ABSTRACT

Federal Road Safety Commission Act, Cap 141, Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2007 (FRSC Act, Cap 141, LFN 2007.) has mandated FRSC Operatives to seize, suspend or disqualify from driving on Nigeria’s roads, any recalcitrant Road Traffic Offenders (RTO), who is adjudged to have accumulated 25 or more penalty points from the road traffic offenses. However, due to lack of access to road traffic information, the mandate has never been implemented to date. In this dissertation, we set out to re-engineer FRSC Patrol Operations. Our objective is to provide the FRSC Field Operatives with ubiquitous access to road traffic offenders’ information from the patrol locations. We analyzed the old FRSC record management system; we re-structured the data on road traffic and designed ‘An SMS Based Road Traffic Offense Tracker and Profiler, called (Tracker), which solved the problem of access road traffic offense information for the FRSC Operatives. Global System for Mobility (GSM), Short Message Service (SMS), Java, Android, Extensible Mark-up Language (XML), PHP and other relevant technologies were used to implement the Tracker. The Tracker had been successfully implemented and tested with knocked-off RTO data from Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (FCT, Abuja). It is found worthy for use by FRSC, as it is working correctly and capable of receiving, processing and replying users’ requests, not only from Nigeria, but from all over the world. The Tracker offered the FRSC Operatives real time ability for tracking and profiling the road traffic offenses, vehicle and vehicle owners’ and implementation of the RTO Penalty Points for the disqualification or suspension of recalcitrant motorist.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Certification ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii
Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. iv
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. v
Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… vi
List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ix
Table of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… x
Accronym ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… xi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………….. 1
1.0 Background of the Study …………………………………………………………………………………….. 1
1.1 Problem Statement ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 2
1.2 Research Motivation …………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
1.3 Research Problem ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Research ……………………………………………………………………… 4
1.5 Significance of the Research Project …………………………………………………………………….. 5
1.6 Research Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
1.7 Research Tools …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
1.7.1 Hardware tools …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
1.7.2 Software Tool …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
1.7.3 Programming and Scripting Language ………………………………………………………………….. 7
1.8 Thesis Outline …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………………………………. 9
2.0 Review of Related Work ……………………………………………………………………………………… 9
2.1 Review of Related Technology …………………………………………………………………………… 13
2.2.1 Wireless Telecommunication Technology (GSM) ……………………………………………………. 13
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2.2.2 Java 2 Micro Edition (J2me) …………………………………………………………………………….. 16
2.2.3 Android ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
2.2.4 GSM/GPRS Modem …………………………………………………………………………………………. 26
2.2.5 SMS Message………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
2.2.6 Message Gateway ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
CHAPTER THREE: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION ………………………………………….. 31
3.0 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 31
3.1 Overall System Design ……………………………………………………………………………………… 31
3.1.1 Charasteristics of the New System ……………………………………………………………………… 31
3.1.2 Architectural Design of the System …………………………………………………………………….. 32
3.1.3 Design of SMS Messaging Application ……………………………………………………………….. 35
3.1.4 Structural Design of SMS Message …………………………………………………………………….. 35
3.1.5 Design of SMS Processing Application ……………………………………………………………….. 36
3.1.6 Database Design……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37
3.1.7 System and Information Security Design …………………………………………………………….. 43
3.1.8 Overall System Flowchart………………………………………………………………………………….. 43
3.2 Implementations ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 45
3.2.1 Implementation of MIDlet SMS messaging application ……………………………………….. 45
3.2.2 Implementation of android messaging application ……………………………………………….. 47
3.2.3 Database implementation ………………………………………………………………………………….. 51
3.2.4 GAMMU setting ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 60
3.2.5 Implementation of security mechanism ………………………………………………………………. 63
3.3 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 65
CHAPTER FOUR: TESTING AND EVALUATION …………………………………………………….. 66
4.0 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 66
4.1 Functional Processess of the System …………………………………………………………………… 66
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4.3 System Testing and Evaluation …………………………………………………………………………… 69
4.4 Limitation of the System ……………………………………………………………………………………. 75
4.5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 75
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION …………… 76
5.0 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 76
5.1 Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 76
5.2 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 77
5.3 Limitations ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 79
5.4 Recommendations for FRSC Processes Improvement …………………………………………… 79
5.5 Recommendation for Further Work …………………………………………………………………….. 80
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 81
APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 84
APPENDIX A: SMS messaging Application Source Codes. ……………………………………………. 84
a. TomdApplication.java ………………………………………………………………………………………… 84
b. TomdApp.Java …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 87
c. R.java File ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 88
