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A Microcontroller Based Intelligent Traffic Control System

Article in International Journal of Embedded Systems · May 2019

DOI: 10.11648/j.ajesa.20190701.13

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American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
2019; 7(1): 21-25
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajesa
doi: 10.11648/j.ajesa.20190701.13
ISSN: 2376-6069 (Print); ISSN: 2376-6085 (Online)

A Microcontroller Based Intelligent Traffic Control System

Md. Shamsul Arifin*, Sheikh Alimur Razi, Akramul Haque, Nur Mohammad
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Email address:
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Corresponding author

To cite this article:

Md. Shamsul Arifin, Sheikh Alimur Razi, Akramul Haque, Nur Mohammad. A Microcontroller Based Intelligent Traffic Control System.
American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications. Vol. 7, No. 1, 2019, pp. 21-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ajesa.20190701.13

Received: June 26, 2018; Accepted: April 11, 2019; Published: May 9, 2019

Abstract: A new microcontroller based intelligent traffic control system is proposed in this paper. Instead of changing traffic
lights automatically for a given interval, this system allows passing the vehicles considering the number of vehicles on the
roads. An Atmega 32 microcontroller and infrared sensors (IR sensors) are used to implement the traffic system. An algorithm
is also developed for this purpose. The system is simulated and implemented also by constructing a test rig. The results from
the simulation and experimental test rig confirm its appropriateness of using in the roads of different cities. No further
processing scheme is required for this intelligent traffic control system.
Keywords: Microcontroller, IR Sensors, Traffic Control System

everything is quite well, significant amount of accident occurs due

1. Introduction to not obeying traffic signal. So design a robust and pedestrian
Traffic control and management system is one of the most friendly traffic management is essential for all of us.
important issues for the modern cities in most of the countries. Typically traffic systems operate on a timing mechanism
Thereby, in Bangladesh, this issue is becoming vulnerable day that turns on the lights after a given time interval. The
by day [1]. In Dhaka city of Bangladesh, a large number of classical system uses weight as a trigger mechanism [2]. For
vehicles are moving in different roads every day. Moreover, these types of systems, the traffic police or operator has no
the number of road vehicles is growing fast in other cities of option to control the system if any emergency situation
Bangladesh like Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi etc. occurs. Additionally, the classical system has no intelligence.
In contrast to this infrastructure growth is slow as compared to That is why; the system itself cannot contribute for managing
the growth in number of vehicles because of space and cost the vehicles to move efficiently [1-2].
constraints. Additionally, traffic system in Bangladesh is non-lane In recent years, significant amount of work has been done
based and chaotic. Moreover, the pedestrian cross the road and to relate the traffic system and modern technologies. Various
move through the road very unconsciously. However lacking of a systems uses RFID and GSM module to transmit data and
pedestrian friendly smart traffic system and manual management communicate with specific vehicles [3-4]. Specific software
system encourage them to be more unconscious regarding the and algorithm is also developed to manage vehicles in roads
traffic safety. Every year a number of people died in road accident. and smart phones are also incorporated in this regard [5–7].
However a lot of road accident occur due to manual management Image processing and face detection technologies are also
of traffic system i.e. managing the road crossing with the help of a incorporated to manage the system more effectively [8].
traffic police. A smart and cost effective traffic control system is
therefore necessary for the cities of Bangladesh.
On the contrary, the traffic system of North America and
Europe are more organized and lane based most of the time. The
infrastructure is also appropriate to support the traffic of the cities.
In some part of these countries, the pedestrians are allowed to pass
after applying to cross the road by pressing a switch. Although
Figure 1. A typical block diagram of the system.
22 Md. Shamsul Arifin et al.: A Microcontroller Based Intelligent Traffic Control System

Additionally, fuzzy logic has become popular at the section VI, a conclusion is drawn.
present time as it is based on simple mathematics and it
works more accurately. Another vital advantages of fuzzy 2. Block Diagram of the System
system is it is easy to implement. Fuzzy logic control is
widely use in power system control, converter designing, Figure 1 shows a typical block diagram of the traffic
aerospace controlling etc [9-15]. That’s why, some control system. The total system consists of four units like
researchers is also trying to improve the traffic system using the power supply unit, the sensor unit, the processor unit and
neural network, fuzzy logic etc. [9-11]. the display unit. The power supply unit gives uninterrupted
Although several works has been done to manage the power to the other units of the system. The sensor unit gives
traffic system, however the major task is to implement and to the data to processor unit to process data and based on the
manage the cost. Thereby, these are not appropriate for most data, the processor unit gives necessary instructions on
of the developing countries like Bangladesh. display unit. The display unit shows desired output.
In this paper a smart automatic traffic control system is
proposed. In this system can take decision considering the 3. The Proposed Traffic Control System
number of vehicles in a road. It takes samples after a given
time interval and allows the traffic lights to stay on The total system can be divided into several units. The
sequentially so that the busiest roads gets the first priority. structure and tasks of these units are illustrated in following
Infrared based transmitter and receiver are used here as subsections.
sensors. An Atmega 32 microcontroller is used to manage the
operations of the total system. An algorithm is also developed 3.1. Power Supply Unit
for the system, which is loaded in the microcontroller. The This unit consists of a 220/9 volt transformer, a bridge
control scheme is easy to implement and to manage. rectifier and a generic integrated circuit for regulated power
This paper is organized as follows. In section II, presents supply. At first using the transformer the voltage level is
the basic block diagram and describes the interconnections altered to 9 Volt. Then the rectifier is used to convert the AC
among the components of the systems. Section III describes signal to DC and at last stage Integrated circuit IC 7805 is
the individual units of the systems. In Section IV the used to produce regulated 5 Volt. The circuit diagram of this
operation of the system is described. The simulation result unit is given in figure 2.
and implementation is described in section V. Finally, in

