Students of MVJ College of Engineering successfully test their invention at Marathalli junction.
To tackle the traffic menace the city faces, two students from MVJ College of Engineering, have devised a software-based system.
Abhay K Kothari and Nipun Singh Chauhan from the Electronics and Communications Department of MVJ College of Engineering have completed a project which aims to reduce the waiting time for passengers at congested junctions. Their system will continuously monitor the traffic using cameras placed at such junctions and changing the time for which the signals turn red or green based on the traffic flow.
“Most of the traffic signals are assigned a constant time in which they has to turn either red or green, thus creating congestion in places where traffic density varies from time to time,” said Kothari. While the existing set-up mainly relies on hardware, this one is a software-based mechanism. In the existing one, roads are dug up and censors placed at regular intervals. Based on the traffic pressure, the vehicular flow is controlled. But during rains or water logging, the system stops working.
“In the system we have created, these are not issues of concern. This set-up is more advantageous than the existing system which employs sensors which are placed beneath roads which can be damaged due to environmental changes or damage of the roads. Our device can be used to increase the range of the existing infrastructure of traffic cameras already deployed with very little or no additional costs,” said Chauhan, adding that they had tested it out at Marathalli junction.
Images taken from the cameras are processed in a computer which calculates the time based on the density of traffic and these values are sent to a local light controller which in turn controls the lights. Using this scheme, traffic is sensed and the lights are controlled which results in smoother flow of traffic in congested areas.
During the process, which began in January, the two students had to overcome many challenges, right from correcting wrong methods used and nailing the right pattern matching.
“The point of placement of traffic cameras was the toughest to decipher,” Chauhan said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}