d. Activity_xml File ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 91
e. AndroidManifest.xml File …………………………………………………………………………………… 92
APPENDIX B: SMS Message Processing Application Source Codes. ……………………………… 93
a. SearchInfo.bs ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 93
b. ExtractUserMsg.sql File ……………………………………………………………………………………. 93
c. LoadUserMsg.sql ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 93
d. ExtractUserReply.php File ………………………………………………………………………………….. 93
e. MyStartup.bs …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 95
APPENDIX C: Gammu Configuration Files. ……………………………………………………………….. 95
a. gammurc ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 95
b. smsdrc ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 95
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CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION
1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Road traffic administration is a complex and crucial issue as it involves managing people and vehicles as well as movement of people and properties on the road. Vehicular movement most often causes road traffic crashes that usually bring about loss of human and material resources. Road traffic management requires information on road users‟ vehicles and their owners. There is also need for a good road traffic information management system that is capable of processing and disseminating of the information as fast as possible to the road traffic law enforcement agents in order to equip and empower them to discharge their duties with increased diligence. In Nigeria, law enforcement agents, particularly road traffic enforcement agents lack access to information on road users especially information pertaining to road traffic offenders, vehicle and drivers when carrying out their statutory functions from the duty posts. Nigerian road users‟ are aware of these inadequacies especially if one look at the act of lawlessness by these road users. Disobedience to Road Traffic Rules and Regulations (RTRs) has reached an unprecedented level of unacceptability. The lack of information has been a hindrance which affects the effectiveness of law enforcement agents, and is therefore no more acceptable if we consider the level of advancement in the area of information management and technology especially in the area of mobile computing. FRSC (2010). Since the advent of mobile computing coupled with the improvement of mobile small devices processing power, memory capacity and development of mobile wireless telecommunication networks, access and dissemination of information becomes ubiquitous.
Mobile devices are now being used to run complex and dynamic applications that were only run on computer (PC) in the past. These mobile devices are now capable and rapidly replacing
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computer systems for running business application both dynamic and standalone such as surfing of internet, remote monitoring applications and many more. Several communication technologies or protocols such as WAP, Bluetooth, SMS, and GPRS are now being used in conjunction with mobile devices to develop and run applications. Simplicity and universality of the Short Message Services (SMS) makes it popular for development of applications for mobile device by programmers. SMS is a communication protocol which allows exchange of short textual message between mobile device users. It is one of the most popular services provided by GSM networks. Simplicity, portability, ubiquous access to information, mobility, cheapness and network availability are some of the characteristics and advantages offered for running public and private business applications on mobile device than on computers. SMS based mobile device applications offer businesses the advantages of mobility and ubiquitous access to information at cost effective price.
1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT
FRSC Act Cap 141, Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2007, mandated Federal Road Safety Corps to reduce Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) to the barest minimum in Nigeria. The Commission in its early years of inception actualized this mandate. However, the problems of RTCs resurfaced again, and unlike before, the increase of RTCs and the attendant loss of human and materials resource from it, is so unprecedented. In Nigeria today, Road Traffic Administration is so patchy and ineffective because;
a. Data on Road Traffic Offences (RTOs) are scattered across the country with no standard means of storage, access, protection and backup.
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b. Where available, the data are not harmonized and are processed manually.
c. No connectivity between data in various departments, particularly between Operations and Motor Vehicle Administration Departments.
d. FRSC Patrol Operatives cannot access RTOs information from patrol locations.
These problems present a serious challenge to the capacity of FRSC as a leading agency in road traffic management in Nigeria. Among the noticeable effects of the above problems are;
a. Incessant disobedience to RTRs and disregards to constituted authority by the Nigerian Road users which often results to RTCs that causes loss of human and materials resource.
b. Forgery of Vehicle Plate Number, Driving License and other Vehicle Registration documents which cause loss of revenue to both Federal and State Governments.
c. Inability to trace and apprehend run away Road Traffic Laws Violators (RTVs)
d. Lack of effective communication facilities to exchange information among Field Operatives.
1.2 RESEARCH MOTIVATION
We are motivated to undertake this research work because the Researcher participated in a committee work constituted by FRSC Management that studied and found out the causes of recent RTCs increase in Nigeria. Our aim is to provide solution to some of the major issues and problems hindering RTCs prevention and RTOs identification which is due to lack of data and on-the-spot (ubiquitous) access to information on RTOs and other related Road Traffic issues as identified in the Committee‟s Report.
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1.3 RESEARCH PROBLEM
Can a universal SMS-based Road Traffic Offences Tracking system be built to empower FRSC Operatives in order to improve RTA?
