Development of a Vehicle Anti-Theft System Using GPS Tracking and Remote Engine Immobilisation for Car Owners in Lagos

Vehicle theft is a significant security concern for car owners in Lagos, South West Nigeria, and existing anti-theft solutions are either expensive imported systems or inadequate mechanical locks that do not prevent relay attacks or key cloning. This project developed a GSM and GPS-based vehicle anti-theft system with remote engine immobilisation capability. An ATmega2560 microcontroller was interfaced with a SIM800L GSM/GPRS module and a NEO-6M GPS module installed covertly within the vehicle's dashboard. The system transmitted GPS coordinates to a Google Maps-linked owner portal every 60 seconds in normal operation and at 10-second intervals when a vibration-triggered alert was active. An SMS command from the registered owner's phone activated a relay that cut the vehicle's fuel pump circuit, immobilising the engine regardless of whether the key was present. A geofencing feature alerted the owner via SMS if the vehicle moved outside a pre-configured 500-metre radius. The system was tested in 50 field trials around a Lagos residential area. Location accuracy was within 8 metres under open-sky GPS conditions. Engine immobilisation command execution time from SMS receipt to relay activation averaged 7.4 seconds. Geofence breach detection and alert delivery was completed in 12.1 seconds on average. False alarm rate during vibration detection testing was 3.6 percent. Total hardware cost was 28,700 naira. The study recommends integrating a cellular data uplink for continuous live tracking via a dedicated mobile application to improve real-time monitoring user experience.

Keywords: vehicle anti-theft, GPS tracking, GSM, engine immobilisation, Lagos