has been built by a group of students.
Developed jointly by K Adarsh, P Akbar, K Vaishakh and Adil Hassan under the aegis of Tirur SSM Polytechnic College IEDC, the equipment was unveiled last week.
Aimed at reducing accidents involving vehicles, efforts to develop the equipment began about three years ago. A survey was conducted, and a plan was submitted to the government, which approved it and allotted Rs 2 lakh.
Last week, the students successfully completed their mission after buying a car for Rs 1 lakh and developing the white box and fitting it in the vehicle.
The equipment has been built with a radar that will detect obstacles at a particular distance and trigger the brake system. If the driver is drunk, the equipment detects this and will raise an alarm.
If the driver dozes off, the electronic setup in the camera will shut down the engine. Only if the driver fastens the seat belt, he or she will be able to start the vehicle. If the driver uses his or her mobile phone while driving, it will sound an alarm.
The equipment will also have auto dim and bright facility in response to oncoming vehicles at night. Moreover, the equipment also has facility to inform the exact place of the vehicle to phone numbers saved in it in case of an accident or theft.
The equipment that can potentially reduce accidents cost the students less than Rs 25,000 to develop. On the day of unveiling, the car fitted with the equipment did a trial run and display.
