Motivation
A pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident every two hours, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Pedestrians, like the one pictured aside, are often distracted and unaware of their surroundings when crossing the street, especially at yield-to-pedestrian crosswalks.
Objective
We aim to increase pedestrian awareness at yield-to-pedestrian crosswalks by encouraging people to hesitate if a car is approaching.
Human-Centered Design
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End Users: Pedestrians and drivers at yield-to-pedestrian crosswalks
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Stakeholders: City and local government officials, police officers, and traffic administration
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Methods: University-wide surveys, yield-to-pedestrian crosswalk observations, conversations with police officers and Paul Supowitz (Vice Chancellor for Community and Government Relations)
Have you ever found yourself in a dangerous position crossing the street on Pitt's campus? (n=90)
Yes No
75%
25%
Design Goals
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Trigger automatically, without manual input from the user
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Be bright enough to draw the attention of the pedestrian
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Install easily and non-invasively at crosswalks
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Withstand outdoor conditions
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Focus on alerting pedestrians
How it Works
As a car drives down the road, our LIDAR proximity sensor detects its presence as it approaches the yield-to-pedestrian crosswalk. The signal from the LIDAR sensor goes through our Arduino microcontroller, which tells our Neopixel light strip to flash red. This flash alerts pedestrians that a car is approaching and that they should hesitate and look both ways before proceeding.
Video
Results and Plans for Improvement
Moving forward, we would like to install LIDAR sensors on both sides of the street and have them communicate via a wireless connection. To make our project installation more permanent, we would like to embed our light strip into the sidewalk. In addition, we'd be interested in exploring the possibility of integrating audio alerts with our light strip system.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Samosky, the AoM staff, Paul Supowitz, and police officers contacted. We would especially like to thank our PFAs, Leo Li and Issam Abushaban, for their guidance.
This project was developed for the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering course ENGR 0716 The Art of Making: An Introduction to Hands-On System Design and Engineering
Dr. Joseph Samosky