International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 7, July-2013 2518 ISSN 2229-5518 IJSER © 2013 http://www.ijser.org A Simple Obstacle Counter Improved Upon to Work as an Intruder Detection System Agrata Kumar 1 , Jaswant Mann 2 , Monika Nehra 3 , Nisha Jangra 3 , Sharda Vashsith 1 Abstract: This paper presents an obstacle detector/counter which is further improved upon to work as an Intruder Detection System. The project is framed to count the number of obstacles as well as to provide security against any intruder either at home or at the workplace. The basic principle of this work is that whenever the light falling on the Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) is obstructed then at that instant the count on the counter is incremented and this counts the number of obstacles which has passed the given check point. This task is accomplished by using a simple LDR, a BCD counter and a seven segment display. This portion of the circuit is further incorporated with a buzzer and a light (LED) which is used to indicate an intrusion by the intruder and the system is improved to work as an Intruder Detection System. Index Terms : BCD counter, Buzzer , Intruder Detection System, LDR, Light Emitting Diode, Obstacle, Obstacle counter, Op-Amp, seven segment display. ——————————  —————————— 1. INTRODUCTION 'Obstacle' is defined as something which causes obstruction in one's path. In 1988, Delco Systems Operations in Goleta, California developed the first Near Obstacle Detection System which was used as a vehicle safety system that detected and warned the driver of the objects present in the driver's blind zone of the moving vehicle's back-up and adjacent lane[6]. This concept is confined to the vehicles which move on road. But the concept of the obstacle detection is not. A system for the obstacle detection for better navigation capabilities has also been developed for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones. This system also takes into account the problem encountered in the navigation in the scenario after the disaster following the common reference points are generally disturbed. This concept has been extensively explained in the reference [1]. Obstacle detection is also one of the key features of the mobile robots because while maneuvering it is important for them to detect obstructions present in their path. Generally, the range based obstacle detection systems are employed in such machines. The popular sensors for the task being ultrasonic sensors, radar, stereo vision etc. Another technique used for obstacle detection is the appearance based obstacle detection which treats the obstacle's look being different from the ground [2]. Eyes are the organs which provide vision to all the living ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EECE Department, ITM University,Gurgaon Haryana, India 2 ECE Department,Guru Premsukh Memorial College of Engineering, Budhpur, New Delhi, India 3 Biomedical Engineering,Guru Jambheshwar University,Hisar, Haryana, India beings. For a visually impaired person, who cannot see, it becomes important to be able to detect the objects blocking their path while moving. Thus, an obstacle detection system has also been developed for them which allows them to overcome their maneuvering difficulties and helps them to lead an independent life. A breakthrough in this direction has been achieved with the development of an obstacle detector for the visually impaired which uses the sonar sensors for sensing the environment and then sending back the vibro-tactile feedback signals to the users which are further used for detecting the actual placement of the objects[5]. Thus, the obstacle detection system is a device used for detecting the obstructions in a path and the obstacle counter is used to count them. IDS, an acronym for Intruder Detection System, is a device or a software application or a combination of both, which detects an intrusion into a network, system or any place like office, home etc and raises an alarm on detection of an intruder. For any system, it monitors for any harmful activity and then reports it to the management station and at the same time raises an alarm. Thus, it can be thought of as being a counterpart of the burglar alarm for the network or the system. The three tasks which any IDS performs are: monitoring, detecting and generating an alarm [7] Computers were initially introduced as simple computing machines which were later used for various other applications as well, the most important one being the storage of huge amount of information. This application of the simple machine was further enhanced by the introduction of the concept of networking (exchange of information between two or more machines). Initially, this concept was used judiciously but as the networks became IJSER