DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A WIRELESS CAR SECURITY DEVICE SYSTEM

1.1 Introduction

A car tracking system is an electronic device that being installed in a vehicle to demobilize and find the area where the vehicle is located by the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled phone and the signals from any communication firm, but here we used MTN telecommunication service provider. With your GPS enabled phone you will call the phone number of the phone that is attached to the car security device which will indicate where or the position where the car is being demobilized for recovery. The existing car tracking system only indicates the position where the Network masts you are using being installed.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

1.2 Background of the Study

It was reported that as many as 1000 cars were stolen monthly in Nigeria in the year 2000. The existing vehicle alarm systems are of no match to the well-equipped thieves. In the United States, there are already many transportation companies and vehicle manufacturers that employ Global Positioning System (GPS) based location and tracking system combined with conventional cellular communication for stolen vehicle recovery as well as for constant monitoring of vehicle fleet management. However there are situation where the GPS system cannot perform well such as at underpasses and indoor parking. Most cars are still using he conventional alarm system which is easily handled by car thief. One major problem in those car alarms is tuning and adjustment. There may be so many car alarms that are too sensitive, while the rest can withstand a major earthquake without a single beep. Consequently, the public loose interest in the car alarms since they could be falsely triggered. Another weak point is that, it has limited capability to interact with its owner. In addition, the conventional alarm systems did not provide any means in assisting the recovery of stolen vehicle.

For man to live without fear, he needs to be secured. Security has become one of the important concept of the world, every country is always security conscious of her domain. Even as man needs security, so are the different facilities used by him. Since these facilities are imperatively useful and most times expensive, there is therefore the need for them to be safe-guarded against an unauthorized user.

In recent times, automobile has provided a means of transportation for man to move within and even far outside his immediate environment. Since these automobiles are expensive and important to the owner, they therefore require security device(s) to safe guard or protect them from intruders. Having known that there are different kinds of automobiles, we will steer our attention specifically on car automobiles. The Anti-car theft security device is an electronic device that can be mounted in a car such that when the car is tampered without official approval or permission, the security device will produce an alerting signal and at most disable the entire system of the car from functioning. It can be a switch or alarms that will be known by authorize persons. For example, an Anti — Car Theft security devices can be mounted in a car such that whenever the car is tampered, it can allow the car to run for some time and stop or it can disable the car system and cause the car to malfunction.

Types of Car Tracking System

Car tracking system can be categorized into various forms, namely passive and active car tracking system. However what determines whether the system is passive or active depends on the mode through which information can be extracted from the system by the owner or the authorized user.

1.2.1 Passive Car Tracking System

A passive car tracking device provides the records of journey activities, which includes the destination and the speed used by the driver of the car. This performs demobilizing and tracking but the difference is that the active one gives a real time data while passive one can only bring a report when the car reaches at a destination point for the owner to be able to process out data recorded and stored in the memory of the microcontroller. This system provides real time data transfer and makes use of a GPS phone and signals from any network that have GPS masts to carry out its tracking.

Once the authorized person calls the number assigned to GPS phone he/she will be able to get a real time data as regards to where the car is as at that particular moment. For this project, the installation deals with where and how the connections of the car tracking device are made. The car tracking system which is mainly the Global Positioning system phone working with signals from MTN network is interconnected together with a relay which has an automatic switching connected to a cable supplying mains to the fuel pump of the car.

The device must be hidden in the part of the car where an unauthorized person or persons cannot easily reach to it. On the other hand, for security purpose, the tracking system should be in an area inside the car where one cannot be able to see or interfere with its operations.

The car tracking system connection deals with the mounting and connection of the demobilizer to work with the fuel pump of the car. The main cable supplying power to the fuel pump is cut off and attached to relay which will carry-out the demobilizing of the car, switching off the supply of electrical power to the fuel pump. The schematic diagram of the connection is shown in chapter three.

1.3 Vehicles Most Frequently Stolen

The makes and models of vehicle most frequently stolen vary by several factors, including region and ease of theft.

Some models often on list of most frequently stolen vehicles in United state include Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Cheroke Jeep and Cadillac.

In Thailand: Toyota Cars, Isuzu pick-up trucks, Honda cars and Honda motorcycles (2007 data).

1.4 Prevention of Car Theft

There are various methods of prevention to reduce the likelihood of vehicle getting stolen. These include physical barriers, which make the effort of stealing the vehicle more difficult. Some of these include:

1. Device used to lock a part of the vehicle necessary in its operation such as the steering wheel or brake pedal.
2. Immobilizers, allowing the vehicle to start only if a key containing the correct chip is present in the ignition.
3. Car alarm systems that are triggered if a breaking and entry into the vehicle occurs.
4. Microdot identification tags which allow individual parts of a vehicle to be identified.
5. Kill switch circuits are designed to frustrate or slow down the efforts of a determined Car thief. Kill switches are often located between crucial parts of the coil, or the fuel pump.

A car cannot start without first flopping these kill switches in to closed positions. Smart car owners hide kill switches in obscured areas, under the dash board, beneath the seat, behind a chair, etc.

1.5 Aim and Objective of the Study

The aim and the objective of this project are to demonstrate the application of GSM network and logic gate network in car security systems. The device is capable of demobilizing a car and also track the location in which the car is parked or demobilized. It also to acquire a maximum security or protection of our car to avoid been snatched away from the owner. With this system you are sure of a quick recovery of your car as soon as it been stolen.

The logic unit controlled system is a compact and rugged control unit designed for interface with standard cellular mobile phone that have GPS (Global Positioning System) enable and operates by receiving sound call tones from the phone audio output. Its mains are powered by DC battery and it provides contact closures capable of switching the hole system. By using a hand set that has GPS enable is possible at every location within the coverage of the network mast to track and locate the car.

1.6 Significance of the Project

The importance of this project will be divided into two and we consider them briefly. Thus:

1. The importance of this project to the students; and
2. The importance of this project to the society.

The Importance of the Project to the Students:

The building of this project will enhance the students’ knowledge on technology, and further make them to know and identify the different electronics components used in the process of building the project. It will also give the students the ability to understand the processes and mode of operation of device.

The Importance of the Project to the Society

As stated earlier in the beginning of this work, security is one of the important concepts of the world. The building of this project bring about the remedy or the solution to car theft, it will also reduce the danger(s) encountered by the people in the hands of car snatchers.

1.7 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Design and Construction of a Wireless Car Security Device System.

The study will cover only the hardware description, Software description, consecration of the hardware and the software of the system (firmware) and highlight on how it works.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).