International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics

Volume 116 No. 11 2017, 221-229

ISSN: 1311-8080 (printed version); ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version)
url: http://www.ijpam.eu
doi: 10.12732/ijpam.v116i11.23
Special Issue ijpam.eu

A PROTOTYPE MODEL FOR AUTOMATIC

VEHICLE DETECTION IN TOLL PLAZA
ENABLING EASY ENTRY
N. Jeba, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer
Science and Engineering, Kumaraguru College of
Technology, Coimbatore.

Abstract
In this era of technological advancements, we are marching
towards automation in every field. The technological development
of any country is based upon its basic amenities and infrastructure
offered to lay man. Toll plaza is a common occurrence in the day to
day life of all. On the outset we see vehicles arrayed in long queues
to pay the toll fee and pass through the toll gate. These toll plazas
are operated manually and consume valuable journey time and
fuel. Further the emission of carbon dioxide results in pollution
and degrades the environment. This paper proposes a model for
automatic vehicle detection in toll plaza entry by using Internet of
Things technology. The proposed prototype model can also be
deployed in any organization that has security checks at the gates
and allows only registered and authenticated vehicles to enter the
campus. This automated system involves paperless and cashless
method for toll fee collection. We use cameras, sensors and mini-
computers to choose the type of token the traveler wants and
display the current operation status.

Keywords: IoT, Toll Plaza, automatic vehicle detection, security

1 INTRODUCTION

In recent years, traffic is at its peak due to the constant and

continuous demand for vehicles. Billions of commuters utilize their
own vehicles and public transport. This has led to a steady
increase in traffic as well as congestion among the vehicles
contending for space and speed. The unique focus of a smart city is
to render infrastructure and 221
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International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Special Issue
which are safe. Widening the roads is a naïve solution to reduce
congestion and improvise the traffic flow. Modern and
sophisticated roads deploy toll booths by collecting an affordable
toll fee to maintain the roads. These toll booths are operated
manually by human operators and travelers have to wait in long
lines for the toll booth personnel to enter the details of the
automobile and collect the fee. This delay in time increases fuel
depletion and devours travel time.

Generally gates are operated using a manual switch or

automatically by sensors. Gate operators are basically of two types
– electro-mechanical operators and hydraulic operators. In the
former, electro-mechanical gates are coupled as arm openers with
electric motor with the aid of a reduction gear box. They can be
further classified as sliding, barrier operated and screw type swing
gates. These gates operate at low voltage and enable the operator
to a solar panel for efficient access. Moreover they can be deployed
for small gates. Hydraulic gates are targeted for heavy gates to be
used in industrial hydraulic systems. They can be automated and
are broadly classified as swing gates, slide gates, barrier gates and
overhead gates. Swing gates open inward or outward and work
with the support of a swing arm operator which can be either
hydraulic or electro mechanical. Sliding gates are common in
supermarkets and factories. They are usually very big and heavy
so swinging is not practically possible. The easiest method to
activate a sliding gate is by connecting a chain across both the
ends of the gate and passing it through to the operator. When the
operator functions, it moves the chain which in turn moves the
gate. Barrier gates are common at the entrance and exits of
parking areas.Overhead gates open up and down like the doors of
a garage. They are deployed in underground parking lots in
commercial space.

Decades ago toll plazas were manually operated. Two persons

were employed – one to open/close the gate and the other for
money collection and data keeping. Semi-automatic plazas were

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initiated during the nineties where data is stored in computers
and the gate opening is automatic. Now we are looking ahead for
fully automated toll plazas.

Moreover pollution is seen as a direct side effect due to the

emission of carbon dioxide from vehicles. Furthermore, when the
traveler is passing through many toll-plazas, it becomes difficult
and takes time to find the correct pass for the particular toll-plaza
during return. Hence the need to automate and simulate toll
booths is a vital requirement of the society. Automated easy entry
is one among the solution to reform the manual operating security
check points to a smart and fast processing hassle free system.

2 Literature Review

In the previous decades, investigations have been made on

electronically controlled gates and their automation. We will
discuss few of their research work which has gained much
attention.

Shoewu and Baruwa [1] discuss about electronic gates that utilize
a microprocessor to sense the arrival of a vehicle and open the gate
automatically for a set duration of time and then close the gate.
The authentication of the vehicle is checked to permit entry into
the campus.

Security Gate System controlled by computers is explained in [2],

which provides a smart to all privileged users and are used as an
authentication tool to enter a keyless door. It is obvious that smart
cards can be stolen and anyone who possesses the smart card
gains entry.

