Computer-Assisted Oversight for Driving Tests

Project Introduction

Driver’s test systems ensure that newly licensed drivers possess the solid driving skills important for the country’s traffic safety. To achieve this, a city's department of motor vehicles has established a computer network-based supervisory control system for driving tests. In more advanced systems, road test cars have been retrofitted with a surveillance system that verifies the examinee’s identity via fingerprint reader, oversees and videotapes the whole process of examination, evaluates the examinee’s performance, and uploads scores to the department control center’s database for a final determination.

The company in charge of such a project designed and engineered a SCADA system to implement computerized supervision, and they needed ruggedized embedded computers serving as in-vehicle controllers that support video capture and wireless communications. Advantech provided ARK-3420 Embedded Computer for driving test cars in large cities and ARK-VH200 In-vehicle Embedded Computer for those in medium-sized cities.

Requirements

‧Fanless, rugged, and reliable operation
‧Expansion slots for WLAN communications and video capture
‧Intel Processors over 1.0 GHz in performance
‧Up to 2GB RAM
‧2GB CF Card
‧Anti-vibration tolerance and other ruggedized features
‧Wide range temperature operation

Project Implementation

Two different controller versions were provided. In large cities, test cars were equipped with the ARK-3420; its more powerful CPU handles massive data loads with ease. In medium or smaller-sized cities, the more compact ARK-VH200 was utilized for its compact and shockproof design. Each driving test car has a controller unit installed in its trunk, with a connected video camera above the front passenger’s seat, and a 7” LCD panel with fingerprint reader located on the dashboard.

The ARK-3420 has two PCI slots and the ARK-VH200 has two Mini-PCIe slots for connecting to a WLAN card and a video capture card. With wireless communications, the whole system performs real-time surveillance and remote control functions.

When an examinee sits in the car to take a road test, he or she is first required to put a finger on the fingerprint reader to confirm that he or she is the same person who applied for the test. The fingerprint data is stored and sent to the test supervision center for verification. The driving test administrator, who sits in the front passenger’s seat, sees the fingerprint result on the LCD panel.

A video camera above the front passenger’s seat records the whole road test process to ensure that everything is conducted in accordance with rules and guidelines. If an irregularity occurs, the system issues a real-timewarningor, if sufficiently severe, it can terminate the test immediately.

 

Conclusion

This computerized automobile road-test system goes a long way in preventing cheating on driving tests. It also provides instant feedback information to the administrator, and records real-time data on the spot. In growing cities where driver licensing is a mounting challenge, such a system helps increase efficiency and scales to increasing requirements for a long life roadmap.

Suggested Application Implementation

 

ARK-VH200
High Performance Mobile Intel® Atom™Fanless DVR solution