Figure 1. Block Diagram of the System
One of the major energy required in today's life is electricity. The demand and supply of electricity is at misbalanced. There are many renewable resources such as wind energy, solar energy, nuclear energy etc. The motivation of this work is to contribute one of the methods of generating electricity using wind energy, which is generated by the moving vehicles on highways and ensuring smart control of the traffic at junctions with the current and expected arrivals of traffic. This paper deals with stand-alone system, energy reusing, low cost, and real time controlling system. This system consists of two parts: i) Electric power generation ii) Smart traffic control. In electric power generation, Vertical axis wind turbine is placed on the medians therefore wind flow from both sides of the highway will be considered. Using all the collected data, existing street light poles on the medians can be mounted with these wind turbines. Since the wind source will fluctuate and hence an additional source of solar energy is used. A storage system for the power generated is designed to distribute and maintain a constant source of power for street lights and traffic signals. For smart traffic control system, the dynamic delay logic is implemented with respect to traffic density. IR sensors which are mounted on either side of the road will monitor the traffic density and the sensed output is given to microcontroller (W78E054D). A bluetooth controller app is used for priority exit of emergency vehicles. Thus, depending on the density of traffic the dynamic delay of the traffic lights are set appropriately. From solar panel we are getting power of about 5.2 watts and from wind turbines we are getting about 1.5 Watts of power. Therefore, the total power obtained is around 6.7 Watts. The main aim of this paper is to develop and implement Highway electric power generation using wind turbines for smart traffic light control system and also provide priority for emergency vehicles such as ambulance.
Today, human beings are highly dependent on the use of machines and other electronic devices. These devices run on electrical power. There are many ways of generating this electrical power like hydroelectric, wind, solar, nuclear, and thermal etc. Due to the increase in population, there is an imbalance between demand and supply of electrical power. Electronics and Electrical engineers are working on the generation of power, to reduce this imbalance. Hence this paper propose the generation of electricity using wind energy generated by the moving vehicles on highways. According to the present scenario, the population is increasing, so the number of vehicles is running on the field is also increasing in an exponential way. This will cause serious traffic jam problems. People spend more time in traffic, leading to productivity losses. The traffic congestion can be caused by red light delays. The delay of respective light is hard coded in the traffic light and it is not dependent on traffic density.
The traffic control system based on vehicle density calculation tries to reduce possibilities of traffic jams, caused by traffic lights. The main aim of the project is to generate electricity using a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine in highways, where the air force generated by moving vehicles is used to generate electricity. We are proposing a system that controls the traffic light signals based on the density of vehicles, contrary to the existing method of allotting the same time intervals on all roads irrespective of their traffic density. Finally, using the concept of IR we are providing passage to vehicles of extreme priority (ambulance), here we have bluetooth controller app in one such vehicles, the moment it comes within the line of sight of the corresponding IR receiver installed at a distance from the traffic light, it will send a signal to microcontroller and the respective lane's light goes green.
Based on a survey conducted on the highways, it has been found that the wind energy from moving vehicles is wasted. The main idea was to utilize renewable energy resources like solar and wind energy and utilize them to turn on the street lights. To decrease human works in reducing the traffic and to eliminate traditional traffic control, smart traffic control is developed. This smart traffic control will turn that particular junction green, on which the traffic density is maximum. A bluetooth controller based emergency exit of Ambulance is also developed in this project. During the emergency conditions, the driver of the ambulance controls the ON/OFF of the traffic signals, using the bluetooth controller application.
Highways can provide a considerable amount of wind to drive a turbine due to high vehicle traffic; this energy is unused (Bidi, Devendrappa, Chandan, Arun, & Maruthi, 2017). Extensive research on wind patterns is required to determine the average velocity of the wind created by oncoming vehicles. Ideally, the turbines can be used globally as an unlimited power source for streetlights and other public amenities (Bavchakar, Chougale, Belanekar, Rane, & Sawant, 2018). Wind power generation capacity in India has significantly increased in recent years. As of 30 June 2018 the total installed wind power capacity was 34.293 GW, the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.
Traffic congestion and traffic flow management are the major problems in urban areas, which have caused much frustration and loss of man hours (Rahishet, Sahoo, Indore, Vdeshmukh, & Pushpa, 2015). An intelligent radio frequency identification traffic control system has been developed to solve the congestion problems. The microcontroller-based traffic light system for road intersection control was developed to direct the movement of vehicles meeting at a road junction without any collision. And it is compatible when compared with other ways (Sinhmar, 2012).
