Automated Speed Regulator
John Doe, Robert Smith, JaneCaan
Name of teacher
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INTRODUCTION:
A problem striking many modern day drivers is their negligence while driving. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportationreported33,780 motor vehicle accidents, anincrease in 4.4% from the previous year,which all ended withfatalities. [i]Many times, drivers mistakenly believe that they have the ability to drive above the speed limit without causing an accident. In addition, drivers do not always notice when the speed limit changes on the road, especially in special areas such as school zones. Therefore, the government made it the police’s job to find speeders and ticket them. However, there are not enough policemen in the world to catch all of the speeders, and accidents are still occurring due to people driving above the speed limit. In Ghana, the government does not have enough resources to dispatch police all over the country. Since the police are unable to enforce traffic laws, speed limits are not taken seriously. The net result is a high prevalence of traffic accidents, resulting from drivers speeding out of control. [ii] In numerousAmerican school zones, they have implemented digital speed limit signs which change according to the arrival and departure of school buses. Crossing guards have been implemented here as well, but this type of system would be ineffective for freeways with higher speed limits.
In Germany, engineers digitized 10% of all speed limit signs in the autobahnto be controlledby real-time traffic and accident reports.[iii]In the Netherlands, they have a similar control system with the addition of ramp metering, which is a small traffic light located at the end of the on-ramp. Andreas Hegyi, Bart De Schutter and Hans Hellendoorn from the Delft University of Technology found that by combining ramp metering with variable speed limits, they were able to significantly reduce the amount of time cars spent on the freeway[iv]. The flaw in their experiment was that they did not consider real world conditions where people tend to run red lights, stop signs at on-ramps, and obeying the actual speed limits on posted signs throughout the freeway.
Mark A. Elliott, Christopher J. Armitage and Christopher J. Baughan explored the relationship between driver's intentions to comply with speed limits, versus their actual behaviors, and found that speed limits were taken seriously if they contributed to the overall safety of drivers on the road.[v]Most cars today are equipped with a governor which limits the top speed of the car, but this is set in stone once a vehicle is manufactured. Technology is improving at a fast rate, resulting in the commercial availability of cars withfeatures such as automated parallel parking and emergency brake assistance.
OBJECTIVES:
Our idea is to create a system, such as a smart governor,whichautomatically regulates the car’s speed depending on the speed limit in that area. Furthermore, people often receive tickets for not having their head and tail lights on in the dark or in the fog. Therefore, our car will also contain self adjusting lights that automatically turn on in the dark.
SYSTEM DIAGRAM:
INPUTSPROCESSESOUTPUTS
METHODS:
For our project we will be building a road and modifying a radio controlled model car. We hope to create a highway that regulates the speed of the model car. We will do so by having different parts of the highway have a different speed limit associated with it. On the side of the road, there will be magnets that will be part of an amplification circuit. Each speed limit will have a magnet that is amplified differently. The car will be equipped with a magnetic sensor, which is able to detect disturbances and differences in the magnetic field caused by the car passing through the different amplifications. When the car detects that it has entered a different magnetic field, it will send an analog input to the computer. The Arduino will read and digitize the input, and if it is between the threshold that we set up for each speed, then the car will send an analog output to the car. The output will be a pulsed output, which means that it will turn on and off the motor. The advantage of a pulsed output is that the Arduino will then have the power to adjust the motor from full speed, to 3/4 power, to half power, or zero power. By controlling the power of the motor, we will be able to control the speed of the car.
In addition the car will contain a photoresistor. The photoresistor changes the amount of resistance that it has based on the amount of light it receives. As the sensor receives more light, the resistance decreases. The less light the sensor receives, the higher the resistance. The photoresistor will send an analog input to the Arduino telling it the voltage across it at given points, and if the voltage of the photoresistor is within a certain threshold, the lights on the car will turn on. The lights’ brightness will be adjusted based on the threshold of the sensor voltage.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN:
Part name and number if available / Price / item / Quantity / Full costMagnetic sensor from Jameco, Part no. 513308 / $2.95 / 3 / $8.85
Lithium battery pack from Jameco, no. 2127566 / $46.95 / 1 / $46.95
Op-Amp LM741CN from Jameco Part no. 24539 / $0.29 / 6 / $1.74
Ambient Light sensor from Jameco, no. 2127662 / $7.95 / 1 / $7.95
Arduino Duemilanove (from CIJE) / $23.99 / 1 / $23.99
TOTAL COST / $82.13 / 12 / $89.48
DIVISION OF LABOR:
Bob is the team leader, Jane will work on the moving parts, and John will focus on sensors. All team members willspend time on research and development of the project. John will work on identifying confounding variables, which may cause safety issues, such as cars slamming on their breaks due to a faulty magnetic sensor or a disturbance in the magnetic field due to environmental factors. Jane will identify how accurate the Arduino is at processing the different magnetic fields over the road in a variety of conditions, including speed bumps, changes in temperature as well as humidity, and other weather scenarios.
GANTT CHART:
Time in MonthsBob / Jane / John / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
A - Do preliminary market analysis / X / X
B - Contact professionals in the field / X / X / X / X
C - Illustrating product design / diagram / X / X
D - Conducting any additional research / X / X / X / X
E - Evaluate & select best design / X / X / X / X / X / X
F - Develop detailed product design / X / X / X / X
G - Order components / X / X
H - Build and test prototype / X / X
I - Finalize product design / X / X
J - Order additional components / X / X
K - Finish product construction / X / X
L - Write an abstract (Summary) / X / X
M - Create a PowerPoint and poster / X / X / X
N - Write a research paper / X / X / X
Bob / Jane / John / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
[i]National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2013, August). Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First Quarter of 2013.(Crash Stats Brief Statistical Summary. Report No. DOT HS 811 808). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
[ii]Francis K. Afukaar, “Speed control in developing countries: issues, challenges and opportunities in reducing road traffic injuries,”Injury Control and Safety Promotion, vol. 10, no. 3, (2003): 1-2
[iii]BundesministeriumfürVerkehr, Bau- und Wohnungswesen. KollektiveVerkehrsbeeinflussungsanlagen auf Bundesfernstraßen". Germany, 2013.
[iv]A. Hegyi, B. De Schutter, and H. Hellendoorn, “Model predictive control for optimal coordination of ramp metering and variable speed limits,” Transportation Research Part C, vol. 13, no. 3, (2005): 185–209.
[v]Mark A. Elliott, Christopher J. Armitage, Christopher J. Baughan, “Exploring the beliefs underpinning drivers’ intentions to comply with speed limits,”Transportation Research Part F, vol. 8, no. 6, (2005): 459-479.