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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING, VOL. 9, NO. 1, JANUARY 2018
[ISSN: 2045-7057] www.ijmse.org 29
A Novel Approach to Road Traffic Monitoring and
Control System
Franklin O. Okorodudu1*, Philip O. Okorodudu2 and Lawrence O. Atumah3
1*Department of Computer Science, Delta State Polytechnics, Otefe-Oghara, Nigeria
2Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
3Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Delta State Polytechnics, Otefe-Oghara, Nigeria
Abstract– Nowadays, increasing vehicular traffic volumes and
dynamic traffic light management systems have become a huge
challenge to road users and the society at large. These factors
increase the stress level of commuters and drivers as they lead to
time wastage and health related problems. This study developed
a novel approach to road traffic monitoring and control system
using a network of sensors and real-time image processing
system to control traffic and reduce traffic gridlocks and
environmental hazards resulting from smokes of car exhausts.
The design consist of the power supply unit, the micro controller
unit, the motion sensors, the timer, the digital calculator, the
digital display and counter, the message processor and camera.
The system takes into consideration the traffic jams and gives
hints on how we can avoid the jammed traffic so we can be on
time to our destination. Simulation of the various units was done
individually using the procedural programming application
Proteus 8. Most of the components used were according to
design specifications from data book with alternatives used in
cases where they are unavailable. The design was done in units
and was tested individually and the whole system was tested
collectively to perform the required task of giving a forecasted
route to users. The designed model is capable of improving
reliability, speed, operational safety and reducing pollution as
well as road traffic jam.
Keywords– Digital Counter, Micro Controllers, Motion Sensors
and Traffic Monitoring/Control
I. INTRODUCTION
he road transportation system provides services to
millions of passengers worldwide as it is one of the most
widely used means of transportation. Within a given
geographical location, road transportation is the most
economical. The need to keep road journeys safe and reliable
cannot be overemphasized. A number of recent road accidents
have been attributed to poor road management systems which
causes gridlocks on major highways [1]. The introduction of
computerized road traffic and control system that has the
ability to redirect drivers to routes with less traffic will
improve the reliability, efficiency and safety of the road
transport system as well as reduce the environmental hazards
that are associated with gridlocks such as the smoke from the
exhaust of vehicles especially diesel driven car engines.
With the number of registered vehicles increasing
geometrically all over the world [2], there is the need to
develop ways of appropriately addressing traffic situations. In
Nigeria for instance, as of third quarter of 2017, according to
the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country had a
total of 11,547,236 vehicles. At the end of the second quarter,
the number of vehicles stood at 11,458,370. This implies that
a total of 88,886 vehicles were bought between March 2017
and September 2017 [3]. Thus, with increase in traffic
congestion globally and with detection and tracking of
moving vehicles posing a huge challenge in the application of
computer vision, researchers in the field of artificial
intelligence have being seeking for ways to mitigate the
effects of these congestions. [4] studied how artificial
intelligence techniques can be applied to traffic data
measurements. This was done using sensors with loop
detectors that are limited in scope and can only solve a sub-set
of road traffic problems. [5], [6]. Vision based cameras
would have proved more useful as they are more sophisticated
and easy to maintain than the pneumatic sensors. Studies
carried out by [7] proposed the use of GPRS or radio for
vehicular tracking and classification so as to convey
information such as traffic situation, vehicle speed and
distance between moving vehicles to drivers. The system
proposed by [3] also included an incident detection system to
be transmitted to drivers using the GPRS or radio. This
method utilizes moving objects to extract images. However,
this method generates large quantities of ghost which affects
the clustering and tracking processes [8]–[10].
