FPGA-based Inebriation & Drowsiness Detection Embedded System

Driving under the influence is a prevalent problem and a detriment to causing many preventable traffic accidents every year. However, there is limited research and development towards a detection system to avoid driving under the influence of future vehicle designs. To address the prevalent driving issue under the influence, we developed and implemented an FPGA-based embedded system by interfacing with a PCAM 5C camera, MQ-3 alcohol gas sensor, ESP32 wireless communication module, microphone headset, and microSD card. We validated our system prototype using an MQ3 sensor to read the % BAC level for detecting an inebriated state. Additionally, there is an audio jack for message announcing, an ESP32 device for communication, accessing files within a directory in the microSD card, and a video feed from the PCAM camera to detect drowsiness. A detection system prevents a driver from starting the vehicle through auxiliary peripheral sensors like on-chip cameras to detect intoxicated behaviors from a driver’s facial recognition.