UAE students design smart road safety device for drowsy drivers

The youngsters had developed the project in three months as part of their high-school graduation projects.

Three high school students in Abu Dhabi have designed a smart road safety device that can rouse drivers falling asleep while behind the wheels.

The smart device can monitor motorists throughout their driving journey and wake them up by talking to them using an intelligence system or by using warning lights or horn if the driver is drowsy.

The Emirati students - Hessa Al Kaabi, Amna Al Baloushi, and Mira Al Raqiqi - from the Applied Technology High School in Al Ain, said they were inspired to create the smart device for road safety after understanding that most accidents reported on the UAE roads resulted from fatigue or drowsiness.

The youngsters had developed the project in three months as part of their high-school graduation projects.

Traffic reports have revealed that exhaustion and drowsiness are among the leading causes of accidents, especially in the evening hours and during the month of Ramadan. According to traffic experts, fatigue weakens a driver's ability to maintain focus and lowers the speed of their reflexes. "We came up with the idea of developing this smart device with the aim of reducing accidents caused by fatigue or falling asleep behind the wheels," said Al Kaabi, one of the students.

"The device's smart system monitors the driver while behind the wheels car and alerts him or her in case they fall asleep. The device will help improve road safety by ensuring the driver is awake and attentive all the time."

Al Kaabi explained that the smart device that has camera sensors, a smart application, and lighting system which monitors the driver's face and eye movements throughout the trip.

"We programmed the system in such a way that it monitors and evaluates the movements of the driver's eyes to ensure that they are matching with those of a person in normal condition," she said.

"If it senses some abnormality due to fatigue, or if the driver exceeds the specified speed, the intelligent system begins to talk with him or her three times, for several seconds. It also alerts the driver and other road users near him using warning lights or a horn that makes a discrete warning sound."

The students said their innovation project emerged the winner in the category of transportation systems and road safety during the recent science and innovation competition for 2019.