Design And Construction Of An Electronic Triangle

ABSTRACT

This work is on an electronic warning triangle which is an improved structure of an electronics triangle which has many holes inside the triangle for plugging in the bright red LEDs, the electronics warning triangle have a reflecting plate and a transparent plate together. The electronics triangle has tight washers to seal the holes containing the LED’s to achieve the goal of a water-proof device. The LED’s are series-parallel connected five by five so as to keep the electronics triangle shining. The aim of this work is to build this device used for warning sign for a car accident, broken-down car and roadblock.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWELDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION
• BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
• PROBLEM STATEMENT
• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
• JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
• APPLICATION OF THE STUDY
• METHODOLOGY
• PROJECT ORGANISATION

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• INTRODUCTION
• CAUTION TRIANGLE
• ROAD SIGNS
• ROAD SIGNS AND OTHER SAFETY DEVICES
• MULTIVIBRATORS

CHAPTER THREE

3.0       METHODOLOGY

• SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM
• SYSTEM CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
• SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
• DESCRIPTION OF COMPONENTS USED

CHAPTER FOUR

• CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE AND TESTING ANALYSIS
• CASING AND PACKAGING
• ASSEMBLING OF SECTIONS
• TESTING OF SYSTEM OPERATION
• INSTALLATION OF THE COMPLETED DESIGN

CHAPTER FIVE

• CONCLUSION
• RECOMMENDATION
• REFERENCES

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                          INTRODUCTION

1.1                                 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

According to Benjamin (2016), warning sign is a type of sign which indicates a potential hazard, obstacle or condition requiring Special attention. Some are traffic signs that indicate hazards on roads that may not be readily apparent to a driver.

While warning traffic sign designs vary, they usually take the shape of an equilateral triangle with a white background and thick red border. In the People’s Republic of China (except for Macau and Hong Kong), they appear with a black border and a yellow background. In Sweden, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Finland, Iceland, North Macedonia and Poland, they have a red border with an amber background. The polar bear warning sign in Svalbard recently changed from displaying a black bear on white background to a white bear on black background (both signs are triangular with a red border). Some countries (like France, Norway and Spain) that normally use a white background have adopted an orange or amber background for road work or construction signs. Warning signs in some countries have a diamond shape in place of the standard triangular shape, (Erikson, 2014).

Yearly, an average of 1.3 million people is killed and 50 million are injured due to road accidents (Eriksson, 2014). To address this, road signs are created to provide guideline, warnings and information on road-users to promote road safety. Thus, they have to effectively communicate to their readers by clearly delivering the messages they contain through their well-understood design. If signs fail to serve their purpose, safety is compromised.  Given that misleading and misunderstood road signs contribute to road accidents and traffic violations around the world, identifying factors that contribute to how road-users comprehend the sign’s meaning could help address accident occurrence.  An important factor when measuring comprehension is the comprehension level. Studies conducted by Zakowska (2004) and Shinar et. al (2012) have considered four categories in measuring a reader’s level of comprehension namely, completely correct, partially correct, incorrect and opposite of the correct answer.

The driver comprehension level is important in road safety.    Ben-Bassat & Shinar (2006) did a study that focused on the ergonomic guidelines and how it affects comprehension levels as recommended in his past study on signage. Ergonomic Principles considered are:  (1) Spatial Compatibility refers to the physical arrangement in space, relative to the position of information and directions. (2) Conceptual Compatibility refers to the extent to which the symbols present in the signage coincide with people’s associations. (3) Physical Representation refers to the extent where the sign’s symbol represents its reality. (4) Familiarity refers to the extent to which the drivers are able to recognize symbols based on their driving experience. (5) Standardization refers to the consistency of all the dimensions included in signs such as color and shape. Visual features in road signs have found to be influential in measuring icon effectiveness. A study by Chan & Ng (2008) has these visual features to be Color, Shape, Red Circle-Slash, and Icon Size. Color Feature not only catches attention to readers of signs but it also denotes the level of hazard in a road sign. Surround Shape Feature denotes level of hazard and gives conventional meanings.  Red Circle-Slash Feature conveys negation on icons presented.  Icon Size Feature enables readers to be able to see details of icons easily.  In line with Chan and Ng’s (2008) research on visual features on effectiveness, it is seen how all these features is evident in regulatory road sign. The current standard on regulatory signs is composed of 4 kinds of surround shapes with 6 color features.  The regulatory road signs contain the widest variety of surround shape and color features among all types of road signs.

Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduced, for example, the fingerposts in the United Kingdom and their wooden counterparts in Saxony, (Benjamin, 2016).

With traffic volumes increasing since the 1930s, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to overcome language barriers, and enhance traffic safety. Such pictorial signs use symbols (often silhouettes) in place of words and are usually based on international protocols. Such signs were first developed in Europe, and have been adopted by most countries to varying degrees.

1.2                                  STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

When a motorist is travelling faster that about 120 km/h the distance at which he detects the difference in speed compared with a stationary vehicle will usually be too short for him to stop in time. Hence, this calls for the construction of an electronic triangle. Also in daytime, and on lighted roads at night, the approaching driver may be able to see from the position of the vehicle whether it is stationary or in motion. This may apply when the vehicle is on the verge or the hard shoulder. But if the vehicle is stationary on the carriageway it will often be impossible even in daytime to detect this far enough away. The foregoing shows the need for two warning systems. The warning sign for stationary vehicles on the carriageway must be used both in daytime and after dark. An electronic triangle that delivers red of that indicate red light are adjustable over a wide range. The most common output waveforms are sine, square, triangular, pulse-train wave’s, (Hartman, S. 2017).

1.3                                  AIM AND OBJECTIVE

Aim

The aim of this work is to construct an electronic triangle that can used both at night or day.

Objective

After designing the system will be able to solves the following objectives;

1. Design and construction of an electronic triangle that can be used as a road sign.
2. Design and construction of a triangle wave generator with minimum distortion.

1.4                                            JUSTIFICATION

The importance of triangle cannot be overemphasized, thus the need to construct one that is electronically powered which will be able to display light both at day or night arose. This will address the issues of road accidents, road signs are created to provide guideline, warnings and information on road-users to promote road safety.

This device is easy to assemble and dismantle, is in the aforesaid structure. The device reflects further than the traditional warning sign. It is mobile, water-proofed.

1.5                           APPLICATION OF THE PROJECT

This device is used to provide an improved warning sign for:

1. a car accident,
2. a broken-down car

• a roadblock.

1.6                                         METHODOLOGY

To achieve the aim and objectives of this work, the following are the steps involved:

1. Study of the previous work on the project so as to improve it efficiency.
2. Draw a block diagram.

• Test for continuity of components and devices,

1. Design and calculation for the device was carried out.
2. Studying of various component used in circuit.
3. Construction of the circuit was carried out.

• Finally, the whole device was cased and final test was carried out.

1.7                                                         PROJECT ORGANISATION

The work is organized as follows: chapter one discuses the introductory part of the work,   chapter two presents the literature review of the study,  chapter three describes the methods applied,  chapter four discusses the results of the work, chapter five summarizes the research outcomes and the recommendations.