Design, Modelling, and Implementation of a Fuzzy Controller for an Intelligent Road Signaling System

Crossing points are not always 100% visible for drivers due to different factors (e.g., poor road maintenance, occlusion of vertical signs, and adverse weather conditions). USA estimated in 2015 the number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles in 70,000 of whom 5,376 resulted in deceased people. To contribute in this field, this paper presents the design, implementation, and testing of a smart prototype system applied to pedestrian crossings—not regulated by semaphores—which try to reduce the accident rate on roads. The hardware and software system consists of a set of autonomous, intelligent, and wireless low-cost devices that generate a visual warning barrier perceived by drivers from a suitable distance when pedestrians traverse a crosswalk. In this way, drivers can reduce the speed of their vehicles and stop safely. The system’s intelligence is carried out by a fuzzy controller that performs sensory fusion at both low level and high level with various types of sensors from local and neighboring devices. The tests conducted have determined an average success of 94.64% and a precision of 100%, thus corresponding with a very good test according to a ROC analysis. As a result, the system proposed has been patented and extended to international PCT.