The Design of an Autoguide System Prototyped for Conventional Vehicle on Highway

Accident problem is a one of the big issue in this country. From the statistic made by Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya Malaysia, the accidents tragedy in Malaysia increase by year. Conventional Vehicle (heavy vehicle) is the top ranking for the numbers of accident happen in Malaysia. Neglect the human factors identified as major causes of heavy vehicle accidents in the PLUS highway in 2007. Based on the research by Department of Traffic Safety PLUS also, 38 percent of heavy vehicle accident caused by driver drowsiness, while 33.4 percent involved drivers who were driving too fast. 14 percent of accidents were attributed to the driver lost control of their vehicles. 14.6 percent were caused by technical problems such as brake failures and tire burst or monasteries. Most of the accident causes is because of the driver. So, the topic has chosen for the final year project ‘The Design of an Autoguide System Prototyped for Conventional Vehicle on highway’ is to replace the driver to control the direction and speed of vehicle. When this system applied to the conventional vehicle, it may reduce the number of accident causes by driver itself. The main steps to build the autoguide prototyped are start with study of literature review. This help to choose the suitable hardware and software such as sensor. After that, design the circuit for the prototyped and programmed the peripheral interface controller (PIC) by using CCompiler. Then, build the complete prototyped and followed by testing the prototyped at the track that build before. This prototyped used PIC16F877A microcontroller as its brain and receive input from ultrasonic sensor(SRF04) at front and side of prototyped. Front sensor while detect the obstacle at front to control the speed and side sensor will detect the wall of track to control the direction or position of prototyped. The prototyped that has developed is to prove about the autoguide system. This can show how the system work and the material needed in order to build the real product of autoguide system in real life

Advanced Vehicles: Challenges for Transportation Systems Engineering

Automatic vehicles represent one of the most active research fields within engineering. Among transportation systems engineering research topics, we highlight the need to update and/or develop new mathematical models, computer science methods and electronic technologies that contribute to the development of more effective, accurate and robust tools. In order to develop more effective models, it is advisable to consider the opportunity to interact with other specialists from sectors different of the transportation systems engineering to provide solutions to problems that may arise during the modeling and further new points of view. The main goal of this paper is discussing the most likely positive and negative effects of mixed flow expected in the near future, analyzing the main classifying criteria such as ownership, on-board technologies (sensor), and reviewing the most effective tools already available for macroscopic analysis of multi vehicle type transportation systems

Car parking management system

In the contemporary world, a prevalent challenge we confront is the rapid growth of the global population. This demographic expansion has given rise to several consequential problems, including the proliferation of automobiles on our roadways. The surge in vehicle numbers has led to congested traffic conditions and a scarcity of available parking spots, consequently fostering the problem of unauthorized parking. This unauthorized parking, in turn, poses a significant threat to the security of vehicles. In this area of high automobile traffic, the main issue arises when there is no management in the parking of automobiles. Due to this, there are high chances of accidents. To accomplish this task, we implemented a car parking system which is really very reliable and decreases the chance of risk in parking the vehicles. We proposed a car parking system which will calculate the empty slots available in the given parking place. Here, we have taken an ideal case of having 32 slots available in the parking place. We implemented and synthesized the project on the XILINX VIVADO platform using Verilog HDL. Hardware prototyping is done on Nexys a7 FPGA board

Electronic architecture for air coupled ultrasonic pulse-echo range finding with application to security and surface profile imaging

Ultrasonic range finding instruments are utilized, e.g., for measuring liquid levels and distance to parking obstacles. However, instruments designed using the conventional electronic architectures to drive the ultrasonic transmitters cannot provide an operating range beyond a few meters for a flat solid wall with normal incidence when powered by a low voltage battery. This both limits the applicability of the existing instruments and makes it difficult to demonstrate their feasibility for new applications. The architecture described here combines a DC/DC boost converter with semiconductor switches, enabling a scalable increase in the operating range for both pulse-echo and pitch-catch modes of operation. It was fully prototyped and successfully tested for novel applications involving ultrasonic range finders, specifically intrusion detection and surface profile imaging. The limitations of the profile sensing device are rather restrictive as it only operates at the incidence angles below 18°, but this device can be developed further. The developed security system was found to be quite practical in its present state

Detection of road traffic participants using cost-effective arrayed ultrasonic sensors in low-speed traffic situations

Effective detection of traffic participants is crucial for driver assistance systems. Traffic safety data reveal that the majority of preventable pedestrian fatalities occurred at night. The lack of light at night may cause dysfunction of sensors like cameras. This paper proposes an alternative approach to detect traffic participants using cost-effective arrayed ultrasonic sensors. Candidate features were extracted from the collected episodes of pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. A conditional likelihood maximization method based on mutual information was employed to select an optimized subset of features from the candidates. The belonging probability to each group along with time was determined based on the accumulated object type attributes outputted from a support vector machine classifier at each time step. Results showed an overall detection accuracy of 86%, with correct detection rate of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles around 85.7%, 76.7% and 93.1%, respectively. The time needed for detection was about 0.8 s which could be further shortened when the distance between objects and sensors was shorter. The effectiveness of arrayed ultrasonic sensors on objects detection would provide all-around-the-clock assistance in low-speed situations for driving safety

Effect on Speed Distribution due to Intrusive and Non-Intrusive Portable Speed Measurement Devices

Accurate traffic data are essential for supporting a multitude of transportation related decisions which affect transportation system operations, management, and planning. Advanced technology offers us various alternatives for accurately collecting traffic data. But accuracy of data is not just about the mechanical accuracy of the device, but it also about how people react when they see these devices installed either on roads or off roads. It is very important that the drivers should not get affected by the presence of these devices as these devices are not always to control the speeds but they are also installed to measure the true speed of the drivers. Such studies are the basis for important decisions, such as setting speed limits, timing traffic signals, placing traffic signs, and determining the effectiveness of the countermeasures. To evaluate the effectiveness on speed distribution due to the presence of various intrusive and non-intrusive portable speed measurement devices, automated traffic counters with pneumatic tubes, Smartsensor, Autoscope with camera trailer and Lidar gun were compared. Results showed that drivers did not react to pneumatic tubes and continued driving at the same speed; there was no significant difference in speeds at different locations while pneumatic tubes were installed. Drivers tend to react most by reducing their speeds when a Lidar gun was used, the Autoscope with camera trailer also effected driver behavior to a considerable amount. There was slight increase in speeds when the Smartsensor was installed. Similar driver behavior was observed when effect on the speeds of faster drivers was evaluated. For this analysis drivers driving above 85th percentile speeds were picked and tracked throughout the test site. Drivers reacted most to Lidar guns and then to the Autoscope with camera trailer. There was no significant difference in speeds when pneumatic tubes were installed

Evaluating the Impacts of Accelerated Incident Clearance Tools and Strategies by Harnessing the Power of Microscopic Traffic Simulation

Traffic incidents cause Americans delay, waste fuel, cause injuries, and create toxic emissions. Transportation professionals have implemented a variety of tools to manage these impacts and researchers have studied their effectiveness, illustrating a wide range between different tools and locations. To improve this state of knowledge, this dissertation sought to 1) identify prominent and effective incident management strategies, 2) model six selected incident management strategies within five highway corridors in South Carolina, and 3) apply benefit-cost analysis to evaluate the impact of various combinations of these strategies. To meet these objectives, the author evaluated published literature of the selected strategies, administered a nationwide survey of these strategies, conducted traffic simulation, and performed benefit-cost analysis. The literature review guided the author to fill gaps in knowledge regarding the effectiveness and expense of identified strategies. The nationwide survey identified effective incident management tools, the extent of their adoption, and their common problems. The author then applied PARAMICS traffic simulation software to evaluate the impact of six tools at five sites on metropolitan interstates throughout South Carolina. Finally, benefit-cost analysis was used to evaluate the benefits against costs at each study site. The survey provided many insights into both the effectiveness and collaboration within and among traffic incident management agencies and guided the author in selecting tools for evaluation. While the simulation study found that as the severity and duration of incident increases, so does the potential benefit of incident management tools, the frequency of incidents also produces significant impact on annual benefits. The benefit-cost analysis indicated that while all the incident management tools evaluated provided more benefits than costs, freeway service patrols and traffic cameras produced the highest return for incidents of varying severity. It was also found more advantageous to select one expensive but efficient incident management technology, rather than engage in the incremental deployment of various systems that might provide redundant benefits. Departments of transportation across the United States see the need to manage incidents more efficiently, consequently this dissertation developed data and analysis to compare benefits with costs to aid decision makers in selecting tools and strategies for future incident management endeavors

Autonomous Vehicles in Road Tunnels : A Risk Safety Perspective

This study examines the challenges associated with deploying autonomous vehicles (AVs) in road tunnels, focusing on both operational aspects and vehicle-human interaction. This work explored that road tunnels present unique constraints, such as limited visibility and confined spaces, which necessitate careful consideration for AV integration. It is observed that factors like varying light conditions and restricted communication capabilities within tunnels impact AVs' performance. Additionally, the study investigates and categorizes challenges related to tunnel geometries, infrastructure modifications, sensor technologies, emergency situations, and human-machine interaction. Furthermore, this work comprehensively explored academic and non-academic literature, gathering contemporary knowledge on AVs in road tunnels in one place to provide a foundational base for researchers on this topic. In this regard, the adopted methodological framework is also presented for researchers' review. The other notable contribution is to specifically highlight the critical operational issues of human-AV interaction in tunnel environments. In the last section, it also proposes potential solutions to these issues. In doing so, it keeps the directional approach open for other researchers as there are insightful risk-related implications for further research in this significant domain

Evaluation Of Devices To Prevent Construction Equipment Backing Incidents

Blind areas around construction equipment are a major contributing factor in incidents involving a piece of equipment striking a worker. In highway construction, these types of incidents result in an average of 22 deaths a year in the United States. The Spokane Research Laboratory of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in cooperation with the Washington State Department of Transportation, is evaluating methods to decrease these incidents. One such method uses devices that assist equipment operators in monitoring blind areas around the equipment to prevent collisions with workers or other objects. Several camera and sensor systems are available for this application. These systems were evaluated on various trucks used in road construction and maintenance. Tests were conducted on sanding trucks during the winter months, which allowed researchers to investigate the effectiveness and limitations of various technologies under the most extreme conditions. Tests were also conducted on dump trucks and utility vehicles during the warmer months to study the effectiveness of the systems in highway work zones. Results showed that many difficulties arise when using camera and sensor systems in cold, snowy climates. And, while the operation of these systems is more reliable during the warmer months, challenges still exist in using them on equipment in congested work areas