Development Of A Microcontroller-Based Traffic Light System For Road Intersection Control

Abstract The control of traffic at road junction which was done purely by human effort proves to be inefficient owing to the increasing rate of both motorists as well as the complexity of road networks. This inadequacy brought about the use of discrete solid-state electronics up to the usage of a computer controlled microprocessor but the intelligence of this method was still limited to meet the demand of modern age. Thus the need for the development of a microcontroller-based traffic light control system. This paper explores the design and implementation of a microcontroller-based traffic light system for road intersection control. The traffic light system is designed using Programmable Integrated Circuit PIC 16F84A microcontroller power section crystal oscillator and light emitting diode LED. Then for effective traffic control the PIC is implemented via an IC programmer using a mikrobasic program written in Basic language. The developed traffic light control system is tested by constructing a prototype that resembles the real application. The functionality of the prototype shows that the developed system can be used for a real life traffic control at road intersection. Besides the developed system can be employed as a training kit in learning traffic light control system design and operation. Also it can be used as a teaching aid in schools for various road users.