Development of Low-cost Forward Collision Warning and Avoidance System for Electric Microcar

In most of the accident cases, drivers overlook other road users or fail to see at the right place and thus cannot react in time. An analysis has found that perpetual errors are one of the major contributing factors for accidents. Suitable early warning signals assist drivers with their attention as well as driving behavior. Collision warning and avoidance systems are increasing rapidly as industry and government focus on improved vehicle safety. There are many high-end cars which include this system, but in contrast these are not the cars which undergo accidents, rather the low-end cars are more prone to these collisions. This paper presents a development of low cost forward collision warning and avoidance system comprises of LIDAR sensor to detect objects, a linear actuator to apply brakes when an obstacle is detected, a PID algorithm which controls acceleration of vehicle and interconnecting peripherals and circuits. This is an active safety function that alerts the driver when a frontal accident is about to happen and also applies the brakes to slow down or stop the car, preventing a collision. This system also helps to regain vehicle speed as the obstacle passes away. The forward collision warning and avoidance system is implemented by retrofitting in an electric microcar and assessed successfully.