An Air Pollutant Vehicle Tracker System

Using Gas Sensor and GPS

Mitesh Rathod[1], Ranjana Gite[2], Anushka Pawar[3] ,
Shoomiren Singh[4] , Pranav Kelkar[5]

Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology

[1]
rathodmitesh267@gmail.com
[2]
ranjana.gite@vit.edu.in
[3]
anushka188pawar@gmail.com
[4]
shoomisingh20062gmail.com
[5]
kelkarpranav@ymail.com

Abstract— In this era of proliferating growth of technical
advancements, vehicles have become an integral part of human
life. Every vehicle has its own emission of polluting gases, but the
problem occurs when the vehicles do not get serviced regularly
and the emission is beyond the standardized value.[1]The
primary reason for this breach of emission level being the
incomplete combustion of fuel supplied to the engine which is due
to improper maintenance of vehicles. This emission from vehicles
cannot be completely avoided but it can be definitely controlled.
The aim of this project is to monitor and control the pollutants
from the vehicle thereby incorporating technical knowledge for a
Green City. This system tracks the pollution levels using MQ-7
gas sensor and the data from GPS module is sent to the server
using TCP/IP protocol so that the location of the vehicle can be
traced by the RTO. Hence the main objective of monitoring
pollution caused by the vehicles can be achieved and this in turn
will create awareness amongst the mass about this global issue.
Keywords— Air Pollution, microcontroller, Sensors, threshold
level, GPS, MQ-7, TCP/IP
I.INTRODUCTION
One of the major concerns regarding the environment is air
pollution which is a major problem that the mankind is facing.
Air pollutants not only engenders impaired health conditions
but also affects the regular climatic cycle. Vehicles are one of
the major contributors to the air pollution apart from the
industries. In many urban areas, motor vehicles are the single
largest contributor to ground-level ozone which is a common
component of smog. Pollutants cause coughing; wheezing and
shortness of breath; also the pollutants from the vehicles are
known to damage lung tissue, aggravate respiratory diseases
such as asthma. So in order to mitigate this problem, it
becomes quite mandatory to detect these gases and keep a
regular check on the pollutants that are being emitted from the
vehicles. The release of these pollutants such as oxides of
carbon and nitrogen can be detected with the help of semi-
conductor gas sensors.
Detection and control of these gases is an important area of
work. Therefore in this proposed system an idea is suggested
which would be helpful in decreasing the amount of pollution
from the vehicles. So on carefully scrutinizing the working of
fuel engine in cars and amalgamating it with the technical
knowledge of microcontroller and its peripherals, a system can
be proposed that will assist us to track as well as reduce the
pollution. So if a pollution caused by a vehicle crosses a
threshold level certain actions as programmed in the system
will be taken.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
As stated in the reference [2],over the years, the government
made several regulations to control the pollution/emission
levels 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 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.
Some of the papers we referred for this project are given
below.
AIR POLLUTION DUE TO ROAD TRANSPORTATION IN
INDIA: A REVIEW ON ASSESSMENT AND REDUCTION
STRATEGIES
Shrivastava R. K., Saxena Neeta and Gautam Geeta

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This paper is a review of an assessment model for emitted
pollutants and effective strategies to reduce air pollution due
to road transport.

A Survey On Gas Sensing Technology

Xiao Liu , Sitian Cheng , Hong Liu , Sha Hu , Daqiang Zhang
and Huansheng Ning
This paper focuses on sensitivity and selectivity for
performance indicators to comparedifferent sensing
technologies, analyzes the factors that influence these two
indicators, andlists several corresponding improved
approaches.

GPS-GSM Based Tracking

System Abid khan, Ravi Mishra
The purpose of this system is to design and integrate a new
system which is integrated with GPS-GSM to provide
following features:-
a) Location Information,
b) Real time tracking using SMS, Figure 1.1 Block Diagram
c) Communication is instantaneous therefore we can receive
running report quickly.

III. PROPOSED SYSTEM

The proposed system[3] for the given paper mainly

consists of the following elements:
1. Detector
2. Microcontroller
3. Buzzer
4. Global system for mobile communication (GSM)
5. Global Positioning System (GPS)
6. Solenoid Valve
7. Apache Tomcat Server

The gas sensor senses CO gas from the exhaust of the vehicle
and if the first threshold level is breached, the driver will
receive a warning SMS through GSM module. When the
emission exceeds the final threshold value, the driver will
receive a final buzzer and a second SMS. Meanwhile the
solenoid valve will be responsible to cut off the supply of the
fuel to the engine and gradually the car will come to a halt.
Now the GPS module will display the location of the vehicle
in the form of latitude and the longitude on the TCP/IP server
and by using these values the RTO can trace the location and
take respective actions.
The output of the gas sensor is in the analog form. So to Figure 1.2 Project Flow
convert it in the digital format we use an analog to digital
converter (i.e. a 10 bit ADC)[4] 1. DETECTOR
Figure 1.1 describes the block diagram of the proposed
The MQ-7 is a Carbon Monoxide (CO) sensor which is
system. Figure 1.2 delineates the flow of the project.
suitable for sensing CO concentrations in the air[5]. The MQ-
7 can detect CO-gas concentrations anywhere from 20 to
2000ppm.This sensor has a high sensitivity and fast response
time. The sensor’s output is an analog resistance.

