IJCSIET--International Journal of Computer Science information and Engg.

, Technologies ISSN 2277-4408 || 01102014-049

AN INTELLIGENT AIR POLLUTANT

VECHICLE TRACKER SYSTEM USING
GAS SENSOR AND GPS
M. RANGA REDDY1 & S. SARATH CHANDRA2
PG Scholar, Dept of ECE, QIS Institute of Technology, Ongole, A.P, India.
2
Associate Professor, Dept of ECE, QIS Institute of Technology, Ongole, A.P, India.
1

Abstract I n p r e s e n t d a y m o d e r n w o r l d
Vehicles have become an part and parcel of every
one's life. Situations and circumstances have their
predominant role in the usage of vehicles in this
modernized urban life. As to consider both sides of the
coin, this has its own effects, one of the main side
effects being air pollution. Each and Every vehicle
will have emission but the main problem occurs i n
t h e ca se when it is beyond the standardized values
fixed by the pollution control board of India. The
main reason behind t h i s breach of emission level
being the incomplete combustion of fuel supplied to
engine, which is due to the improper maintenance of
vehicles. This emission from vehicles cannot be
completely avoided but, it definitely can be
controlled. With the evolvement of semi-conductor
sensors for detecting the various gases, this paper
aims at using those semi-conductor sensors at the
emission outlets of vehicles which detects the level of
pollutants and also indicates this level with a meter.
When the pollution/ emission level shoots beyond the
already set threshold level, there will be a buzz in
the vehicle to indicate that the limit has been
breached and the vehicle will stop after a certain
period of time , a cushion time given for the driver
to park his/her vehicle. During this time period, the
GPS starts locating the nearest service stations.
After the timer runs out, the fuel supplied to the
engine will be cut-off and the vehicle has to be
towed to the mechanic or to the nearest service
station. The synchronization and execution of the
entire process is monitored and controlled by a
micro controller. This paper, when augmented as a
real time project, will benefit the society and help in
reducing the air pollution.
Keywords Air Pollution, Sensors, threshold level,
GPS, Micro Controller.

I. INTRODUCTION
The beginning of the 21st century was the time when
importance for Environmental awareness was
instigated. One of the major concerns regarding the
environment is air pollution. Air pollution contributes
to the green houses gases, which causes the green
house effect, whose side effects are now well
known to all of us after the findings about the hole in

IJCSIET-ISSUE4-VOLUME3-SERIES2

the ozone layer. Air pollution is not only harmful to

the environment but, also to all other living beings
on earth. Air pollutants that are inhaled have serious
impact on human health affecting the lungs and the
respiratory system; they are also taken up by the blood
and pumped all round the body. These pollutants are
also deposited on soil, plants, and in the water,
further contributing to human exposure and also
affecting the sea life. Vehicles are one of the
major contributors to air pollution apart from
industries. The main pollutants fromvehicles are the
oxides of carbon and nitrogen, which can be easily
detected these days with the help of semi conductor
gas sensors. Therefore, in this paper an idea is
suggested, which would be very helpful in reducing
the amount of pollution from vehicles.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows.
Section II gives the background information and a
brief note about the various research activities,
on gas sensors and
monitoring systems. Section III discusses
about the
various blocks of the proposed system. Section
IV concludes the paper with an idea to implement
the same as a real time project.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
Over the years, there have been several
regulations made by the Government to control
the emission from vehicles; most of them being
unsuccessful at the same. The standards and the
timeline for implementation are set by the Central
Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of
Environment & Forests. Bharat stage emission
standards are emission standards instituted by the
Government of India to regulate the output of
air pollutants from internal combustion engine
equipment, including motor vehicles.
The first emission norms were introduced in
India in 1991 for petrol and 1992 for diesel
vehicles. These were
followed by making the Catalytic converter
mandatory for
petrol vehicles and the introduction of unleaded

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IJCSIET--International Journal of Computer Science information and Engg., Technologies ISSN 2277-4408 || 01102014-049

petrol in the market.

