KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC
ENGINEERING

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SENSOR

BASED TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM

PROJECT GROUP 7

SACKEY WENDY NAA DJAA - 8246019

ADU-TUTU JOEL GYAMFI - 8226819
FIAWOO NICHOLAS - 8236319

SUPERVISOR : Dr. Elvis Twumasi

 CHAPTER THREE

THEORY AND DESIGN

CONSIDERATIONS

INTRODUCTION

A sensor based traffic light system is mainly made up of sensors, a controller, and the
traffic lights. The density of cars on each lane is collected by the sensors and the data
is sent to the controller. The controller then makes decisions of the timings of green
light signal given to each lane based on the data received from the sensors. The output
of the controller is made visible through the LED lights.

Figure 10 Block diagram of a sensor based traffic light system.

Major hardware components of the system :

1. Sensors
2. Controller
3. Traffic lights
 3.1 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

3.1.1 SENSORS

A sensor is a device that detects and responds to some type of input from the physical
environment and sends the information to an electronic system, often a computer
processor. In the sensor based traffic light system, the sensors are placed at different
parts of the road or near the intersection to detect the presence of vehicles. The
function of these sensors is to provide real-time information about the traffic situation
at the intersection. A number of available sensors for object detection (specifically
vehicle detection) were considered. Examples are ultrasonic sensors, piezoelectric
sensors, and infrared sensors.

Our choice of an appropriate sensor should have the following features:

1. Relatively cheaper
2. Long term reliability
3. Durability
4. High sensitivity
5. High accuracy

Among the three choices of sensors for vehicle detection, we chose the infrared sensor
because it is relatively cheaper than piezoelectric sensors and ultrasonic sensors. It has
very low power consumption. It is also durable, sensitive and accurate.

INFRARED SENSOR
An infrared sensor is a device that can detect and measure infrared radiation from its
surrounding. Infrared radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation that has longer
wavelengths than visible light and is emitted by all objects with a temperature above
absolute zero. Infrared sensors are used in variety of applications, including
temperature sensing, motion detection,gas detection etc.
TYPES OF INFRARED SENSOR
Infrared sensors are classified into two types namely active IR sensor and passive IR
sensor.

Active IR Sensor: The active infrared sensor has a transmitter which emits infrared
radiations, and a receiver which detects reflected infrared radiations. In most of the
applications, the light-emitting diode is used as a source of IR radiation. They are
mainly used for object detection in robotics, safety systems, etc.

Passive IR Sensor: The passive infrared sensor only recognizes infrared light emitted
from nearby objects hence, it only includes detectors.It measures infrared light
radiating from objects like the human body or animals. They are frequently used in
motion detectors and security alarms.

The active IR sensor is preferred because our system requires a sensor that can
effectively detect the presence of vehicles, and not necessarily the motion of the
vehicle.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
An active infrared sensor uses an infrared LED to emit IR radiation, and an infrared
photodiode to detect IR radiation. Whenever voltage is applied to the LED of the
trasmitter, it emits IR radiations. In the presence of an object, the receiver or
photodiode detects reflected infrared waves and produces voltage accordingly. The
output voltage is proportional to the amount of IR radiation received. If no object is
present within the vicinity of the sensor, no infrared waves will be reflected, and
hence there will be no output voltage from the receiver or photodiode. The sensor
works based on Plank’s radiation, Stephen Boltzmann, and Wein’s displacement laws.

The sensor has an in-built potentiometer that can be used to control the range of
sensing, i.e. how far the infrared wave should travel to detect an object.

The sensor requires an operating voltage in the range of 3.3V to 5V.

 Figure : Infrared Sensor

Figure : Working principle of the active infrared sensor.

3.1.2 CONTROLLER

A controller is a unit or device that produces output signals to control a process based
on the inputs to the control system and the user-defined code. The controller is the
brain of the traffic light system. It receives information from the sensors and uses this
information to determine the traffic lights timings. There are many types of
controllers that could be used to process the input from the sensors and generate the
desired ouput.

Our considerations when choosing the type of controller to use were :

1. Speed
2. Power Consumption
3. Ability to handle complex logic operations
4. Ease of maintenance
5. Range of application
6. Number of input and output ports

An Arduino board, specifically the Arduino UNO microcontroller was chosen as the
controller for this project.

