The Kerala Public Works Minister, Mr V.K. Ebrahim Kunju, has commissioned what is purported to be the country’s first wireless traffic control system here.

Installed at the busy Vellayambalam junction, it is called the vehicle-actuated wireless traffic control system (Wi-Trac).

Joint venture

It has been jointly developed by Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation (Keltron); the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB).  

Wi-Trac regulates traffic signals depending on traffic volume. The system includes a virtual loop using four cameras imported from Belgium for vehicle detection.

What makes Wi-Trac unique is solar power and GPS (global positioning system) compatibility.

No digging of the road is needed here since no physical connection exists between the master control and signal lamps at roundabout.

Busy junction

Vellayambalam junction is one of the busy junctions in the city, where over 10,000 vehicles pass an hour during peak hours.

Wi-Trac has been as part of the Intelligent Transportation System Endeavour (Intranse), a research project of C-DAC, and IITs of Mumbai and Madras, Mr Ravi Kumar, Deputy Director, C-DAC, said.

The conventional fixed traffic signals give way to a regime where the dynamics of the volume of traffic would decongest to help traffic to considerable extent.

A 32-bit microcontroller is the backbone of Wi-Trac and the master control communicates to the 16 ‘slave’ controllers through the wireless link.

Situated near the Vellayambalam junction, C-DAC has set up a control room to monitor the system.

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