Development of Controllers for Traffic Lights

Theoretical Aspects

Thomas Riedel

This is an application for a generic Discrete Event System control using algorithms from Graph Theory. The process to be controlled is a traffic crossing. It is shown by an easy example how to model a crossing and traffic. A control algorithm is presented using Dynamic Programming and Branch and Bound. A visualization with graphs is given, complexity considerations are done, and refinements by computing time considerations are developed. At the end extensions to more complex and to closely coupled crossings are given. The control of two closely coupled crossings is being implemented with the Transportation Authority of Zurich.

Report no 91-19 of the Automatic Control Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Switzerland.

Keywords: Discrete Event Systems, Traffic Control, Graph Theory, Dynamic Programming

This report is only available in German.