A Multimodal Approach to Enhancing Automobile Security

The continuous increase in use of the automobiles has resulted in increase in vehicular traffic and social vices such as theft, thus necessitating efforts for improving automobile security. As a result of this, various solutions such as satellite monitoring and General Packet Radio Services have been adopted to track vehicle locations over time. This article combines the uniqueness of an automobile plate number and the face(s) of an authorized vehicle driver to enhance the automobile security system, hence eliminating the inefficiency of the existing tag system while reducing the cases of unauthorized automobile use and outright theft. A weighted score approach was used in evaluating the efficiency of the character recognition subsystem with an accuracy of 89.3% recorded. The face recognition subsystem also achieved reliable genuine and an imposter attempt at 0.0 confidence level. The designed system ensured security of an automobile through the combination of a plate number and image recognition, thereby preventing an unauthorized driver from taking a vehicle out of a controlled area.