1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
The aim of this Research Work is to re-engineer the FRSC Patrol Operations by introducing modern concept of Information Management in the area of RTRs enforcement in order to help FRSC actualize its mandate as enshrined in the FRSC Act, Cap 141, LFN 2007. The objectives of the research are as follows;
a. Come up with a comprehensive organized data on RTOs, Vehicle, Vehicle Owners, Driving Licensing and other related information, carefully formatted for suitable manipulation by the proposed system.
b. design a system capable of manipulating the data through SMS service of GSM network and mobile small devices (Cell Phone) in order to improve the capacity of FRSC Operatives and empower them with the ability to;
i. Enable computations of offence penalty point from the Operatives Patrol locations when a RTO is adjudged to accumulate sufficient number of point to warrant arrest and prosecution for disqualification from driving.
ii. Enable the tracking and apprehending road traffic rules violators (RTVs) from the Operatives Patrol locations.
iii. Identify and ascertains the genuineness of Vehicle Plate Number, Driving License and other Vehicle Registration document from the Operatives Patrol locations.
iv. Provide lead information for identification of RTCs victims where such victims‟
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body are mutilated beyond physical recognition.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT
a. To inculcate the notion of no escaping FRSC arrest when one violates RTRs into the Nigerian motorist mind which would induce discipline on the road user.
b. To discourage forgery and of Vehicle Plate Numbers, Drivers License and other documents.
c. To simplify contact with RTCs victims‟ families and relations when there is emergency.
d. Provide a platform for the actualization of implementation of penalty points as enshrined in the FRSC Act, Cap 141 LFN, 2007.
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In order to achieve our objectives, we followed the following procedures; System Analysis Stage: here, we carried out a detailed study and analysis of the existing FRSC system in order to identify how the functional process work, it problems, relevant documents that are of interest to this research work, the sources of data and how the data are inter related with one another. Conceptualization design stage: we used Universal Modelling Language (UML) to develop the conceptual model of our system. We developed various proto-type block diagram of the system and then choose the one that suited our purpose and continue to refine it in order to perfect it. Detailed of the system components and parts were determined at this stage. ER-diagram Design Stage: the design schematic diagram of the system and implementation of the database also took place at this stage.
User Interface Design: user interface is how interaction would take place between the user and
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the device. This stage is where we designed the interface of the proposed system. We determined the mode of interaction between the user and the system as well as selection of communication protocol and transmission media we would use to exchange information between the system components and users. Backend Application Design and Configurations: this is multi activity stage where we designed the system‟s backend application and then configured the other hardware devices with the PC Server. The backend application is the message processing engine which is implemented with PHP, SQL and Bash scripts. Testing and Evaluation: At this stage, we coupled the various components of the system into one and then conducted tests and evaluate the performance of the overall system.
1.7 RESEARCH TOOLS
The following are the tools needed for the successfully design of the proposed system.
1.7.1 HARDWARE TOOLS
a. Personal Computer
b. Mobile Cell Phone
c. GSM Mode
1.7.2 SOFTWARE TOOL
a. Operating System: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Desktop for the PC Server
b. Messaging Gateway: Gammu
c. Database Management System: Mysql and Mysql Workbench 6.0
d. J2ME Development Environment: NetBeans IDE 7.1.2 and JCreator
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e. Android Application Development Kit (Eclipse and Android SDK Manager).
1.7.3 PROGRAMMING AND SCRIPTING LANGUAGE
a. Java Language and Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME)
b. XML, PHP, SQL and Bash Scripting languages.
1.8 THESIS OUTLINE
This write up comprises of five chapters. Chapter one gives the introduction to the research work. it looks into the relevance of the research by giving detailed overview of the research area in section 1.1, the research problems in section 1.2, section 1.3 is the motivation behind the research work, aims and objectives in section 1.5 and 1.6 as well as the significance of the research work in section 1.7. Finally, the research methodology and the thesis outline were discussed in section 1.9 and 1.10 respectively. Chapter two looks into the relevant literature related to the research. It also discusses the technologies used in developing the system. Chapter three is on design and implementation of the system. Characteristics of the system are discussed in section 3.1, the overall system architecture is given in section 3.2. The detail design and implementation of the SMS messaging and processing applications were discussed in section 3.3 and 3.4, respectively. Chapter four focused on the functional structures and processes of the whole system. Equally deliberated in section 4.3, are the various tests and evaluations conducted after the system was implemented.
Chapter five presents the summary, recommendations, future work and conclusion of the research.
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Table 1.1: Research Plan Phase Activity Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
W1
W2
W3
W4
W1
W2
W3
W4
W1
W2
W3
W4
W1
W2
W3
W4
W1
W2
W3
W4
W1
W2
W3
W4
W1
W2
W3
W4
W1
W2
W3
W4
1
Database Design & Implementation
2
User Interface Design & Implementation
3
Gammu Configuration
4
Backend Application Design & implementation
5
Trigger Design and Implementation
6
Testing and Evaluation
7
Project Report
8
Research Defence (Internal)
1.1:
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