To tackle one of the recurring problems in the city - heavy traffic disrupting emergency health services - a group of students have come together to find a solution. They are now patenting their ‘Traffic Control System’, which will be an innovative solution for traffic police who struggle to make way for ambulances stuck behind rows of vehicles at signals.

Students of Saptagiri College of Engineering, under the guidance of their professors Dr Dinesh K Anvekar and Dr Sasmita Mohapatra, created a light sensor of sorts that will detect the light pulse sequence of the ambulance. With this, traffic police can manually operate signals and let ambulances pass.

The team of students includes fourth-semester Electronics and Communication Engineering students Nitin B S, B K Harshit, Prathika V M and Dhanush Bharadwaj H P. 

“The electronics and communication functions of the system are implemented by two micro-controller boards in the traffic light unit and one micro-controller within the torch,” said the students. The traffic lights control system consists of a light code sequence detector mounted above the red traffic light, and a light pulse sequence emitting torch. The light pulse sequence is detected by a light sensor interfaced to a micro-controller.  The torch has a micro-controller that produces a pre-determined sequence of light pulses,” the group said.

Since the light sensor is placed against a ‘conspicuous black-yellow pattern’ board, it will aid the ambulance driver in heavy traffic.“The light code sequence detector recognises light sequences and signals the traffic light control circuit to switch immediately to green and allow the ambulance to pass,” they added. The invention has been filed for patent issue by the Indian Patents Office, they added.