Simultaneous detection of breath and alcohol using breath-alcohol sensor for prevention of drunk driving

Abstract

Safety measures concerning drunk driving are the major technical challenges in the car industry. We have developed systems to prevent drunk driving by applying our new, non-contact breath-alcohol sensor in which our original breath sensor is coupled with an alcohol sensor. The breath sensor detects breath by measuring electric currents of positively or negatively charged water clusters in breath that are separated by using an electric field. Our breath-alcohol sensor simultaneously detects the electrical signal of breath and alcohol in breath. This insures that the sample is of a person's breath, not an artificial source. © IEICE 2010.