Milestone as Kenyan students develop system to curb head-on collision road accidents

John Githae and Alex Maise, both 22, from Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology have developed a Collision Detention System that detects the possible crash of two vehicles at a distance of 100 metres.

“The system is currently set with a limit to detect an obstacle or a forthcoming vehicle in a range of 100 metres and the relative speed is 50km/hour. The system will detect the possibility of collision and automatically apply brakes to stop the vehicle. This is done through a distance sensor that is connected to a micro controller, which computes the relative speed between a vehicle and an obstacle. The sensor is placed in front of the car,” Mr Githae tells Hashtag.

The system also aids in speed governing and ensuring that the driver does not go past the regulated speed that can be set according to the prevailing road laws or the driver’s preference.

“If the relative speed exceeds a certain limit, then the micro controller sends a command that automatically chokes the engine to reduce the speed of the vehicle, minimising the impact of collision if any might occur,” says Mr Maise.

This system is of great benefit especially in case of brake failure, if a reckless driver is on the steering wheel, or even when a driver dozes off while driving.

The system also automatically dims the headlights to control the glaring effect that may affect a driver in an oncoming vehicle and cause an accident. When vehicles are approaching each other, the sensors will detect the full lights from the oncoming vehicle and automatically dim. Once the car goes past, the full light mode is also automatically activated.

“Auto dimming is equally important in cars because most road accidents can be attributed to blinding from the dazzle of oncoming vehicles. This system is a fitting solution that will tame inconsiderate headlights,” Mr Githae says.

Development of new technology around automobiles and vehicle safety has allowed the two innovators to move beyond passive safety and focus more on active safety.

According to National Transport and Safety Authority Road Safety Status Report 2015 dated January 14, 2016 an estimated 3,000 deaths from crashes occur annually in Kenya.

“Our wish is to ensure that the numbers of deaths from road accidents is reduced. We trust that NTSA can incorporate this system into every car in the country to mitigate these accidents,” Mr Maise says.