Charlton Business Expo

Seniors Emily Corey and Vincent Rose have developed a simulation of a Smart Traffic Control System and are excited to present at the Charlton Business Expo! The project started with a simple challenge: create a simulation of a real-world embedded system. Emily and Vincent chose to work together to build a Smart Traffic Control System that utilized image recognition, enabling their 3D-printed cars to detect the color of a traffic light and either stop or proceed through the intersection accordingly. The four-way intersection was controlled by an Arduino Portenta H7 microcontroller that alternated traffic based on a timed sequence. The system also utilized the MQTT protocol to transmit data to and from a web-based dashboard written in Node.js. By allowing an authenticated user to override the timing of the lights based on current traffic demands — and by implementing simulated crosswalk and emergency service overrides — these students have truly risen to the challenge of simulating a real-world embedded system!

This project gave Emily and Vincent hands-on experience with:

• 3D Modeling and printing with OnShape and Bambu Lab
• C++ programming with the Arduino Portenta H7
• Iterative Prototyping & Problem Solving
• Systems Integration & IoT (Internet of Things) Development
• Real-time Communication with MQTT
• Web Application Development with Node.js
• Image Recognition / Computer Vision