On April 29, 1999 the Supreme Court of India ruled
that all vehicles in India have to meet Euro I or India
2000 norms by June 1, 1999 and Euro II will be
mandatory in the NCR by April 2000. Car makers
were not prepared for this transition and in a
subsequent judgment the implementation date for
Euro II was not enforced.
The standards, based on European regulations
were first introduced in 2000. Progressively
stringent norms have been rolled out since
then. All new vehicles
manufactured after the implementation of the norms
have to be compliant with the regulations. Since
October 2010,
Bharat stage III norms have been enforced across
the country. In 13 major cities, Bharat stage IV
emission
norms are in place since April
2010.
The phasing out of 2 stroke engine for two wheelers,
the stoppage of production of various old model
cars introduction of electronic controls have been
due to the regulations related to vehicular emissions.
The standardized values for the emission levels are
referred as given in [1]. The sensing of the emitted
gases
are done using various sensors and devices.
The past decade, has seen several research activities
that have been taking place to develop
semiconductor gas
sensors [2]. In the paper [3], the quality of air in the
car
cabin was analyzed using semiconductor (MOS)
gas sensors.
In this paper, the semiconductor sensors have
been used to detect the pollutant level of the
vehicles. This
paper concentrates mainly on three blocks; smoke
detector, microcontroller and fuel injector. The
smoke
detector detects the pollutants (CO, NOx, etc.)
continuously. The microcontroller compares the level
of
pollutants with the stipulated level allowed by the
government. When the pollutant level exceeds
the
standardized limit, it sends a signal to the fuel injector.
On receiving a signal from the controller, the fuel
injector
stops the fuel supply to the engine after a particular
period of time.

IJCSIET-ISSUE4-VOLUME3-SERIES2

III. PROPOSED SYSTEM

The overall block diagram of the proposed system
is given in figure 3.1. The block diagram mainly
consists of the following elements:
1. Detector
2. Microcontroller
3. Fuel Control unit
4. Global Positioning System (GPS)
5. Global system for mobile communication(GSM)
Firstly the detector will detect the smoke level and send
the values to the microcontroller LPC2148 then an
alarming message will be displayed that the vehicle is
going to stop after 2KM. Then after the vehicle has
stopped the GPS will track the GPS values and it will
be sent to the RTO

MQ-4
SENSOR

DETECTOR

ADC

MICROCONTROLER

LPC2148
Figure.3.1 Block diagram

FUEL
CONTROL
UNIT

GPS

GSM

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IJCSIET--International Journal of Computer Science information and Engg., Technologies ISSN 2277-4408 || 01102014-049

A. Detector
The detector consists of three sub-blocks namely
smoke sensor, transducer and ADC. The smoke
sensor is the main component of the detector block
which is embedded onto the exhaust of the vehicle.
The sensor senses the amount of emission from the
vehicle and feeds the data to the microcontroller
through the transducer and the analog to digital
converter at regular intervals of time. The transducer
is used to convert the output of the sensor into an
electrical signal. The analog electrical signal is then
converted into a digital signal using an ADC, so that,
it can be compared with the predefined values, in
the microcontroller.
In this paper, carbon monoxide sensor (MQ-4)
which can measure CO concentrations ranging from
10 to 10,000 ppm is considered. This sensor,
basically finds
usage in sensing carbon monoxide concentrations
(ppm), in the exhaust of cars as shown in figure.3.3
and gives an
analog output. The MQ-4 gas sensor is mainly made up
of SnO2, whose conductivity varies with the
cleanliness of
air i.e. it has a lower conductivity in clean air and
vice- versa. A simple circuit as shown in figure.3.2,
is used to map the changes in conductivity to the
corresponding
output signal of the gas concentration. The main
advantage of the MQ-4 gas sensor is that it has
high sensitivity to Carbon Monoxide. Additionally,
it has a very long life time and is available at a low
cost. Also it can be used for a wide range of
B. Microcontroller
In this paper, LPC2148 is used, which is a 16 bit micro
controller. It consists of three inbuilt timer/counter which
will be used for the timer configuration. The
microcontroller is programmed to do three functions
namely comparison, timer and triggering circuit. The
microcontroller takes in two inputs; one from the smoke
sensors output and another being the pre-defined
threshold value specified by the government. When the
smoke sensor output is more than the threshold value, the
microcontroller triggers the timer circuit and an alarm [5]
is set off to inform the driver of the vehicle, about the
same and also indicate that the vehicle will come to a halt
in 2KM RANGE as the timer runs out. Apart from the
timer being triggered, a trigger is also given to the GPS,
which helps in locating the nearest service station by SMS.
Once the timer runs out, a trigger pulse is generated by the
microcontroller which is fed to the fuel injector, which in
turn stops the flow of fuel to the engine, as a result of
which, the vehicle comes to a halt.
C. Fuel Control Unit
The main function of the fuel injector is to cut the supply
of fuel to the engine, when the pollution limit is

