A REAL TIME TRAFFIC LIGHT CONTROL SCHEME FOR REDUCING VEHICLES CO2 EMISSIONS

Abstract An embedded system is a special-purpose computer system designed to perform a dedicated function. Unlike a general-purpose computer, such as a personal computer, an embedded system performs one or a few pre-defined tasks, usually with very specific requirements. Since the system is dedicated to specific tasks, design engineers can optimize it, reducing the size and cost of the product. Embedded system comprises of both hardware and software. Embedded system is fast growing technology in various fields like industrial automation, home appliances, automobiles, aeronautics etc., embedded technology uses PC or a controller to do the specified task and the programming is done using assembly language programming or embedded C. Project Description Global warming is a very serious problem which is becoming ever worse as the growth in the number of vehicles. In the fast emerging world, vehicles become mandatory for all purposes. The vehicle emissions pollute the atmosphere thereby leading to many hazardous effects. So it becomes essential need to develop a system which reduces the emission of CO2 from vehicles. This project involves a real time traffic lights control scheme for reducing vehicles CO2 emissions based on the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) installed vehicles. Real time road conditions are obtained by wireless communication between the vehicles and the traffic lights based on the Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) technology . Usually, vehicles follow stop-and-go driving scheme. This will consume more fuel and emit more CO 2 than constant speed driving. To reduce vehicles' CO2 emissions, vehicles' travel should be smoothed by reducing the stop-and-go times.

This project involves a three-level structure to realize dynamic traffic light control for smoothing vehicles' travel. In level-1, an electronic toll collection (ETC) system is employed for collecting road traffic flow data and calculating the recommended speed. In level-2, radio antennas are installed near the traffic lights. Road traffic flow information can be obtained by wireless communication between the antennas and ETC devices. In level-3, a traffic control server controls the traffic and controls the signal being indicated. After smoothing vehicles' travels, more vehicles can pass intersections with less waiting time and fewer short-time stops; this results in drastic reduction of CO2 emissions. The average waiting time, short-time stop times, and CO2 emissions are greatly reduced, and the nonstop passing rate is greatly improved in this project.

Block Diagram Transmitter section:

POWER SUPPLY

ZIGBEE TRANSCEVIER TRAFFIC LIGHT CONTROL UNIT

MICRO CONTROLLER

RS 232

GPS

LCD

Receiver section:

POWER SUPPLY

RS 232
MICRO ZIGBEE TRANSCEIVER CONTROLLER

CONTROLLER UNIT

ALARM

LED

Hardware Tools 1. Microcontroller 2. Antenna 3. LED 4. LCD display 5. Power Supply 6. ETC system Software Tools 1. Embedded C 2. Keil Compiler