Automatic TollCollection System using RFID collects the toll fee

automatically with the aid of radio frequency. Each vehicle is
assigned a unique RFID tag by the Road Transport Organization.
The basic information of the vehicle is stored in the centralized
database. A prepaid amount is paid by the owner for the respective
card. RFID Reader is positioned at the toll plaza and when the

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vehicle passes the toll gate, the toll fee is debited from that
prepaid amount. If there is insufficient balance a notification is
send and manual payment has to be made. This system reduces
congestion and fuel consumption wherein integrating large
databases is an out seen complexity of the system.

Electronic Toll Collection systems deploy Dedicated Short Range

Communication Technology, where information is sophistically
transferred between the traveler and the toll plaza authorities.
The toll fee is automatically debited from the account of the rider
and the information is send as a message to the mobile phone
through GSM. This system reduces human errors and avoids
traffic.

3 METHODOLOGY

Registration
Vehicle
Registration

QR Code

Verification
Sensors

PiCamera

QR Code
Verification

Open/Close the
Gate

Figure 1: Architecture of Toll Plaza

The existing model of toll plaza, the authorized personnel has

to verify the details and enter the same to the computer, collects
the fee and opens the gate for the entry of the vehicle and closes
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the gate. This repetitive process continues and leads to a queue. At
non peak hours the toll plaza might be free and thereby the power
is still consumed as they are waiting for a vehicle to arrive.

In our proposed prototype model, as depicted in Figure 1.

Each employee is allocated a QR code corresponding to their
vehicle registration number and the same is stored in the database
of the organization. When there is no object in front of the gate,
the system is set to OFF mode to reduce power consumption.
When a vehicle approaches the gate, the vehicle acts as an obstacle
and the system turns ON. The detection from the sensor triggers
the camera to take pictures of the vehicle registration number and
extracts the QR Code. If the QR code corresponds to the entry in
the database, the vehicle is permitted to enter the campus. Based
on the time limit set, when the vehicle completely passes the gate
is closed. The same process is repeated for each vehicle that
desires to gain entrance through the gate.

4 IMPLEMENTATION

A passive infrared (PIR) sensor measures infrared light

radiating from the field of view of the object. In our proposed
model, we use PIR to detect the arrival of an automobile in front of
the gate.The Raspberry Pi camera module can be used to take still
photographs as well as high-definition video. The Raspberry Pi
Camera is used to capture the image of the truck in front of the
gate; when the PIR sensor gives a signal of the detected vehicle,
the camera takes a picture of the obstacle in our case the vehicle
and the same is stored and utilized for vehicle registration number
identification. Raspberry Pi controls the whole system with its own
operating system Raspbian and the programs are coded using
Python. All the interfaced devices can be operated by the processor
in Raspberry Pi. It takes decision based on the program to
open/close the gate; here the gate is operated with a servo motor. A

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servomotor acts as a rotary/linear actuator and allows precise
control of angular/linear

Figure 2: Prototype of Toll Plaza

position, velocity and acceleration. The PIR is coupled with the

servomotor for position feedback. Furthermore, we require a
sophisticated controller to be designed specifically to work with the
servomotor and are suitable for use in a closed-loop control system.
The servomotor acts as the automatic gate that operates according
to the instruction from Raspberry Pi.

5 CONCULSION

A prototype model for Automatic Vehicle Detection in Toll Plaza

was designed and it has reduced the operating time at the entry of
the gate and no human resource is required. It is more intuitive to
use, faster and requires no components to be installed in the
vehicles. The project can be improvised by using complex image
recognition techniques to decode the vehicle registration number
from vehicle number plate rather than using a QR code.The use of
PIR sensor may be replaced with ultra-sonic sensors, positioned
such that the arrival of the vehicle is efficiently detected.
Similarly, instead of setting time threshold for the gate to open, it
can be operated with another sensor; since when it is decided to

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open the gate to allow the authorized vehicle, the closing time may
not be the same for all situations. So, an ultrasonic sensor can be
positioned at the rear to detect the motion of the vehicle passing
by. Based on the input from the sensor, the gate can be closed
accordingly. By implementing these improvements in the system,
we considerably see the effectiveness of the system. The same
prototype can be deployed for toll plazas where the vehicle
registration number is directly used to decode the type of vehicle
and the payment of fee is done directly from the account. The
entry pass is sent as a message to the owner of the vehicle and
during return journeys, the vehicle is automatically allowed to
pass the toll gate. This system can be further used to block
vehicles that need to be tracked for any breaches.

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