An IoT based school bus tracking and monitoring system developed as part of my course work for my B.Tech in Computer Science from Cochin University of Science & Technology

1. Smart School
Bus: IoT Based
School Bus
Monitoring
System
Presented By:
Judy T Raj
Cs8
12141828
Project Report

3.  Aim of this project include:
 Develop an affordable low cost system for tracking and
ensuring safety of school children.
 Securing the commute of students to and from school.
 Help ensure safe arrival and departure of students.
 Real time tracking
 Improve accountability and reliability of school buses.
.
Introduction3
APPLICATION
(Android)
INTERNET
(Cloud)
THINGS
(gps, rfid, processor)

5.  Students often get on the wrong buses and get off at the
wrong stops.
 Bus drivers maybe unable to identify all students and
will not know in time if a student is missing.
 Parents have no way of knowing if their ward is safe
until the evening when the bus returns.
 There is no provision to monitor driving within speed
limit or unscheduled deviations.
 School students aren’t allowed phones.
 Working parents have no way of knowing if and when
their kids get home.
 There is no reliable method for tackling delays or
accidents, which further aggravate parents.
Problem Definition5

7. Existing System
There are two main bus tracking systems available in the
market today:
1.) GSM/GPRS modules with Arduino
 Returns the geo-coordinates when queried
 Uses text messaging which essentially spams the
inbox
 Not real time
System Study7

8. Raspberry Pi systems with WiFi
 While efficient and real-time, these are expensive.
 Not commercially feasible
 None of these have student identification and hence
creates a false sense of security.
System Study8

9. Proposed System
 A reliable system that tracks the location of school
buses in real-time by uploading the geo-
coordinates continuously via WiFi.
 Identifies each student as they enter and alight the
bus using Radio Frequency Identification
embedded in student id cards.
System Study9

10. Other operations that can be performed include:
 Contact emergency services
 Mark attendance
 Fleet Management
 Contact driver
10
System Study

11. Benefits
 Scalable
- The application is designed with provisions to
accommodate new buses and new routes.
 Low cost
- Uses ESP8266 microcontroller which is low-cost
and provides efficient latency.
 User friendly
- Easy to use and provides a simple interface
 Reliable
- Updates are real time and hence reliable.
System Study11

13. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
FRONT END:
Operating system: Android API 14 & above
Development : Android Studio
: Arduino IDE
: Notepad++
BACK END:
Php + MySql
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
ESP8266 MICROCONTROLLER
UBLOX 6M GPS MODULE
MF-RC522 RFID Reader
System Requirements13
PC-Mate

15.  The proposed system has two function modules and
three user modules:
 Function Modules
 Location Tracker
 Student Identification
 User Modules
 Admin
 Driver
 Parents
Module Specification15

16. 1. LOCATION TRACKER
 GPS module attached to the microcontroller reads real-
time location of the vehicle continuously.
 The microcontroller uploads the geo-coordinates thus
received to the back-end database via WiFi.
 The front-end application continuously checks for
changes in the database, on loading.
 When the application finds a change in the database, it
reads the newly updated coordinates and plots them on
a map in it’s UI using the phone’s internet.
Module Specification16

17. 17
Illustration
DATABASE
HARDWARE
ENSEMBLE
APPLICATION
• Data being uploaded include the geo-coordinates and speed.
•The application receives the uploaded data and plots the information on a map.
Module Specification

18. Module Specification18
STUDENT IDENTIFICATION
 The id cards of each student is embedded with an RFID tag.
 An RFID reader connected to the microcontroller identifies
each student as they enter.
 The processor searches for the student in the database finds the
respective parents’ id and notifies them with the location input
from the GPS module.
RFID tag RFID reader
GPS module
Microcontroller
Application
School Bus

19. USER MODULE
 ADMIN
 Add and remove drivers, stops, routes and students in the database.
 View location, speed and list of passengers on board.
 Access all information in the database.
 Update database information
 Contact parents or drivers
 DRIVER
 View route and scheduled stops.
 Contact admin or emergency services.
 PARENTS
 View current location, route taken, designated route and current speed.
 Gets notified when their ward alights and gets on.
 View bus schedule
 Contact admin or bus driver
Module Specification19

21. Response
CONTEXT LEVEL DFD
SCHOOL BUS
MONITORINGUSER USER
Request
21
PC-Mate
SYSTEM

22. CIRCUIT DIAGRAM FOR BREAK OUT BOARD
22
PC-Mate

23. CIRCUIT DIAGRAM FOR CONNECTING PERIPHERALS
23
PC-Mate

24. USE CASE DIAGRAM : UML DIAGRAM
24
PC-Mate

26. STUDENT
Tables26
Online Databases

27. ROUTE
Tables27
SmartSchoolBus

28. User
Tables28

29. BUS
Tables29

30. STATUS
Tables30

32. LogIn, SignUp & Settings
UI32

33. Admin Module : Home & Student list screen
UI33

34. Admin Module : Add Student, Bus & Contact Driver Screens
UI34

35. Parent Module : Home, Add Child & Contact Screen
UI35

36. Parent Module : Notifications Tray
UI36

37. Driver Module : Home Screen
UI37

39. Conclusion
LIMITATIONS
 The implemented RFID reader has a range as short as 3cm,
which is not commercially feasible.
 It assumes WiFi as ubiquitous and the system would fail if
outside the network.
 The system does not take into account scenarios where the id
tags might be swapped, damaged or lost.
 The http connection is not encrypted and hence susceptible.
39

40. Conclusion
FUTURE SCOPE
 A provision to disable the vehicle in case of theft can be
added.
 A provision to unlock doors only upon id can be added
 RFID can be replaced with more reliable methods like
biometric identification.
40

41. Conclusion
CONCLUSION
41
In summary, the system meets all of the specified design requirements
and functionalities. The location and speed were tracked continuously
and accurately and subsequently plotted on the map. The GPS showed a
delay between 30s-60s on startup. The data communication showed no
corruption. The rfid was read instantly and the notifications received in
less than 15s on an average.
The entire system was developed at a cost as low as $20 as compared to
the $150 and $200 of the existing systems as portrayed on the graph
below:

42. THANKYOU
Project
Design