mTADA: Mobile tracking and advanced driver assistance

Abstract

Safe driving requires knowledge of the surrounding traffic environment. Such knowledge will enable the driver to predict possible dangerous situations and events. A driver usually is able to perceive these types of situations, but in some cases he would not. These cases are mainly because of driver distraction and/or reckless driving. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems are being introduced to the market because of this reason. These systems have many functions focusing on actively assisting the driver in avoiding accidents. As noted above, ADASs have only recently been introduced into the market, and are still in their beginning stages. These systems are usually available only with high-end cars and at an additional cost. In this dissertation we will be tackling how mobile devices may be used for Advanced Driving Assistance Systems. We will also be tackling how augmented reality in mobile devices may help out in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. The research and artefact being presented with this dissertation show how it is possible to make use of mobile devices for advanced driver assistance. They also show the limitations of such a system making use of only the mobile's inbuilt sensors, and how some of them may be overturned. We decided to tackle this subject because of the high rate of motor accidents still happening around the world. There are various reasons to believe that most motor accidents can be easily prevented since most are caused by driving behaviour and distractions. Many companies, including Mercedes, Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen have been developing and implementing active driver assistance systems, but it is important to note that these systems are usually only implemented as optional, additional features at an extra cost, and also only available on fairly modern vehicles. We are trying to help out in decreasing the amount of motor vehicle accidents by developing a low cost solution which can be easily downloaded and installed on a mobile device, and used on any vehicle. The final results proved to be quite successful, with many people claiming that they would use such a system on a regular basis. This is because the warnings were very accurate and helpful, making them drive more cautiously and carefully.