A Smart Helmet for Accident Detection and Response for Emergency Communication

Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) have been a major cause of death and life-threatening injuries globally. The delay in Emergency Response Services (ERS) has heightened the number of death casualties in the event of motorcycle accidents. To address these life-threatening issues, the Smart Helmet for Accident Detection and Res communication device (SHADR) was developed to automatically detect accident, notify the registered emergency contact about the incident and disclose the location of the incident. This concept is designed for rural communities where motocycling activities are predominant. The design was actualized by deploying an accelerometer to detect accident, a load sensor to define when the helmet is being worn, GPS module to ascertain the exact location of the incident, GSM module for call activation and delivering short message service (SMS) of the emergency immediately after the incident has occurred. It leverages the user the opportunity to register the emergency contact by sending information as a coded text to the SHADR. This therefore eliminates the need for interface components and reduces the power consumption level of the device. The outcome of the design implementation demonstrated an efficient operation, with a fast response time for the GPS and GSM communication. Its major contribution stems from the fact that the response time was adequate since it was not affected by network delays and failures associated with communication systems in rural communities. It is a cost effective device which operates with minimum power consumption, the SMS delivery time was adequate and the call functionality was good, at minimum network connectivity. The implementation of SHADR on motorcyclists will greatly reduce casualties from road traffic accidents, provide more data for road traffic studies and give more confidence to road users. Future improvements will require the implementation of this device using 5G technology to improve communication speed and reduce latency for emergency services in urban communities.