In this study, we designed a model that considered a multi-
track road network. The direction of arrival of vehicles at
different multi-track road was programmed into the memory
of a microcontroller and this program handles all traffic
related issues within the road network. The motion sensors
were programmed to handle the issue of vehicle arrivals
across the multi-track road. The microcontroller works in
unison with the motion sensors and then feeds the timer which
in turn feeds the digital calculator and tells the volume of
traffic on the road for drivers to know the route which best
suits them. The proposed system has the following
advantages:
T
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING, VOL. 9, NO. 1, JANUARY 2018
[ISSN: 2045-7057] www.ijmse.org 30
i). The model of a road traffic monitoring and control
system will ease traffic on the road by informing
drivers through the use of sensors installed in the
vehicle of the traffic nature on a road.
ii). It will assist to reduce the likely effects of
environmental hazards that could result from the
release of carbon monoxide from the exhaust of
moving vehicles.
iii). It will help to reduce the likely effect of head-on
collision of vehicles that could result from vehicles
coming from different directions or junctions
iv). The system will help with easy shutting down of roads
that require maintenance without causing much
damage to road users.
v). The system will reduce if not eliminate the task of road
wardens at cross junctions to control motorist and
pedestrians.
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE RELATED TO ROAD
TRAFFICMONITORING AND CONTROL
Traffic congestion is a burning issue in many cities due to
the exponential growth of running vehicles [11]–[13]. Traffic
congestion could be generally categorized as either recurring
traffic congestion or non-recurring traffic congestion. While
the recurring congestion occurs at the same place during the
same time of the day, non-recurring congestion occurs
randomly. Traffic congestion is occasioned by the inadequacy
of the road capacity to effectively move the number of
travelling vehicles on them. Studies have been carried out to
address the challenges of road monitoring and control. In a
study carried out by [14], an advanced traveler information
system was developed. The study utilized a 16km long stretch
road that includes heavy traffic roads. The study utilized over
100 GPS devices that were placed on city buses on the route
and 32 video cameras mounted along the road to collect data.
The information to travelers was provided through a variable
message sign boards on the routes and on the website. One of
the limitations of this system is the high cost that will be
involved in the procurement of GPS devices and video
cameras. There is also the issue of safety of these devices and
willingness of drivers to ensure that the road is traffic free
before plying them. This is especially so for developing
countries like Nigeria where majority of the drivers lack basic
education. [15] developed a high definition video surveillance
and broadcasting system that will allow the analysis of video
technology for traffic analysis and a deployable wireless
image transport system. In a related study, [16] developed an
agent based management techniques with reinforcement
learning principle.
The study developed an adaptive operated traffic signal to
cut down travel time, rate of fuel consumption and improve
traffic flow rate. However, the literacy level of citizens in
developing countries is a huge hindrance to the
implementations of this advanced technology. The need for a
road monitoring and control model that would be installed in
vehicles without much ambiguity is would go a long way to
address the traffic situation in developing countries.
III. COMPONENT DESIGN
The design and development of the system has both the
hardware, software and user requirements. The hardware
subsystems include the hardware units used to realize the
visible test-bed for the model of the road traffic monitoring
and control system. The software sub – systems include the
software units used to realize the sensor that initialize the
process, data transfers from the deployed visible test-bed to
the vehicles in which the sensors have been installed and an
online server and clients at the office of road monitoring
agencies. The user requirements require that the users are able
to read, write and interpret instructions properly.
The hardware sub system is categorized into the following
major segments:
A) The Power Supply Unit
A centre-tapped transformer was used in the design of the
power supply unity. The rectification process used was the
bridge rectifier with four diodes connected to the secondary
of the transformer as shown in Fig. 1 below.
Fig. 1. Power supply unit
TR1
TRAN-2P3S
W1
SW-SPST-MOM BR1
BRIDGE
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING, VOL. 9, NO. 1, JANUARY 2018
[ISSN: 2045-7057] www.ijmse.org 31
The major source of power for the designed circuit is from
the generation and distribution companies. However, due to
the unstable nature of electricity from the public power
supply, provision was made for electricity using solar panels
which are charged during periods of intensive sunlight and
used when there is an outage of electricity from the public
supply.
B) The Microcontroller Unit
This is the intelligent part of the system. The
microcontroller is responsible for detecting and interpreting
signals received from the motion sensors as shown in the
block diagram of Fig. 2. The microcontroller is also
responsible for information transmission between the
designed system and the users of the information, in this case,
drivers. The microcontroller in this system performs the same
functions a processor does in a computer system; it governs
its operations. The microcontroller chosen for this function in
this design is the PIC16F 628A, a product of Microchips. The
Functions of the microcontroller-16F628A include amongst
others: to turn on the system automatically when power is
connected, to interpret signals, to send and receive
information from the motion sensors as well as communicate
information to the timer and digital calculator etc.
