International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)

Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Alcohol Detection withAutomatic Engine Locking

System
P.Sree Lekha, Dr.P.Venkata Prasad
Department of EEE, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (Autonomous), Hyderabad
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Submitted: 25-05-2021 Revised: 01-06-2021 Accepted: 05-06-2021
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ABSTRACT: In 2016, 10,497 people died in alcohol-
This paper proposes an efficient technique for impaired driving crashes, accounting for 28% of all
eradicating the upsurge in the number of cases of traffic-related deaths in the United States. Of the
roads accidents caused by excessive intake of 1,233 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14
alcohol by drivers on the roads. A prototype years in 2016, 214 (17%) involved an alcohol-
alcohol detection and engine locking system is impaired driver. In 2016, more than 1 million
developed by using an Arduino Uno drivers were arrested for driving under the
microcontroller interfaced with an alcohol sensor influence of alcohol or narcotics. That’s one
along with an LCD screen and a DC percent of the 111 million self-reported episodes of
motor.Thesystem uses MQ-3 alcohol sensor to alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each
continuously monitor the blood alcohol content year is shown in figure.
(BAC) to detect the existence of liquor in the Drugs other than alcohol (legal and
exhalation of a driver. By placing the sensor on the illegal) are involved in about 16% of motor vehicle
steering wheel, our system has the capacity to crashes.Marijuana use is increasing and 13% of
continuously check alcohol level from the driver’s nighttime, weekend drivers have marijuana in their
breath. The ignition will fail to start if the sensors system.
detect content of alcohol in the driver’s breath. In Marijuana users were about 25% more likely to be
case the driver got drunk while driving, the sensor involved in a crash than drivers with no evidence of
will still detect alcohol in his breath and stop the marijuana use, however other factors–such as age
engine so that the car would not accelerate any and gender–may account for the increased crash
further and the driver can park by the roadside. risk among marijuana users.
Annual Self-reported Alcohol-impaired Driving
I. INTRODUCTION: Episodes among U.S. Adults, 1993–2014

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 331
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

1.1 Who is most at risk? Saturday.Indians consumed 2.4 liters of alcohol in

Young people: 2005, which increased to 4.3 litres in 2010 and
At all levels of blood alcohol scaled up to 5.7 liters in 2016, the report
concentration (BAC), the risk of being involved in said.According to the report, the highest increase in
a crash is greater for young people than for older alcohol consumption is expected in South-East
people. Asia, with an increase of 2.2 liters in India alone,
Among drivers with BAC levels of 0.08% from 2005 to 2016.
or higher involved in fatal crashes in 2016, nearly More than 3 million people died as a result
three in 10 were between 25 and 34 years of age of harmful use of alcohol in 2016, the report said.
(27%). The next two largest groups were ages 21 to More than three quarters of those reported dead
24 (26%) and 35 to 44 (22%). were men. Overall, the harmful use of alcohol
causes more than 5% of the global disease
Motorcyclists: burden.The report highlighted that 51.1 men per
Among motorcyclists killed in fatal crashes in 100,000 population and 27.1 women per 100,000
2016, 25% had BACs of 0.08% or greater. population suffered from liver cirrhosis. Cancers
Motorcyclists ages 35-39 have the highest associated with alcohol abuse resulted in 181 men
percentage of deaths with BACs of 0.08% or per 100,000 population and 126.4 women per
greater (38% in 2016). 100,000 population.Of all deaths due to alcohol,
28% were from injuries, such as those from traffic
Drivers with prior driving while impaired crashes, self-harm and interpersonal violence; 21%
(DWI) convictions: due to digestive disorders; 19% due to
Drivers with a BAC of 0.08% or higher cardiovascular diseases, and the remaining due to
involved in fatal crashes were 4.5 times more likely infectious diseases, cancers, mental disorders and
to have a prior conviction for DWI than were other health conditions.―Far too many people, their
drivers with no alcohol in their system. (9% and families and communities suffer the consequences
2%, respectively).1 of the harmful use of alcohol through violence,
Drivers are considered to be alcohol- injuries, mental health problems and diseases such
impaired when their blood alcohol concentrations as cancer and stroke," according to Tedros
(BACs) are .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general, WHO.
higher. Thus, any fatal crash involving a driver ―It’s time to step up action to prevent this serious
with a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher is considered to threat to the development of healthy societies."
be an alcohol-impaired-driving crash, and fatalities According to the report, almost all (95%)
occurring in those crashes are considered to be of countries globally have alcohol excise taxes, but
alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities. The term fewer than half of them use other price strategies
―drunk driving‖ is used instead of alcohol-impaired such as ban on volume discounts. The majority of
driving in some other NHTSA communication and these countries have some type of restrictions on
material. The term ―driver‖ refers to the operator of beer advertising, with bans most common for
any motor vehicle, including a motorcycle. television and radio, but less common for the
Estimates of alcohol-impaired driving are Internet and social me.
generated using BAC values reported to the
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and II. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY:
BAC values imputed when they are not reported. In Using Arduino Uno microcontroller, we
this fact sheet, NHTSA uses the term ―alcohol- propose to design a system consisting of an alcohol
impaired‖ in evaluating the FARS statistics. In all sensor, MQ3, to detect the presence of alcohol by
cases throughout this fact sheet, use of the term analyzing a person’s breath and shutting down the
does not indicate that a crash or a fatality was vehicle’s engine when a specific amount of alcohol
caused by alcohol impairment, only that an is detected to prevent any kind of mishap or
alcohol-impaired driver was involved in the crash. accident that may occur due to the driver taking
New Delhi: The per capita alcohol control over the vehicle. Hence, drunken driving is
consumption in India increased two folds between controlled, thereby minimizing the loss of life and
2005 and 2016, according to the Global status property.
report on alcohol and health 2018 released by the
World Health Organization (WHO) on

