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Kadhir Umachandar

Class of 2025Sammamish, WA

About

Hello! My name is Kadhir Umachandar, and my Polygence project involves building an affordable car collision prevention system. I chose to work on this project because I wish to major in engineering and thought this was an exciting application that applies to the real world. After completing my project, I would like to publish an instructables.com post outlining the steps required to build this device so ordinary people can implement it in their older cars and help save lives.

Kadhir's Symposium Presentation

Project Portfolio

Is it possible to create a cheap and effective proximity sensor for a vehicle using an Arduino and distance sensor? This proposed system could act as a collision prevention system by sounding an alarm if the distance between an object and a vehicle decreases to a dangerous level.

Started June 5, 2023

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Abstract or project description

In 2021, frontal impacts accounted for 18 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in the US [1]. However, an onboard digital warning system could have easily prevented many of these collisions. Such a system can give a driver precious seconds to take action and avoid a crash. This is why most new vehicles have a built-in collision prevention system that uses radar to sound an alarm if it gets too close to whatever is in front of them [2]. These systems have been proven to reduce crashes and injuries from forward collisions by about 40% [3]. Unfortunately, older vehicles do not have this warning mechanism built in. To fix this problem, we propose an affordable collision prevention system with an Arduino Uno, an ultrasonic sensor, and a piezo buzzer that works similarly to a newer car.

References: [1] https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/passenger-vehicle-occupants#crash-types [2] https://caradas.com/adas-radar-sensor/ [3] https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/occupant-protection/advanced-driv[...]sistance-systems/data-details/