Smart EV Safety and Alert System

This paper presents the design and implementation of a Smart EV Safety and Alert System — a working prototype built around a dual-microcontroller architecture using an ESP32-CAM and Arduino Uno. The system demonstrates three key capabilities validated on a physical prototype: (1) AI-based object detection using YOLOv8n on a connected laptop that automatically stops the car when a person is detected and slows it when a bus is detected, achieving 180–220 ms response latency; (2) crash and flip detection via an MPU6050 IMU that halts all motors immediately on impact or rollover; and (3) a web-based manual control dashboard that allows full directional control and emergency stop from any browser on the same Wi-Fi network. The motors are demonstrated running and stopping automatically in response to both sensor triggers and web commands, confirming real-time hardware responsiveness. Battery temperature monitoring via DS18B20 sensors and spoken voice alerts via DFPlayer Mini provide additional safety layers. Lane detection using OpenCV is identified as a near-term upgrade. Testing on the working prototype confirmed zero false positives during normal operation. The system is built entirely from open-source tools and components costing under ₹4,000, demonstrating a cost-effective architecture for intelligent vehicle safety systems.