Adaptive Traffic Light Controller using FPGA

Through this paper, the design of ATLC using Spartan 3E FPGA is presented. It adapts to the traffic based on density and it prioritizes emergency vehicles like ambulance, fire brigades etc. Due to urbanization, the number of vehicles in metropolitan cities has increased tremendously resulting in increase in traffic congestion. Traffic control is a challenging task since its proper operation can bring the difference between smooth flowing traffic and a grid-lock. Generally, the traffic signals are fixed-time signals which follow a pre-determined sequence of signal operation, always providing the same amount of time to vehicle movement whether traffic is present or not. This consumes more time and doesn't have any provision for sensing and prioritizing emergency vehicles. This problem can be overcome by using adaptive traffic light controller implemented on FPGA. The system is designed to sense the traffic density and the presence of any emergency vehicles on individual roads. Once an emergency vehicle is sensed, priority is given to the traffic of that particular direction. During normal operation, the signal will be controlled based on traffic density. The system has been designed using Verilog HDL and is implemented on Spartan 3E FPGA. This system overcomes the limitations of conventional TLC by efficient traffic road management.