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 332
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Fig. 1: Block diagram of Alcohol detection of drunk drivers with automatic car engine locking system.

2.1 Power Supply Unit :

Our system is powered with a 9V battery. 2.2 ATmega328 Microcontroller Unit :
A 5V DC supply as required by the The proposed system is built around
microcontroller, sensor and display unit. While ATmega328 Arduino Uno microcontroller board.
other components like DC motor require 1.5V and The unit consists of 14 pins which allows inflow
the LEDs need 2V. The Arduino Uno board has and outflow of feeding (it is possible to use 6 of
already been designed to operate without the use of those pins as Pulse Width Modulation signal
transformer, the system can be powered via the outputs), 6 continuous signal with time changing
USB connection from computer or with an external quantity, 16 megahertz electronic oscillator, a
power supply of 7 to 12V. The External (non-USB) Universal Serial Bus port, a power connector, an
power can come either from an AC-to-DC adapter on-board voltage regulator, ICSP header, and a
(wall-wart) or battery. Any voltage that is above reset button. The Atmega328 has 32 KB flash
12V will make the control device to burn thereby memory, 2 KB SRAM and 1 KB EEPROM.
destroying the board. It is advisable to use voltage
between 7 - 12V.

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 333
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

2.3 MQ-3 Alcohol Sensor Unit response, stability, and long life. It has an analog
The sensor is made of Tin Dioxide (SnO2) interface type. On the sensor, port pins 1, 2 and 3
sensitive layer. The sensor is configured with a represents the output, GND and VCC respectively.
high sensitivity to alcohol and small sensitivity to The technical specification of the sensor is
Benzene. It has a simple drive circuit with fast portrayed in table .

A. Standard work condition

Symbol Parameter name Technical condition Remark
Vc Circuit voltage 5V±0.1 AC OR DC
VH Heating voltage 5V±0.1 AC OR DC
RL Load resistance 200KΩ
RH Heater resistance 33Ω±5% Room Tem
PH Heating consumption less than 750mw

B. Environment condition
Symbol Parameter name Technical condition Remarks
Tao Using Tem 10℃-50℃
Tas Storage Tem 20℃-70℃
RH Related humidity less than 95%Rh
O2 Oxygen concentration 21%(standard minimum
condition)Oxygen value is over
concentration can affect 2%
sensitivity

C. Sensitivity characteristic
Symbol Parameter name Technical parameter Remarks
Rs Sensing Resistance 1MΩ- 8 MΩ (0.4mg/L Detecting
alcohol ) Concentrations
α (0.4/1 mg/L) Concentration slope rate 0.6 scope：
Standard detecting Temp: 20℃±2℃ 0.05mg/L—
condition Vc:5V±0.1 10mg/L
Humidity: 65%±5% Vh: Alcohol
5V±0.
Preheat time Over 24 hour

The circuit diagram of the MQ-3 sensor is shown in figure. In the datasheet, the recommended value to be used
ranges from 100k ohm to 470k ohm. Here, 200k ohm was used.

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 334
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Fig.3:Circuit diagram of MQ3 alcohol sensor.

2.4 Alarm and Indicating Unit that alcohol is detected and continue running when
The alarm unit used is a buzzer which there is no alcohol detected.
indicates when alcohol is detected. The buzzer used
belongs to the PS series. The PS series are high- 2.6 System Flow chart
performance buzzers that employ Uni-morph The flow chart of the system is shown in
piezoelectric elements and are designed for easy figure 6. The system algorithm comprises of three
incorporation into various circuits. They have very main steps. First is to boot up the system, next is
low power consumption in comparison to the measuring state, this stage measure the amount
electromagnetic units. It has a voltage requirement of alcohol level from the drivers. A prescribed set
of 2V and is connected to pin 10 of the limit will be given as input to the microcontroller,
microcontroller. The standard resistor value of 220 once the alcohol level exceeds the limit the car will
Ω commercially available is closest to the not start.
computed value of 250 Ω, so a 220 Ω resistor was STEP 1: Power on the system
used to limit the current going through the LEDs. STEP 2: checks for alcohol concentration
STEP 3: if alcohol is detected
2.5 DC Motor STEP 3.1: turn off car engine
The DC motor is an electric DC motor STEP 4: Else
used to demonstrate the concept of engine locking. STEP 5: Car engine running
Here in this work, the DC motor will be connected STEP 6: Go to step 1
to pin 9 on the microcontroller, when alcohol is
detected the DC motor stops in other to indicate

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 335
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Fig. 4.Flow chart of alcohol detection system.

