SmartPPM: An Internet of Things Based Smart Helmet Design for Potholes and Air Pollution Monitoring

Abstract

In a country with an extensive road network, it is very tough for authorities to identify and repair the potholes on time, which emerge due to casual wear and tear of the road. These potholes are dangerous for unsuspecting high-speed vehicles and results in multiple life-threatening accidents year-round. Apart from potholes, another severe concern about the time spent on roads is air pollution. Breathing the polluted air, mainly containing the particulate matter that has a diameter of fewer than 2.5 micrometers, is toxic to humans. In this work, we have judiciously designed an Internet of Things based smart helmet, which uses crowdsourcing to report potholes and collect crucial on-road air pollution data so that a person could avoid risk to life and health. We have also introduced the novel concept of remembrance factor and severity index, which could be useful in dealing with the stale and invalid pothole data in the database.