NEW PROJECTS

Vehicle Honk Counter

An innovative approach to tackle the issue of noise pollution on Indian streets using technological intervention

Problem Statement

According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Noise is defined as an unwanted sound that causes discomfort. It is even considered as a form of Air Pollutant under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.(NOISE POLLUTION REDUCE NOISE POLLUTION FOR HEALTHY LIVING, 2020)

Yet the majority focus of the public and administration is towards conventional forms of pollution such as Land, Water, and Air. Even though we have laid out noise pollution guidelines, the rampant honking etiquette of Indian commuters is an utter disregard for public order and safety. Someone who has traversed across the bustling streets of North India can definitely tell that silence is not an option for traveling on Indian roads; Perhaps that is the reason why so many Indian commuters suffer from some form of noise-induced hearing loss. (Manar et al., 2019)

Innumerable studies suggest that longer periods of exposure to loud noises can cause various health-related diseases such as Tinnitus, Higher Blood Pressure levels, increased risk of Cardiac diseases, etc.(Taneja, 2014)

This is a great cause of concern for our Auto rickshaw drivers who drive daily for 8-12 hours to earn their livelihood. It is not just a driver-centric issue; this is also problematic for our Traffic police personnel who maintain law and order on streets while being exposed to various drivers who express their anger by the means of unnecessary honking.(Gupta et al., 2015)

If a potentially chronic disease affects the guardians of law at their workplace, it could hamper their performance levels while jeopardizing their health.

Surveys also show that in places such as residential complexes, prime locations etc. which have certain restrictions on noise levels, required decibel levels are not being adhered to.

It is important to understand that we cannot stop people from honking as it fulfills a specific purpose, but we also cannot ignore the fact that people use their vehicle horns in unnecessary amounts and for unexpected reasons.(“‘Mindless Honking Is So Deeply Ingrained in the Indian Psyche,’” 2019)

Honking cannot be stopped but it can be reduced; not just by the means of social awareness, but also by tracking honking patterns of Indian drivers.

Global Indexes suggest that 3 of the world’s top 9 noisiest cities are from India, including the capital city of New Delhi. Another index explains why Delhi and Mumbai top the list of cities with hearing loss equivalent to 20 years more than their actual age.(Gray, 2017)

It can be rightfully said that the indexes include all kinds of noise pollution sources, but a major chunk is contributed by the transportation sector.

As a citizen of a responsible nation, I believe it is in our best interest to not build up a reputation for topping the wrong indexes, which is why I came up with a prospective solution to the problem of noise pollution created by vehicles.

Objective Of innovation:

Generally, in the context of noise pollution, rules and regulations focus on specific threshold limits in terms of decibels which shouldn’t be violated to maintain appropriate sound levels.

Albeit, if we focus solely on Vehicular noise pollution, we can use a different approach to quantify the impact of sound; the driver needs to press the horn for the noise to be generated. We can essentially count the number of times a vehicle honks using a device working on the principle of a Tally Counter.

The above image is of the novel device which utilizes a touch sensor placed on the surface of the vehicle horn (two-wheelers/ Auto rickshaws) to record the time at which driver pressed the horn trigger

This vehicle honk counter operates on an Arduino Nano mini-board to keep a track of Honking at specific times for data analysis.

The above image showcases the internals of the Vehicle Honk Counter for a better visual understanding.

The main objective of this device is to record vehicle honks at the time of occurrence while making the data visible to the driver on spot. Experiments conducted using this device suggest that when the person behind the wheel sees their honking patterns, it affects their conscience and they become more cautious while honking next time; thus bringing down their daily total of vehicle honks.

The above image is a schematic diagram of the Vehicle Honk Counter. All essential wiring details can be understood from this illustration.

Note: The device is not designed to work with Cars or any kind of vehicles that use a Steering wheel horn as the surface area of such horns is much larger for a touch sensor; However, it doesn’t create much impact as the data suggests that two-wheelers highly outnumber other categories of vehicles in India.(MOTOR VEHICLES – Statistical Year Book India 2017, 2018)

Also, Car-ownership trends reflect that there are only 22 cars per 1000 people in India as compared to 850 and 980 in the United Kingdom and the United States respectively, which means there is a greater scope of improvement in the Two and Three-wheeler sector.(Abbas, 2018)

Salient features of the device:

  • The display of the Vehicle Honk counter uses a 24-hour clock system to ensure pinpoint accuracy while registering Honk time.
  • The device has a built-in Secure Digital (S.D.) Card Module which helps in saving up to a Month’s honking data in a text file for future reference and data analysis.

(Above image is a sample picture of how the data text file looks when viewed on a Desktop)

The device has a voltage converter which ensures that it can be connected to the 12 Volt battery of the vehicle for running the device indefinitely until the vehicle battery is dead. It only takes power from the battery when the ignition is turned On.

Above image is of the connector cable which can be used to take power from the electrodes of the 12 Volt vehicle battery, thus removing the need for a constant source of power

  • The TTP223 touch sensor in the Vehicle Honk counter is smaller than a standard human thumb, which ensures that it can be easily mounted on a horn trigger without causing much disturbance while maintaining a good grip
  • When a honk is recorded, the device makes a beep sound using the built-in buzzer, which ensures that the driver can solely focus on the road, while relying on their hearing senses to acknowledge the horn count. Hence, it reduces the chance of road mishaps.
  • The components of the Vehicle Honk Counter are placed inside a 11x4x8 cm body. A small form factor means that the device can be easily mounted even on a two-wheeler without occupying much space.

Experimental Data

The device was tested on two subjects- Subject A and Subject B in August of 2020. Both the Subjects used a two-wheeler for the experiment. Data were recorded for each subject for a period of one week, after which Data was recorded for the consecutive week. Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 situation, arrangements for a three-wheeler couldn’t be made for the experiment.

Background: Subject A commutes within a residential complex close to a busy intersection fulfilling household chores. Subject B commutes to and from work using Mahatma Gandhi Marg (Ring Road).

Conclusion: In Mean terms, Subject A showed a reduction in Vehicle Honking by 35%, while Subject B showed a reduction by 36%. Results are highly positive and indicate that the device can potentially be used to bring down vehicle honking in areas where it is highly required

Note: Since the number of test subjects was limited due to some external complications, we believe that if full-scale trials are conducted, the reduction in vehicular honking could be much more than the precedent of 40% established in the above-stated experiment results.

Way Forward:

The device has greater potential for measuring the honking patterns of the Indian populace and can be used as part of a mass survey to calculate a national average of honks per day. In major metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru which are highly infamous for their traffic noise pollution, this device can also be used to substitute the police personnel who have the responsibility of ensuring that honking does not take place in no-honking zones. I believe that this device fulfills the dual objective of motivating Indian drivers to honk less as well as providing us the necessary data on the honking etiquette of Indian drivers which can be very useful in formulating future policies and laws relating to street traffic and noise pollution in India.

For a better understanding of how the device works, these videos can be referred to:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uzbvv9FwwuRFP0OQJopydfxasNDaX-lL/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1th2siIo4CbHfZzo3-Yjavh3DXTJ_nkAu/view

Citations: