Traffic Control Mini Board

The project is an informer on how to do design of a simple traffic light control board. Traffic lighting systems are crucial when it comes to control of traffic on our roads. In the modern world, most people own different types of vehicles resulting in congestion within several areas such as urban areas affecting the daily flow of activities. Busy routes require a method to control traffic flow and one such mechanism can be achieved by the introduction of a traffic control system like the one we shall be designing in this system.

The traffic system has an incorporation of three lights each carrying a different signal message that is conveyed to the driver on the traffic. The red light which is on the upper side informs the driver of yielding at the traffic intersection, the green light which is on the lower side of the system alerts the driver to start moving while the yellow light which is located in the middle of the system alerts the driver to turn on the engine and get ready to move when the red light appears.

The traffic lighting system is one of the important accident and vehicle human collision prevention systems on modern roads hence diverting the traffic into the smoothest lanes available. In this project, we are going to make the simplest traffic control system that can be implemented for training and even in real-world applications.

The Proposal of the Project

As the project name Traffic Control Mini Board suggests, the main objective of this project is to have a well-controlled traffic flow in urban areas using the automated lighting system. This is a good project for avoiding collisions between vehicles and pedestrians and directing traffic flow to avoid congestion. At this moment, we are going to implement a one-way traffic control system but later can be modified to form a two-way and more ways control system. In simple words, the system should be used to alert the driver whether to stop, move or prepare to move or to stop.

Necessary Project Components

• 1N4148 Diode: "D9 D8 D6 D5 D4 D2";"D_0603_1608Metric";6;"1N4148";;;
• 4017 IC: "U2";"DFN-8-1EP_2x2mm_P0.45mm_EP0.64x1.38mm";1;"LM555xM";;;
• 555 Timer: "U1";"DFN-16-1EP_5x5mm_P0.5mm_EP3.46x4mm";1;"4017";;;
• 100K Resistors: "R4 R3";"R_0603_1608Metric";2;"100k";;;
• 330 Resistor: "R2";"R_0603_1608Metric";1;"330";;;
• 22k Resistor "R1";"R_0603_1608Metric";1;"22k";;;
• Pin Connector 01x02: "J1";"PinHeader_1x02_P2.00mm_Vertical";1;"9V Bat. Con.";;;
• LED "D7";"LED_0603_1608Metric";1;"Green";;;
• LED";"LED_0603_1608Metric";1;"Yellow";;;
• LED"D1";"LED_0603_1608Metric";1;"Red";;;
• 0.1uF Capacitor "C3 C2";"C_0603_1608Metric";2;"0.1uF";;;
• 2.2uF Capacitor "C1";"C_0603_1608Metric";1;"2.2uF";;;

The Circuit Diagram

The circuit is based on the counter IC which is our sequential component that counts the number of traffic in series. The main IC for the project is the 4017 counter that is used for glowing the red, green, and yellow LEDs as expected. In our circuit, we have incorporated the 555 timer IC which is our pulse generator that gives input to the 4017 counter IC

The 555 timer is what controls the glowing up of a particular LED and this can be regulated using a potentiometer where the potentiometer is used to vary how long a particular LED is supposed to glow which sets the duration of glowing. The combination of the 1N4148 diodes is used in stabilizing the LED glowing.

Below is the 3D appearance of our project done in KiCAD.

Fabricating Such Boards

Some experts do the fabrication of such boards at home. For, I have always preferred ordering such boards online through one of my favorite manufacturers PCBWay. Under PCBWay, I have always received several benefits including quick delivery since they do their fabrication directly. They are not brokers, their PCB fabrication and assembly are under one roof meaning quick and quality production finally, the whole of their process is online from booking to delivery hence no travel costs are involved.