DRINKING AND ENGINEERING: A group from ME professor Kazerooni’s mechanical engineering design class came up with a project that makes the roads safer from drunk drivers. Their presentation included “designated drinkers.”

Students invent blood alcohol tester that prevents intoxicated drivers from cheating

When Professor Kazerooni rejected their original project proposal to make a toilet seat warmer for their Mechanical Engineering Design class, it was back to the drawing board for ME students Andrew Gardner, Aaron Lett, Tyler Noesen, and Silvia Ngo.

“Professor Kazerooni said he wanted us to come up with projects that were truly marketable,” says group member Andrew Gardner.

After hearing about a law that requires drivers with two or more DUI’s to install a breathalyzer in their car, a light bulb went off. They decided they could improve on the product that was already out there.

“We heard stories from friends about people getting drunk and using a sober person to breathe into the breathalyzer to start the car. We wanted to make that harder for people to do,” says team member and ME senior Aaron Lett.

The group’s vision was twofold, to increase safety and add convenience. They tried to make it harder to cheat the system, while at the same time providing intoxicated drivers with an estimate of how long it will take them to sober up.

The team’s blood alcohol content (BAC) monitor requires several extra steps to start the car. The driver must sit down and buckle his or her seatbelt before taking the test. The seat is rigged to only work if a minimum weight threshold registers, preventing people from buckling the seatbelt with no one in it. Requiring the driver to be buckled in before breathing into the breathalyzer makes it harder for someone else to take the test.

Then, if the seatbelt is detached at any time, the engine is programmed to shut off. If a driver fails the breathalyzer test, the system will calculate when he or she should try again.

Springs and sensors in the driver’s seat are able to estimate weight and match that with blood alcohol content to come up with the time estimate.

While the team admits that their system is not completely tamper proof, they have ideas (but not the time or money) on how to create a truly cheatproof product.

“We could probably use infrared sensors to figure out the exact location of the head and mouth so no one can lean over from the passenger’s seat and take the test,” says Gardner.

The team has no plans to market their product as team members prepare to graduate. A full-time job doesn’t leave much room to develop this idea further, adds Gardner.

However, the project has opened some professional doors for team members.

During the course of the project the group met people and made connections in the breathalyzer industry. Gardner is now thinking about doing the programming work required to help bring a new breathalyzer product to market.

For more details on the BAC monitor e-mail Aaron Lett at lett47@berkeley.edu

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