2.7 System Operation green LED indicator will be ON, as well as the car
The detected analog voltage values are engine. Finally, the driver is mentally and
read by the microcontroller; the Arduino Uno board physically inactive in stage three, so the engine will
contains 8 channels, 10-bit device that changes an be OFF while the alarm and red LED will be ON.
analog voltage on a pin to a digital number. The Therefore, once the system detect alcohol in stage
system will link input voltages from 0-5V with three the car will be stopped and the driver can
values from 0-1023V to generate 5Vs for every park by the roadside.
1024 units. The system will process the analog
signal and convert it to digital value of 0 or 1. Software Implementation :-
Also, the analog values from the alcohol sensor The software design consists of a free
will be scaled to percentage, and this percentage is running program which manipulates input from the
equivalent to the analog voltage values in ppm Alcohol sensor and programming of the indicating
(part per million). The first condition is the unit, LCD display, DC motor, alarm unit. The
intoxication stage; the second condition is the program code is written on Arduino sketch and
slightly drunk stage and the last stage is uploaded to ATMEGA328 microcontroller
drunkenness stage. Each stage will be a condition program memory using Arduino Uno development
to perform a task based on the level of alcohol. In board. The hex file is generated using the Arduino
the intoxication stage, the LED indicator will be sketch IDE environment. Figure shows the device
activated only, the alarm will be OFF and the car programming used for this research.
engine will be ON. In stage two, the alarm and the

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 336
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

After generating the hex file from the In this stage, when the car is switched on
Arduino sketch environment, the hex file was the system measures the level of alcohol from the
copied from the Arduino file directory and linked driver breath to check whether the driver is
to the Proteus for simulation. Each unit was also intoxicated, slightly drunk and whether if he is
tested to ensure continuity and efficiency in the extremely drunk. Based on this, the microcontroller
components before soldering. Figure shows the full only locks the engine when the level exceeds 40%
simulation design of our proposed system. Also, in which case car engine stops so that the driver
the location of hex file is depicted in figure . can manage to stare the car to the road side. The
unit for measuring alcohol level is depicted in
III. ALCOHOL CHECKING STAGE figure.

Fig.6:Measuring

1.1 Alcohol detection unit when the sensor detect alcohol. in the simulation,
The alcohol sensor unit has four pins; test when the logic state is 1 the led goes on to indicate
pin, Vcc, Dout and ground. The test pin is used to that alcohol is present and off to show the absence
accept logic signals of 0 or 1 by using logic state of alcohol.
pin as shown in figure .The LED is used to show

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 337
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Fig.7:Detection Stage

Table 1 :Sensitivity Level Characteristics

Voltage (v) PPM(Part Per Million) PERCENTAGE(%)
0.5 0 0
1 100 10
1.5 200 20
2 300 30
2.5 400 40
3 500 50
3.5 600 60
4 700 70
4.5 800 80
5 900 90
5.5 1000 100

Table 2 : level of drunkenness

Voltage output 200-300ppm 300-400ppm 400-500ppm

0-1.5v 1.5-2v 2-2.5v
20-30% 30-40% 40-50%
LCD display intoxicated Slightly Drunk Drunkenness
Alarm Off Off on
Ignition system On On Off
Indicator Led Green On Led Green On Led Red On
Led Red Off Led Red Off Led Green Off

The graph in figure shows the output voltages for alcohol detection in ppm obtained with the help of
the above readings for different alcohol content samples. The response of the different samples is in parts per
million (PPM) vs Alcohol Sensor Operating voltages in Volt.

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 338
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Fig.8: Response of ppm (In Percentage) via alcohol sensor output voltages value(4)

Figure below shows the graph of the voltage level at which the detection point takes effect. At 2V the car engine
stops running and continues running once the alcohol level falls <2V.

Fig .9:Alcohol Detection Point

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION : Error = Actual reading – Experimental reading

We tested the sensor’s accuracy using a Percentage error = Error⁄Actual reading × 100%
deodorant perfume to simulate its response to From the experimental results obtained as
alcohol concentration level. To verify the shown in table, Total percentage error for the
functionality of our system, we employed whole table = 45%. Therefore, Overall percentage
breadboard, digital multimeter, LEDs, Arduino error = Total percentage /total sample reading =
sketch IDE, and Proteus VSM software.The final 45/20 = 2.25%. The average accuracy of the
bread boarding of the entire system is shown in alcohol sensor used is obtained as Ave % accuracy
figure . = 100 − 2.25% = 97.75 %. Thus, our calculation
above shows that the alcohol sensor is 97.75%
Alcohol Sensor Accuracy accurate.
Accuracy is the measurement of an instrument to Sensitivity Level Characteristics
give equivalent value to the true value or the Table shows the alcohol levels in ppm,
quantity being measured. The accuracy can be voltage and percentage. The values in ppm
related to the percentage error as correspond to the voltage and percentage. Our
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 339
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 331-340 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

system displays the percentage alcohol level to the [2]. Mandalkar RB, Pandore RN, Shinde MB,
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DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306331340 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 340