C) The Motion Sensors
Motions sensors, conventionally, are used to detect physical
motion on a device. Motion sensors have the ability to detect
and capture physical and/or kinetic movements on a real time
basis. The passive infrared sensor (PIR) was used in the
design of this circuit. As observed from Fig. 2. It works in
conjunction with the microcontroller to sense the number of
vehicles on a particular road and sends the information to the
timer and digital controller through the microcontroller while
it in itself transmits such information to the message
processor which then informs road users, in this case, car
drivers on the status of each road.
D) The Timer and Digital Calculator
The timer is used for measuring time intervals that vehicles
are held up on traffic while digital calculator computes the
number of vehicles that are on the traffic at that point in time.
The timer works in consonant with the digital calculator. The
information obtained from the timer is relayed to the digital
calculator and digital display counter. This way, road users
can determine if they will be able to wait on the traffic
considering the time and number of vehicles displayed on the
digital counter or if an alternative route would be better off for
them.
Fig. 2. Block diagram of the feedback traffic monitoring and control system
IV. USER REQIREMENT OF THE SYSTEM
The designed circuit is to be located within the premises of
road traffic monitoring agencies like the Federal Road Safety
Corps (FRSC) in Nigeria. The mode of operation of the
designed circuit is wireless and will be using the power
provided by the public power supply and in cases where there
is an outage, electricity is obtained from the installed solar
panel, and this is to ensure an all-round power supply.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
After the construction of the road traffic monitoring and
control system, the complete unit was tested and
implemented. The designed device was incorporated in
vehicles. The device is coated with sensor wires. The system
is set to read information from the data available at the office
of the road monitoring agency and transmit same to the
moving vehicles for guidance. The drivers of vehicles acts on
Power
Supply
Micro Controller
Timer
Digital
Calculator
Digital
Display/
Counter
Back-up
Power
Supply
Motion
Senders
Message
Processor
Camera
Sender
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING, VOL. 9, NO. 1, JANUARY 2018
[ISSN: 2045-7057] www.ijmse.org 32
the information received and choose the route with less traffic
or one which they believe has less traffic based on the traffic
congestion information given by the digital calculator.
One major opportunity to regulate traffic in developing
countries is for vehicles to be fitted with this device that
would warn drivers of traffic situations in routes applicable to
their destination. It is possible to equip vehicles with traffic
information to prevent their being driven into areas where
there is traffic congestion.
Drivers would choose roads to travel on based on the
prevailing traffic condition. These choices are self-motivated
according to the criteria which are person and situation
dependent. One benefit from the use of currently available
information technology would be the posting of traffic
situation in an area.
Most roads in developing countries have been built to allow
different types of road users going at widely ranging speeds in
the same space and at the same time. Such all-purpose roads
are liable to have a high traffic incident rate. Conscious road
planning and design are key to better traffic management in
developing countries.
VI. CONCLUSION
A novel approach to road traffic monitoring and control
system capable of monitoring and controlling vehicular traffic
was developed in this study. Motion sensors which provided a
continuous electrical paths in conjunction with the
microcontroller units, the timer, digital calculator and the
digital display was used to indicate the volume of traffic as
well as the probable time that the traffic will persist based on
the scenario at a given lane or junction. The advantages of this
system include easing of traffic on the road by informing
drivers through the use of sensors of the traffic nature on a
road, reducing environmental hazards that could result from
the release of carbon monoxide from the exhaust of slowly
moving or clustered vehicles, reducing the likely effects of
head-on collision of vehicles that could result from vehicles
coming from different directions or junctions, easing the
ability to shut down a road or lane that require maintenance
without causing much damage to road users. The designed
system will also help to reduce to the barest minimum, the
task of road wardens at cross junctions to control motorist and
pedestrians.
Fig. 3. Feedback traffic control circuit diagram
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[ISSN: 2045-7057] www.ijmse.org 33
Fig. 4. Sensor input/ message processor circuit diagram
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