IJCSIET-ISSUE4-VOLUME3-SERIES2

applications.

Figure 3.2 Equivalent Circuit of MQ-4

MQ-4

Figure.3.3 Smoke sensor

breached. The relay circuit shown in the figure.3.4 is used

to control the on and off position of the fuel pump[4]. In
this paper, the engine control unit is programmed in such a
way that, when the microcontroller sends a trigger pulse
after the timer runs out, relay should get back to its
original position, that is the fuel cut off switch, is on. Then
the fuel supply from the pump will be stopped.

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IJCSIET--International Journal of Computer Science information and Engg., Technologies ISSN 2277-4408 || 01102014-049

YES

IF
VEHICLE
IS
STOPED
BY
ITSELF
NO

FUEL CONTROL UNIT OFF

THE FUEL INLET TO THE
ENGINE
VEHICLE WILL BE STOPPED AFTER
2KM
Figure.3.4 Fuel pump wiring circuit
D. Global Positioning System (GPS)
When the pollution level reaches the maximum limit, a
trigger pulse is given to GPS by the microcontroller. The
GPS is programmed in such a way that, when it receives a
trigger pulse, it shows the nearest service stations where
the vehicle can be taken for maintenance.
E. Flowchart of the system

START

VEHICLE STARTS

MQ-4 SENSOR AND

MICROCONTROLLER SYSTEM
ARE ACTIVATED

NO

IF
E>F
YES

ALERT MESSAGE WILL BE

DISPLAYED AND ALARMED
THAT THE VEHICLE WILL
STOP AFTER 2KM
IJCSIET-ISSUE4-VOLUME3-SERIES2

GPS VALUES ARE TRACKED AND

SMS WILL BE SENT TO THE RTO

STOP
FIG 4.1: Flowchart of the system
The vehicle will be started and ignition of the vehicle will
be started. MQ-4 sensor and Microcontroller system

are activated. MQ-4 will calculate the smoke

emission values. The emission values are compared
with the pre-defined values. Alert message will be
displayed and alarmed that the vehicle will stop after
2km. If vehicle is stopped by itself then fuel control
unit off the fuel inlet to the engine. If it does not stop
fuel control unit off the fuel inlet to the engine. GPS
values are tracked and SMS will be sent to the RTO.
F. GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATION
GSM module will send the SMS to the RTO when the
smoke value excides the pre-defined value. This SMS is an
alerting message for the RTO to control the pollution.
IV. CONCLUSION
This whole paper mainly focuses on two things. The First
thing is the concept of detecting the level of Pollution and
indicating it to the driver. There is an increase in the level
of Pollution over the last couple of decades, leading to
several Environmental problems. There will be a huge
population, who do not take the pollution from their
vehicles seriously, which has already resulted in several
environmental problems such Ozone layer depletion and
so on. So, this system will be highly beneficial is curbing
this problem. The second reason is that this system will be

