Project Work (8809)/2011

Insights and Reflections (I & R)

Project Task: Risk

Title of Group Project: Road Guardian

Group Index No: IJ115

Name of Candidate: Xavier Quek Jia Jing
CG: 1151A
Date submitted: 8 November 2011
Name of Supervising Tutor: Mr. Ong Seck Chye

________________________________________________________
Candidate’s information is verified by:

Name of Supervising Tutor: _____________________________ Date: ________

Signature of ST: _______________ Signature of Candidate: ________________

Insights & Reflections Xavier 1151A IJ115

A: Insights
Risk Y: Danger of being harmed by vehicles when crossing in the road junction.

Area in project: Pedestrian detection in current project makes use of thermographic

camera which is susceptible to weather conditions. Ambiguous results of pedestrian

detection would occur under such circumstances because of fluctuations in temperature

on road surface, confusing it together with pedestrian surface temperature.

Alternative approach: Install pressure pads on designated areas to detect pedestrians

through their mass measurement. Pressure pads’ have mass ranges from 10 – 200

kilograms per square metre. Pressure pads may be costly to install, however, they are

not susceptible to weather conditions as they detect via touch sensors, not visual

identification. It does not matter if not all pedestrians are detected. It just needs one

pedestrian to be detected in order to activate the speed limiter in vehicles.

Challenge 1: If maintenance is required for pressure pad, part of the pedestrian staging

area will have to be covered up to facilitate maintenance, causing inconvenience to

pedestrians.

Challenge 2: Cyclists might not be detected by the pressure pad as they have a different

pressure exerted on the pad, resulting in them being mistaken as raindrops, leading to

an increased risk if they are crossing alone at the road junction. However, it is

encouraged by Traffic Police for cyclists to dismount and push their bicycles across the

road.

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B: Reflections

Idea suggested by group: Use of speed limiters to slow vehicles down

STRENGTH: Sure fire plan to slow vehicles down, it is also in sync with the entire

system’s aim – to protect pedestrians. By slowing vehicles down, drivers don’t have the

incentive to beat the traffic light, allowing them to brake, stop to give way to pedestrians,

minimizing their chances of hitting pedestrians.

WEAKNESS: Drivers might not be used to this system and might run into accidents even

there is a warning system to inform drivers of the activated speed limiter, because they

are not in control of the vehicle’s speed and this affects their driving skills as they are

used to control vehicles in all aspects (speed, direction and line of sight).

Reflections

Google Sketchup allowed limitless potential to illustrate project ideas, giving me a new

experience in 3D drawing. For example, I have done a stepwise process of the activation

of the speed limiter and how the vehicles are slowed down. I learnt doing this through the

coaching by IT personnel in school and tutorials online. Using Sketchup can be useful for

future projects in university and the workplace as it is an effective form of presentation.

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