The main aim of this project was to provide peace of mind to motorcycle owners by offering a holistic, intuitive solution. This was achieved by combining multiple types of sensors inside a single box. This, in turn, would be attached to the motorcycle to alert the owner of any attempts being made to steal their vehicle.
The solution developed contains various sensors, which are devices that could detect changes in their environment. One of these sensors would detect any movements, changes in the tilt, and the temperature of the motorcycle; these parameters would make it possible to confirm that the motorcycle was not taken off the stand, moved forward/backward, and that the engine was not switched on. Another sensor is a GPS, which listens to the signals transmitted by satellites, calculates its distance from them, thus being able to determine the exact location of the motorcycle. Moreover, an independent sensor was implemented to detect any vibrations, should the engine be switched on.
The sensors were all connected to an Arduino microcontroller, which collected the data from the sensors, processed them, and determined whether the motorcycle was being stolen. The Arduino was, in turn, connected to another microcontroller that would transmit the data to an online server ‒ which would retain information remotely. Access to the server was made possible through an application that could be downloaded on Android devices. This app could track the location of the vehicle at any time, since the latter would be connected to the internet through a SIM card.
This system was tested thoroughly to check for errors and it proved to be almost as secure as it was intended to be. The main errors that were identified were due to a lack of internet connection from the user’s phone, and parking the motorcycle in an uphill position. These limitations could be addressed in future work.
Figure 1. The implemented circuit
Figure 2. Block diagram of the system
Student: Nicole Borg
Supervisor: Prof. Ing. Edward Gatt