Figure 2. Circuit diagram of power supply unit.

However this power supply unit is designed to drive the This mechanism is applied to detect the presence of cars.
experimental prototype. For the practical system it is necessary
to get support from the power distribution network so that the
traffic light can operate. Additionally, this sort of power supply
unit is also required to operate the control switches.

3.2. Sensor Unit

The sensor unit consists of an Infrared transmitter and an

infrared receiver. The connection diagram of this unit is
presented in figure 3. The resistors connected here ensures
proper biasing. When the transmitted signal is received the
receiver transmits zero to microcontroller and vice versa. Figure 3. Circuit Diagram of sensor unit.
 American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2019; 7(1): 21-25 23

3.3. Processor Unit green signal is given to a specific road to pass the vehicles
the other three roads is stopped by giving red signal.
The processor unit consists of an Atmega 32 The flow chart given in figure 6 better describes the
microcontroller. Port C &D are used to make connections of algorithm of the proposed traffic system. According to the
traffic lights. Port A is used to make connections of sensors. flow chart the road having maximum vehicles are determined
3.4. Display Unit and cleared first. Then among the rest of three roads, the road
having maximum vehicles is determined again and cleared
The display unit consists of traffic lights. Figure 4 shows a then. In this way the algorithm proceeds.
typical component of the display unit.

Figure 4. Circuit diagram of display unit.

4. Operation of the Proposed System

The proposed traffic system operates considering the
number of vehicles in a road. Figure 5 shows the typical
connection of four roads. In each road, equal numbers of
sensors (S1 to S8) are connected for actuating the number of
vehicles at a specific time. When there is no vehicle in front
of the sensors the sensors detects no obstacle. As a result it
transmits high signal (logic 1) to the microcontroller. On the
other hand, low signal (logic 0) is transmitted if any vehicles
are detected by sensors.

Figure 6. Flow chart of the system.

5. Results and Discussions

Figure 5. Arrangements of traffic lights on road.
5.1. Simulation Results
All the signals transmitted by sensors are received by the
microcontroller. A program is loaded in the microcontroller A model of total system is shaped and simulated using
to detect the road with maximum vehicles. Thereby proteus7.7 professional. To simulate the system the allowed
considering this number of vehicles, the road having time for vehicle passing is considered as 5 seconds and a
maximum number of vehicles is cleared first by giving green pause time of 1second, when the yellow light is turned on at
signal to corresponding road. Then the road having second each road. The time can be altered while writing program on
maximum vehicles is cleared in a similar way and so on. The microcontroller. Figure 7 shows the simulation model of the
interval of giving green signal to each road is same. When proposed system.
24 Md. Shamsul Arifin et al.: A Microcontroller Based Intelligent Traffic Control System

5.2. Experimental Results considering different situation of the road and possible
decision is also included in the program depending on the
The proposed traffic system and the developed algorithm respective situation. Then the program is loaded in the
has implemented in a test rig as shown in Figure 8. To microcontroller.
implement this test rig the LEDs of different colors are Like the simulation here the vehicle passing time is
considered as the traffic lights and IR transmitter and considered as 5 second and one second transition time. The
receivers are used as sensors. An Atmega 32 microcontroller data are taken from sensors for consideration after every 24
is used as a processor unit. The program is written seconds. From the test rig, desired output is obtained.

Figure 7. Simulation model of the proposed system.

6. Conclusion
The main objective of this project work is to develop a
cost-effective and intelligent vehicle traffic control system to
manage the vehicles moving in different roads. The results
from the simulation and experimental test rig validate its
applicability for Dhaka and other cities of Bangladesh.
However it can be used smoothly to the cities of other
countries also. The system consists of a microcontroller
embedded with the control algorithm. The algorithm decides
about the vehicles numbers from sensor data and takes
necessary decision to clear the road effectively.
The numerical values used for the programming can be
changed considering the requirements of the roads, cities,
vehicles and the system. This flexibility makes the system
effective to achieve maximum saving.
However, this system has some limitations. It cannot be
controlled manually. To overcome this problems manual
mode can be introduced. In this mode the traffic police or
authority can control the signal according to their
requirements.
Figure 8. Implementation of the system.
 American Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications 2019; 7(1): 21-25 25

algorithm for automatic traffic light transitions,” in

International Conference on Humanoid, Nanotechnology,
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