CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION

Traffic control systems include signs, light and other devices that communicate with specific direction, warning, or requirements. With over 50 million motorist and about 2.5 million kilometres.  Mohammed (2007) said Traffic control, procedures, devices and communication system help vehicles and vessels to safely share the same roads, rails, waterways, or air space. Traffic control establishes a set of rules and instructions that drivers, pilots, train engineers, and ship captains rely on to avoid collision and other hazards. Safe travel for pedestrians is an additional goal in highway is traffic control.

Public roads in Nigeria. Traffic control on the highways is therefore very important aspect of daily life. The project is concerned with the design and construction of an intelligent traffic light control system with a sequential digital electronic circuit, designed to regulate and control the flow of traffic light at road junction to avoid mishaps that may occur as a result of accidents due to unregulated traffic flow.

Traffic control device for highway travel include signs, traffic lights, pavement markings, and a variety of device placed on, over, near, or even under, the roadway. Other types of traffic control systems include laws and procedures, electronic and physical devices such as radar, radio, buoys and markers, signs and signals, and people such as vehicle operators and traffic warders. The system varies depending on its location and types of transportation it controls.

Traffic warden taking into account factors like stability of electricity supply, motorists’ behaviour and society’s acceptance of innovations into consideration can be very useful in traffic control. More so, traffic wardens can easily interrupt heavy traffic at given intervals in order to permit other vehicles and pedestrians to cross speedily and safely, something that is absent in the control with signals.

However, warden’s control of traffic was mostly queuing dependent making it quit difficult to follow a clear - cut cycle length for all approaches. It is also seen some of the time to be influenced by the approach of service/force and administrative vehicles. These could be considered as emergency vehicles and were accorded priority. In summary, the use of traffic wardens is by far less effective and unsatisfactory than any of automated method, due to limitations by human nature such as fatigue, distractions etc resulting to control errors.

Automated traffic control (electrical/electronic/computer/mechanized). Electronic digital sequential logical circuit was designed to control and regulate traffic control system and timer relay and contractors were used as electronic designs which are all design used to realize the safety, less expensive and reliability of the system. This automated method traffic control is far more reliable since relays and contractors are used which allow the system to function 24 hours of the day if power supply is stable. The cost of installing automated traffic lights control system is less cost of maintaining a traffic warden (Ndoke, 2006) more so it has a better efficiency in possibility wearing of components and failure in operations. The financial burden borne by the government to pay the traffic wardens for the services rendered could be used in maintaining the automated traffic system.

1.1    BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CASE STUDY

The roundabout is as old as Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDCO). It is one of the 18 successor company created following the unbundling and subsequent privatization of the defunct power holding company of Nigeria plc. Kaduna electric is one of the 11 downstream operator in the Nigeria electricity market.  It responsible for retail distribution and marketing of electricity in Kaduna, Kebbi , Sokoto and Zamfara states. The company currently has 8 Area offices and 147 customer population of about 490,000.  Kaduna electric is the 7th  largest Disco in distribution capacity and 6th  largest in number of  household  among the 11 Distribution  companies  if the abundant potentialities  at the  disposal of the company are harnessed  and  effective utilized . in line with the  Nigerian  Electricity  Reform Act 2004.   The board of directors include.

Alhaji   Yusuf  Hamisu Abubakar chairman,  is an officer of  the order of the Niger (OON) , Alhaji  Yusuf Hamisu Abubakar  is a  versatile  lawyer,  academician  and technocrat. He is currently the chairman board of director of Kaduna Electric.  And  engineer Garba Haruna  is a chartered Engineer  in Nigeria , is a  season technocrat with more  than  20 years working career in  the  world class organization and history of  excellence.

FLOW CHAT OF THE CASE STUDY

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The modern society both urban and rural depends on the rapid and efficient movement of people, goods and services. This need for rapid and efficient movement led to a massive increase of traffic this has also brought about congestion and careless driving by some reckless driver on our roads. Increase in traffic congestion and regulated but unintelligent traffic control system have also increased the rate of road accidents, lateness to work and occasionally loss, Muhammad (2007). The presence of traffic congestion cost a lot each year in form of lost productivity. In the year 2000, it was estimated that drivers in 75 of the largest metropolitan areas of the world spent more than sixty eight billion dollars ($68b) in person, hours of lost time and wasted funds. In USA the cost of congestion is estimated to be 67billion dollars each year.

The following are the problems of traffic congestion

a.       Road mishaps uncontrollable;

b.      Traffic congestion;

c.       Over use of traffic wardens;

d.      Poor and inaccurate in traffic control on road;

e.          Challant attitude of road users;

f.        Poor productivity as a result of poor traffic control

1.3           AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this project is to design and construct an intelligent traffic light control system using sensors and a microcontroller with the following objectives:

a.     To reduce congestion and mishaps on the roads by increasing movement time on congestion lanes.

b.    To serve as possible replacement to the use of traffic wardens on the roads, this is by far less effective and expensive to maintain than the automated method.

c.     To enhance a satisfactory and high accuracy in traffic control on our roads .i.e. to overcome limitations caused by human nature such as fatigue, distractions etc, resulting to poor control performance.

d.    To improve productivity.

e.     To reduce the over use of traffic wardens

1.4           SCOPE OF  THE STUDY

This project is a model design and specifically for T – junction road which cannot be implemented on a cross road.

1.5    LIMITATION

This project is a model design, limited and specifically for T-intersection road. It cannot be used by any other type of road intersection due to it design mode and construction. Other reason why the researcher limited it to T-intersect road are cost of design and construction, time constrain and unavailable of researcher material and unavailability of the model design material.

1.6           DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. LDR: A photo resistor or light-dependent resistor (LDR) or photocell is a light-controlled variable resistor. The resistance of a photo resistor decreases with increasing incident light intensity; in other words, it exhibits photoconductivity. A photo resistor can be applied in light-sensitive detector circuits, and light- and dark-activated Switching circuit

2.  LED: Light Emitting diode (LED) is a two lead semi-conductor light source. It is pn-junction diode which emits light when activated. When a suitable voltage is applied to the leads, electrons are able to recombine the electrons holes within the device, reloading energy in the form of photons, this effect is called electroluminescence, and the colour of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is determined by the energy band gap of the semi-conductor.

MICROPROCESSOR: A micro processor is a computer process that incorporates the function of a computer central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit (ICs). A micro processor                                          be a multipurpose programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it’s according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides result as output. 

3. POWER SUPPLY CONSTRUCTION: They are more efficient and complex power supply in the world. They are easy ways to get power supply. But if you make a power supply like this at least once in your life you will have a much understanding of how alternating currents (ac) regulated direct current (DC) power.

A powers supply as we refer to it here, converts alternating current from the output on the wall into direct current. Electricity passes through several stages in a voltage regulator type, power supply like this one or like the common wall-want.

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