Development of a Density-Based Traffic Light Signal System

Abstract

This paper presents a density-based traffic light signal system that performs timing signal that changes automatically based on the amount of traffic at each of its intersections. However, as traffic congestion is a pertinent problem on all of Ahmadu Bello University’s (ABU) gates, it is time to advance from the traditional technique to an automated system that has self-decision capabilities. The current technique used on the traffic system is based on the traditional technique, which works based on time scheduling; this system is inefficient if one lane is operational while the others are not operational. The intelligent traffic control was prototyped in order to solve this perennial problem of ABU’s gate. When there is a high density on one lane of the intersection, it causes a longer waiting time on the other lanes than the regular permitted time. As a result, a process was designed through which the time periods for the green and red lights were assigned based on the traffic densities on each of the lanes at that time. Infrared (IR) sensors were used to perform this task. The Arduino Uno Microcontroller was used for allocating the glowing period of green lights once density had been calculated. Sensors were used for monitoring the presence of vehicles and communicating information to the microcontroller, which determines the duration for which a signal will change or a flank will remain open. Also displayed is the operating principle of the density-based traffic signal control system, which shows the prototype’s efficiency.

Keywords

• traffic light
• congestion
• microcontroller
• Arduino Uno
• infrared sensors