An infrared sensor is an electronic device, which emits in order to sense some aspects of the surroundings. An IR sensor can measure the heat of an object as well as detects the motion. These types of sensors measures only infrared radiation, rather than emitting it that is called as a passive IR sensor (Priyanka, Sharmila, Sindhu, & Sangeetha, 2016; Linganagouda, Raju, & Patil, 2016). The application of the IR sensor depends on its type. There are two types of sensors.
Reflector type of sensor where, the TX (Transmit) and RX (Receive) pins are side by side. This gives you a maximum distance of 10-15cm. It can also vary depending on the brightness of the LED. The second type of sensors does not have the TX and Rx pins side by side. This gives a maximum distance of 10m (Khamis, Gomaa, & El-Shishiny, 2012; Rahishet, Sahoo, Indore, Vdeshmukh, & Pushpa, 2015; Sinhmar, 2012). Usually in the infrared spectrum, all the objects radiate some form of thermal radiations. These types of radiations are invisible to our eyes, which can be detected by an infrared sensor. The emitter is simply an IR LED (Light Emitting Diode) and the detector is simply an IR photodiode which is sensitive to IR light of the same wavelength as that emitted by the IR LED. The resistances and these output voltages, change in proportion to the magnitude of the IR light received. IR sensors are used in various sensor based projects and also in various electronic devices which measure the temperature (Patel & Patel, 2018).
The summary on literature review gives a clear picture of technology used by others for power generation, traffic control and emergency exit of Ambulance. As per the survey, it is observed that the electricity generated is being wasted especially in highways by switching on the street lights during day time. Hence in the proposed project we are using smart street light control system. VAWT is used in our project so that we can make maximum utilization of wind energy compared to HAWT (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine).
In the proposed system the authors are using 8051 microcontroller as it is simple and user-friendly. Embedded ‘C’ programming environment is easy for beginners and they are inexpensive and the software is easily available.
Bluetooth module is used in the proposed project for controlling the emergency exit of ambulance, as setting up the network is easy and simple.
By analyzing all the work that has been done with respect to power generation and smart traffic control system which can also be implemented for real–time applications. Therefore the clever algorithms are necessary to overcome the difficulties that are present in the existing methods.
In the process of designing the module, the efficient components for our requirement must be fulfilled. Those components should be connected together in a different way to work accordingly for this method. The connection between all those components in a systematic manner is called a block diagram. The block diagram of our design is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Block Diagram of the System
Firstly, the wind turbine starts to rotate, when the wind energy from the moving turbines, hits the blades, the wind energy makes the turbine blades to rotate. This produces electricity. The solar panel produces electricity from the incident light. The summation of both VAWT and solar panel is summed up and is stored in the battery. The stored energy from the battery is given to the street lights. The LDR, IR sensor and the Bluetooth module is connected to the 8051 microcontrollers. The output from the microcontroller is given to the traffic lights that control the flow of traffic, based on the density.
In this paper, the authors are using vertical blades and a DC motor for the implementation of VAWT. Three vertical axis wind turbines are used. For the wind energy, authors are using a hair dryer which has around 13m/sec or 29kmph as the air speed. For this speed, one LED bulb (street light) is turned on, of capacity 3V. When all the three turbines are connected in series, an average of 1.5V is generated.
Power = (Force * Distance)/ time
Force from hair dryer= 13m/sec
Distance = 2cm=0.02 m
Time= 1sec
Power = (13*0.04)/1=0.52
Hence, the power generated from one wind turbine is 0.52V
The turbines are connected in series, that produces,
0.52 +0.52+0.52=1.56v
Therefore, a total of 1.56V is generated from wind turbines.
The Photo Voltaic (PV) cells in the solar panel are used to convert light energy to electrical energy. The electrical power in Watts, generated by the PV cells when exposed to direct sunlight, is roughly the same for each panel and is given as the product of voltage, and current. The amount of electrical power generated by an individual PV cell, at its output terminals depends upon the amount of solar radiation that hits its PN junction. An individual PV cell produces an open circuit voltage of about 0.5-0.6V at 25 degree celsius. Unlike the PV cell's voltage, the output DC current, however, does vary in direct relationship to the amount or intensity of the sunlight falling onto the face of the PV cell. The authors are using the mobile torch, in place of the sunlight. The mobile torch produces light of 15 lumens. In this work, when this light energy is incident on the solar panel, the voltage generated is 5.2V. If there is no incident light on the solar panel, the minimum voltage obtained is 0.7V. The Light Intensity of Flash light is 15 lumen.
Total voltage = 5.9 V
Formula to calculate total power from the solar panel:
Power = area * intensity of light
Power= 5.9 *15 lumen
The power generated from the vertical axis wind turbine and the solar panel is given to the summation circuit. The summation circuit is a circuit which is used to add the power generated. This is done by connecting the three turbines in series, i.e., positive of one turbine to negative of another. Then the connection is made to the 12V battery, through the solar panel Total power = Turbine power + Solar power Total power = 1.5 watts + 5.2 watts Total power = 6.7 watts
When the wind from the moving vehicles hits the turbine blades, the VAWT rotates and generates electricity. This electricity is stored in the rechargeable battery. LDR is used near the turbines to turn ON/OFF the street light, during night and day respectively. Solar panel absorbs the solar energy from the sun and generates electricity, which is also stored in the battery. This summed up stored energy is used to switch on the traffic signals. Traffic signals in this project are used for density based traffic control, where the traffic signal turns green for the junction where the traffic density is the maximum. A traffic signal is also used for the emergency exit of Ambulance.
The connections of our hardware, is shown in Figure 2. It consists of Dc motor, 8051 microcontroller, IR sensors, LDR, LED, Solar Panel, Vertical axis wind turbine, 12V battery. The proposed module is fabricated on a wooden plank. All the electronic components are interfaced and assembled together in the cabin and attached to the wooden plank as shown in the Figure 2. Flow charts for street light control, traffic control and ambulance control are shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5 respectively.
Figure 2. Prototype of the Proposed System
Figure 3. Flowchart for Street light Control
Figure 4. Flowchart for Traffic Control
Figure 5. Flowchart for Ambulance control
In this system, the electric power generated from both VAWT and solar panel is around 6W-7W. The street light turns on/off and the control is achieved by using LDR. Density based traffic control is achieved by using an IR sensor and the concept of dynamic traffic control. The emergency exit for vehicles like ambulance is done by using bluetooth controller application.
Initially, the module will be in power off state. Once the power is supplied, there is a sequence of activities that occur.
When the vehicles on the highway start moving, the wind from the vehicles makes the turbine blades to rotate. This rotation of the blades generates electricity.
Simultaneously, the solar panel stores the solar energy and generates electricity.
When the light (UV Rays) from the sun is sensed by the LDR's placed on the solar panel, the light gets absorbed and generates electricity. In this project, the flash light from the mobile phone in the place of UV rays is used as shown in the Figure 6.
Figure 6. Working of Solar Panel
The rotation of the solar panel, according to the light is controlled by a low rmp Dc motor. The generated electricity is summed up from both the sources and is stored in the battery. This summation circuit is done by connecting the three vertical turbines in series with each other and making a connection of the positive and negative with the solar panel.
The Figure 7 shows electric power generated by using vertical axis wind turbines, connected in series is 1.5V. This generated energy is sufficient to turn on one street light. The solar panels used in our project, produces 3.5W power. This is sufficient to glow four LED's. The summation of both the energy generated is stored in a battery of capacity 12V.
Figure 7. Wind Turbines
The proposed model of a vertical axis wind turbine is an effective source for generating electric power energy on highways. This design concept is meant to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. In our proposed model vertical axis wind turbines in highways are used, where the air force generated by moving vehicles is used to generate electricity. Another renewable resource such as solar is used to generate electricity. The energy generated is stored in the battery, is then used for traffic and street lights. Traffic signals are controlled by using IR sensors and microcontroller. It is implemented on the concept of dynamic delay control, i.e. based on traffic density. Providing passage to vehicles of extreme priority (ambulance, VIP'S). It enables the proposed traffic controller system to realize traffic flow and optimization strategies at a single node or network junctions. This system configuration reduces the possibilities of traffic jams, to an extent. LDR is used for the optimization of the street light controller.