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The sensitive material of MQ-7 gas sensor is SnO2, which has
lower conductivity in clean air. It detects CO at low
temperature(heated by 1.5V).The sensor’s conductivity gets
higher along with the CO gas concentration rising. At high
temperature(heated by 5.0V), it cleans the other gases
adsorbed at low temperature.
As in the reference[6], structure and configuration of MQ-7
gas sensor is as shown in the Fig 1.3, sensor is composed by
micro Aluminium oxide (Al2O3) ceramic tube, Tin Dioxide
(SnO 2) sensitive layer, measuring electrode and heater are
fixed into a crust made by plastic and stainless steel net. The
heater provides necessary work conditions for work of
sensitive components. The enveloped MQ-7 have 6 pin, 4 of
them are used to fetch signals, and other 2 are used for
providing heating current.
Figure 1.3 MQ-7 Gas Sensor
Figure 1.4 Sensor Configuration
2. MICROCONTROLLER
In this paper, ATmega328 is used, The microcontroller[7] has
the following features:
1. Atmel’s ATMega328P 8-Bit Processor in 28 pin
DIP package. It’s like the ATmega168, with double
the flash space.
2. Flash Program Memory: 32 kbytes
3. EEPROM Data Memory: 1 kbytes
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4. SRAM Data Memory: 2 kbytes
5. I/O Pins: 23
6. Timers: Two 8-bit / One 16-bit
7. A/D Converter: 10-bit Six Channel
8. External Oscillator: up to 20MHz
9. Operating Voltage: 1.8V to 5V
The microcontroller is programmed to perform the following
functions:
 The microcontroller compares two inputs; one from
the smoke sensor’s output and another being the
standard values prescribed by the government.
 After the sensor values crosses the threshold, it
activates the buzzer to give two warnings, indicating
that the vehicle will stop due to the violation of
 standard emission values.
 Simultaneously, the microcontroller will activate the
GSM module which will send the warning SMS to
the driver.
 Once the final buzzer and an SMS is sent, the micro
controller will activate the relay circuit which in turn
will control Solenoid Valve. Here, solenoid valve is
 used to cut off the fuel supply to the engine.
 Meanwhile when the car halts, a trigger is given to
the GPS, wherein the GSM module is activated by
microcontroller to send GPS values to RTO.

3. BUZZER
Piezoelectric Buzzer [8] is a type of an electronic buzzer
which is basically used for generating sound. It is more
preferable because it is light in weight, the interfacing of the
buzzer with the microcontroller is simple and it is effectively
cheap. Hence we are using this piezoelectric buzzer in our
project for the alarming purpose to give warnings to the driver.
This buzzer is dependent on inverse piezoelectric
principle which generates sound wave in order to create
movement of ceramic disc. It can be operated over a wide
range of temperature and creates sound which ranges from soft
beeps to continuous beeps.
4. GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR MOBILE
COMMUNICATION (GSM)
Whenever the GPS starts showing the location, then the GSM
module automatically sends the GPS values on the server.
This happens only when the fuel supplied to the engine stops
and the car cannot move further. The GSM module also sends
two warning messages to the driver before the fuel supplied to
the engine is cut off . The values received on TCP/IP server is
an alerting message for the RTO to keep a track on the
vehicles emitting pollutants.
In this paper, GSM SIM800 is used. This GSM Modem
accpets any GSM network operator SIM (Subscriber Identity
Module) card having strong network thus behaving like a
mobile phone as it has it's own unique number. It uses an
RS232 port for serial communication[9]. It is a wireless
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modem which is developed for the communication between 7) Long Service Life
the computer and the GSM/GPRS network. A GSM MODEM 8) Compact Design,
can perform the following operations: 9) Limited pressure Drop
  Receive, send or delete SMS messages in a SIM. 10) The solenoid valve is used to control the flow of fuel
 Read, add, search phonebook entries of the SIM. until it is reduced to zero and hence it is safe to use and
 Make, Receive, or reject a voice call. preferred over other devices[13].

5. GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) 7. APACHE TOMCAT SERVER

When the pollution level reaches the maximum limit set, a 1) Tomcat Server
trigger pulse is given to GPS by the microcontroller. The GPS -Tomcat Server [14]has a static IP address which can
module gives the location of the car in NMEA [10](National be requested by the gsm module. -For example
Marine Electronics Association) message format from which 172.16.5.2:512
the lattitude and longitude values can be extracted. The GSM -There is a container provided with the server that stores
module will send these values from the GPS module to the
TCP/IP server which is at the RTO side. the data instances.
In this paper we are using the NEO-6 u-blox 6 GPS Module.
2) Website
-The http protocol of apache tomcat server known as
6. SOLENOID VALVE
Cayote[14] is used to interface with the webpages .
Solenoid valve[11] is basically an electromechanical device -The java server pages are created using the JSP
which consists of a coil of insulated copper wire. It is used to preinstalled in the apache tomcat.
control the gas and liquid flow. As the primary purpose of the
project is to limit the flow of fuel to the engine when the 3) AT command
threshold value is breached, use of solenoid valve would -By using AT commands[15] the values are sent to the
suffice the purpose of the project. server using the TCP/IP protocol. The microcontroller
The solenoid is controlled by a relay switch. A digital
triggers the gsm module to send the values to the server.
output pin of the ATmega328 is connected to the relay switch
which controls the current to a normally open, SPST relay.
IV. RESULTS
[12]When the relay coil is energized, it closes the contacts,
which allows current from 12V supply to flow through the
1. Message Received By the driver from GSM:
solenoid. When the solenoid valve is energized, the valve
opens, allowing fuel to flow. When the solenoid valve is
denergized, the valve shuts and the flow of the fuel is
restricted.

Figure 1.5 Solenoid Valve

Why Solenoid Valve ?

Figure 1.6
1) Solenoid valve consumes less power (i.e upto 5V to 12 V)
2) Easy to install and maintain as compared to other devices.
3) Low Cost
2. Actual View of the Web Page
4) Response time is very less (almost in milisecs)
5) Fast operation,
6) High Reliability,

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Figure 1.7
V. CONCLUSION
There has been an increase in the level of air pollution over
the past decades, and tremendous use of vehicles emitting
pollutants is one of the main causes for the rise in pollution.
So this proposed system will help us to mitigate this problem
which in turn will result in maintaining eco friendly
environment. This project broadens the horizons in all aspects
of engineering as it’s various facets deals with Embedded
system, Wireless Communication and Networking. Having
achieved the desired objective, the system can be very useful
as it curbs the problem by creating an awareness regarding this
issue amongst the people.
[6] http://www.china-total.com/Product/meter/gas-sensor/MQ-
7.pdf.
[7] https://www.atmel.com/Images/Atmel-42735-8-bit-
AVR-Microcontroller-ATmega328-328P_Datasheet.pdf.
[8] https://www.engineersgarage.com/insight/how-
piezo-buzzer-works.
[9] http://robokits.co.in/wireless-solutions/gsm-gprs/sim-
800-gsm-gprs-module-with-rs232-interface.
[10]http://gpsworld.com/what-exactly-is-gps-nmea-data/
[11] Vigneshwaran.K, Sumithra.S & Janani.R," An Intelligent
Tracking System Based on GSM and GPS Using
Smartphones",International Journal of Advanced Research in
Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, Vol.
4, Issue 5, May 2015.
[12] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmXWkVMfC5I.
[13] http://www.adamantvalves.com/the-advantages-
of-solenoid-valve.html.
[14]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Tomcat.
[15]http://simcom.ee/documents/SIM800/SIM800_Hardware
%20Design_V1.08.pdf.

VI. REFERENCES

[1] Mr.E.Sunil Kumar ,Mr.P.V.Vara Prasad Rao and

Mrs.G.Satya Prabha," Automated Control System for Air
Pollution Detection in Vehicles," International Journal &
Magazine of Engineering, Technology, Management and
Research, ISSN No: 2348-4845, Volume No: 2 (2015), Issue
No: 7 (July).
[2] M. Ranga Reddy & S. Sarath Chandra," An Intelligent Air
Pollutant Vechicle Tracker System Using Gas Sensor And
GPS",IJCSIET--International Journal of Computer Science
information and Engg-IJCSIET-Issue4-Volume3-series2.
[3] Vasana Prathyusha1 & P. Bala Murali Krishna," Pollution
Check in Vehicles and Alerting System using Location
Identifier", International Journal of Innovative Research in
Computer and Communication Engineering - Vol. 3, Issue 10,
October 2015.
[4] Mohammad Akthar Ali And M.Venkata SIreesha,"
Automated Control System for Air Pollution Detection in
Vehicles ," International Journal of Scientific Engineering and
Technology Research-IJSETR, ISSN 2319-8885
Vol.03,Issue.32 October-2014. [5]http://www.china-
total.com/Product/meter/gas-sensor/Gas-sensor.htm.

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