ARDUINO
Arduino is an open-source platform for building electronics projects. It is composed
of both hardware and software components. The platform was developed in 2003 by a
team of Italian engineers who wanted to create an easy-to-use and affordable
microcontroller board for students to learn about electronics.

The hardware component of the Arduino platform is the microcontroller board. The
board consists of a microcontroller, which is the brain of the system, and a set of
input/output pins that can be used to connect sensors, actuators, and other components
to the board. There are several different types of Arduino boards available, with
varying specifications and features. Examples are Arduino Nano, Arduino Mega,
Arduino UNO etc. The Arduino board also includes a USB port, which is used for
programming and powering the board. The software component of the Arduino
platform is the Arduino IDE. The IDE is a software program that allows users to write,
compile, and upload code to the microcontroller board.

The advantages of Arduino over other microcontrollers such as PLC are :

1. Ease of use
2. Relatively lower cost
3. Low power consumption
4. Relatively easier to program

Of the different types of Arduino boards available such as Arduino Nano, Aduino
Mega, Arduino Leonardo, Arduino Due, Arduino Zero etc, the Arduino Uno was
chosen as the best microcontroller for our project.
ARDUINO UNO

Arduino UNO is an Arduino microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P

microcontroller. The ATmega328P microcontroller on the Arduino UNO has 32KB of
flash memory, 2KB of SRAM, and 1KB of EEPROM. It runs at 16 MHz and has 14
digital input/output pins, 6 analog input pins, and 6 PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
pins. The digital pins on the board can be used for a variety of tasks, including
controlling LEDs, reading switches and buttons, and communicating with other digital
devices. The analog input pins can be used to read signals from sensors such as
temperature and light sensors, while the PWM pins can be used to control the
brightness of LEDs and the speed of motors.The board also has a USB port for
programming and communication, as well as a power jack and pins for connecting to
external power sources.

It operates on a voltage of 5V but can be supplied with a voltage of 7 to 12V when

more power is required. The source of power to the board is either via a USB
connection or an external power supply.

Programming the Arduino UNO is done using the Arduino Integrated Development
Environment (IDE) which is a free, open-source software tool that allows users to
write, upload, and debug their code.

Among the various Arduino boards, the Arduino UNO was chosen due to its :
1. Minimum power consumption
2. Relatively low cost
3.1.3 TRAFFIC LIGHTS

These are the visible components of the traffic light system that indicate when drivers
should stop or proceed at an intersection. The traffic lights are typically mounted on
poles or overhead structures and are controlled by the controller. The controller
produces an output based on the user-programmed algorithm after processing the data
received from the sensors. Red, yellow, and green lights are used in the traffic light
system to display this output and control traffic. LED, fluorescent, incandescent, and
other types of lighting are a few examples of traffic lights that can be employed.
The type of traffic lights chosen should have the following qualities :

1. Low power consumption

2. Long life span
3. High efficiency
4. Good visibility in all weather conditions
5. Minimal lifetime expenses
6. Fast response

COMPARISON OF VARIOUS OUTPUT SIGNALING DEVICES

For the aforementioned reasons, the LED was preferred because :
1. It has good luminance
2. It is more efficient than incandescent bulbs
3. It has a longer life span than incandescent and fluorescent lamps.
4. It does not require much maintenance.
5. It is visible in all weather conditions

LIGHT EMITTING DIODE

A Light emitting diode is a semiconductor device that emits light when current is
passed through it. The LEDs provide clear and visible signals to drivers, pedestrians
and other road users.

LEDs are directional sources, i.e. they emit light in a specific direction , unlike
incandescent and fluorescent lamps which emit light in all directions. LEDs are far
more efficient than incandescent bulbs. They use significantly less energy than
traditional incandescent bulbs, which leads to lower energy costs and reduced
environmental impact. They also have low power consumption, extended lifespan and
are more reliable.

LEDs are current-driven devices. Therefore when connecting LEDs to a power source,
it may be necessary to choose an appropriate current-limiting resistor to ensure that
the LED is not damaged by excessive current flow. Typically, the forward voltage of
an LED is between 1.8 to 3.3V The LEDs will be powered by the output pins of the
Arduino board, which gives an output of 5V. Hence resistors of appropriate values
have to be connected in series with the LEDs to reduce the amount of voltage across
the LEDs.
Red, Green and Amber LEDs.