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IJCSIET--International Journal of Computer Science information and Engg., Technologies ISSN 2277-4408 || 01102014-049

one of the greatest improvements in technology to keep the

Environment free from vehicular emission and bring it to a
halt if the Pollution level is more than the Standards
mentioned by the Government. The fact that this system is
just an add-on, as it does not change the configuration of
the engine by any means, will make it easier to employ
this system in the existing vehicles. The same concept can
also be extended to industries.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
REFERENCES
[1] Siva Shankar Chandrasekharan, Sudharshan Muthukumar &
Sabeshkumar Rajendran Automated Control System for Air Pollution
Detection in Vehicles 2013 4 th International Conference on Intelligent
Systems, Modeling and Simulation, 2013 IEEE 2166-0662/13.
[2] http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat_Stage_emission_standards
[3] George F. Fine, Leon M. Cavanagh, Ayo Afonja and Russell Binions
" Metal Oxide Semi-Conductor Gas Sensors in Environmental
Monitoring", Sensors 2010, 10, 5469-5502; doi:10.3390/s100605469
[4] K. Galatsis, W. Wlodarsla, K. Kalantar-Zadeh and A. Trinchi, "
Investigation of gas sensors for vehicle cabin air quality monitoring, vol.
42, pp. 167-175, 2002.
[5] Trade of Motor Mechanic; Module 5; Unit 2 Electronic Fuel
injection; Phase 2 by FS Learning Innovation Unit with Martin
McMahon & CDX Global; Curriculum Revision 2.2 16-01-07.
[6] LIU Zhen-ya, WANG Zhen-dong, CHEN Rong, Intelligent
Residential Security Alarm and Remote Control System Based On Single
[7] CHIP COMPUTER, VOL. 42, PP. 143-166, 2008. DIGI I NTERNATIONAL
INC, XBEE/XBEE-PRO RF MODULES, AVAILABLE HTTP: //FTP1. DIGI.
COM / SUPPORT /DOCUMENTATION/90000982_B.PDF
[8] ATMEL CORPORATION, ATMEGA16 DATASHEET, AVAILABLE
HTTP:// WWW.ATMEL.COM/ DYN/RESOURCES/PROD_DOCUMENTS/ DOC2466

We express our sincere thanks to Ms. N. Muni sarasama,

Technical trainer and project developer, of HN GLOBAL
SOLUTIONS for her valuable guidance and continuous
encouragement in course of our work. We would also like
to thank Prof. O. V. S. Srinivasa Prasad, Head of the
Department, Electronics and Communication Engineering
of QIS Institute of Technology for his constant support.

ABOUT AUTHORS
M.RANGA REDDY was born in A.P India. He received the
B.Tech degree in Electronics & Communications
Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
University in 2012. Presently is pursuing M.Tech VLSI &
Embedded Systems in QIS Institute of Technology, Ongole. His research
interests include modified An Intelligent Air Pollutant Vechicle Tracker
System Using GPS and Gas Sensor.

Mr. S. SARATH CHANDRA completed his B. E. from

Anna University, Chennai, received his M. Tech from
JNTU Hyderabad and presently he is pursuing Ph. D. in the
field of Embedded Systems from K L University. He is
having 9 years of experience in teaching, presently working
in QIS Institute of Technology, Ongole as an Associate Professor in the
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering.

PDF

[9] An Embedded Software Primer by David Simon, 2000

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[10] ARM System-On-Chip Architecture by Steve Furber, 2000 Check
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[11] The 8051 Microcontroller: Hardware, Software and Interfacing by
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[12] Industrial Motor Control by Stephen Herman and Walter Alerich,
1998 Check pricing and availability: This book provides easy-to-follow
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motors. Most commonly-used devices in contemporary industrial settings
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[13] USB Complete: Everything You Need to Develop Custom USB
Peripherals by Jan Axelson, 1999 Check pricing and availability: In USB
Complete, the author reveals the programming secrets for the Universal
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IJCSIET-ISSUE4-VOLUME3-SERIES2

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