We did our Mini Project titled “Density Based Traffic Controller” as
part of our under graduate study at the Nirma University, Ahmedabad. The solution
addresses the need to control the heavy traffic on the road, resulting in chaos and
wastage of time of the commuters. The setup can be placed on the crossroads,
which will detect the traffic density and change the time of the traffic signals
accordingly. The time allocated to each lane can thus be decided according to their
traffic density.

The project involves the combination of hardware and software to obtain particular
results. Ultrasonic Sensor HC - SR04; Arduino UNO R3; IR sensors; Red, Yellow and
Green lights; and Stand where the components used for the set up. We also
developed the code for the project. We carried out tests using both the Infrared
Sensors as well as Ultrasonic Sensors.

The Density Based Traffic Control, DBTC, setup with infrared sensors was found to be
functioning properly under bright daylight. However in the nighttime, with
insufficient light, it was found to be less efficient in detecting traffic. The DBTC using
ultrasonic sensors was found to be successful in different lighting conditions and had
several advantages.

The ultrasonic sensor, as its name suggests, uses ultrasound waves to detect the
objects. A transmitter and a receiver is present in the sensor. It’s “Trig” pin
transmits the waves, while the “Echo” pin detects the waves reflected from the
object in its path. The time between the sent and received waves is measured
and it is then converted into distance.

The use of Ultrasonic Sensor may be more costly at present, as compared to the
IR sensors, however once it is manufactured in bulk the cost is expected to be
reduced. The Density Based Traffic Control with Ultrasonic Sensor offers better
performance with efficiency.