International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)

An Intelligent Ambulance with some Advance features of

Telecommunication
Pratyush Parida1, Sudeep Kumar Dhurua2, P. Santhi Priya3
1,2

B.Tech, Electronics and Communication Engineering, GITAM UNIVERSITY , Visakhapatnam.

3
M.Tech, Software Engineering, GITAM UNIVERSITY, Visakhapatnam.
The ambulance system too has GSM(Global System for
Mobile Communication) based information device which
alerts the specialist doctors about the patient condition and
informs the doctors to report to the nearest hospital for
patients quick recovery. Here we are using embedded
controller built around the 8051 family (AT89s52) for the
control according to the data pattern produced at the input
port of the micro controller, the appropriate selected action
will be taken. The logic is produced by the program written
in Embedded C language. The software program is written
by using the KEIL Micro vision environment and assembly
language. The program written is then converted in HEX
code after simulation and burned on to microcontroller. In
this way, Traffic light is controlled using Transmitter (in
ambulance) and Receiver along with Microcontroller (in
Traffic light). GSM enabled messaging service with a SIM
of 3G connection alerts the Doctor with a message and
video display provide a live conference with patient and
nurse in the ambulance.

Abstract - The given paper is based on an Automatic traffic

light control system in an emergency case i.e. when an
Ambulance is approaching towards Traffic light. That drives
to reset the traffic light to green light at ambulance side and
red light at other three sides. Ambulances have a transmitter
which transmits the Infrared signal (IR). IR-LED (Light
Emitting Diode) is connected in series for better range and
wider directivity. This module can transmit IR rays up to few
meters without use of any external lens. Traffic light has a
receiver. The receiver uses infrared module (photodiode).
The output of the photodiode is connected to microcontroller.
Microcontroller is wired here in time delay and switching
mode. Along with this concept, the concept of GSM (Global
System for Mobile Communication) is also being used, by
which Doctor of particular specialization, as needed by the
patient, is messaged to report to the Hospital before the
arrival of ambulance. SIM 900 is used for Serial
communication and the message is displayed to doctor in a
16x2 LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). GSM here, not only used
for just sending message to the doctor but also used for video
display of the patient in the ambulance using 3G connection.
By which Doctor can analyze the condition of the patient and
recommend some immediate possible therapy in ambulance
before reaching hospital.

II. WORKING PROCESS

The present project is designed using 8051
microcontroller having the capability to alter the traffic
light in an emergency situation when time is very crucial. It
uses an Infrared transmitter which on arrival at a traffic
signal can alter it by establishing a connection with the
receiver end. The Ambulance is also equipped with a GSM
modem for sending the distress message during emergency.
LCD boards attached to the traffic controller help the
ambulance to locate the nearest hospitals.

Keywords GSM, Infrared, LCD, LED, Microcontroller,

Photodiode, Receiver, SIM 900, Transmitter, 3G.

I. INTRODUCTION
The paper will help to reduce blockage of emergency
vehicles in traffic. It has been recorded that due to over
time of ambulance or fire brigade there is a huge loss to the
society. Thus this paper shows that by the usage of
electronics and communication technique we can reduce
such effects technically. In this way so many lives can be
saved and whole system will work efficiently. The main
objective of the paper is to design a Microcontroller based
intelligent ambulance system which can alter the traffic
lights upon its arrival at traffic light junction using
IR(Infrared) sensors which would save a lot of critical
time.

Figure 1.1: Basic Block Diagram

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
We develop an embedded system hardware model which
can control the traffic lights until the link between the
sensors remains established. Figure 1.1 depicts the overall
operation of this paper. When an emergency vehicle enters
a traffic light zone, it controls the traffic lights, so that it
can cross the busy area in short time thus saving a lot of
time. After the vehicle crosses the junction the traffic light
is reset and its resumes its normal operation.

Figure 1.4: Circuit diagram traffic light

Figure 1.4 is the circuit diagram representation of a day

to day traffic controller with a LCD, 4 sensors. LEDs used
are of three types red, yellow, and green similar to the
traffic light system. Sensors which are IR LEDs are
connected to the port 2 of the microcontroller through 555
timer which works in Astable mode. 16X2 LCD is
connected to port 0 of the microcontroller.

Figure 1.2: Block Diagram for Traffic Controller

Figure 1.2 represents block diagram for traffic controller

equipped with infrared receivers which reset the traffic
lights. 4X3 LEDS represent the traffic lights in 4 directions.
Figure 1.3 is the block diagram which implements serial
communication with GSM using MAX 232. This helps us
to inform specialist doctors about patients situation and
also asks them to report to the nearest hospital.

Figure 1.3: Block Diagram for Emergency Communication

Basic Circuit and its Description

The basic circuit diagram of the project describes the
necessary connections that are to be made while designing
the hardware module of the project.

Figure 1.5: Circuit Diagram for Emergency Communication

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
Figure 1.5 is the sketch representation of distress alert
messaging system where the 9 switches correspond to
different distress call. Max 232 is used for serial
communication. 16X2 LCD is connected to port 0 of the
microcontroller. SIM 900/GSM is used for sending the
desired message.

2. Infrared Modules (IR Transmitter And IR Receiver)

IR Transmitter
Transmitter section is used into ambulance car which
transmit Modulated Infrared rays (IR) and controlled to
traffic light. When switch key is pressed, circuit is
energized. The output of IC-555 is square wave from Pin
No. 3; the IR-LED is connected to pin no. 3 of IC-555 with
1k. The transmit IR beams modulated at same frequency 1
KHz. The oscillator frequency can be shifted by adjusting
pre-set 47k.

III. HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE MODULES

A. Hardware Modules
1. THE 8051 MICROCONTROLLER
A Microcontroller is an entire computer manufactured
on a single chip. Microcontrollers are usually dedicated
devices embedded within an application. 8051
Microcontroller is a 8 bit Microcontroller with a Flash
memory of 4KB for storing the program and RAM of 128
bytes and can support up to 64KB of External Memory. It
has 4 INPUT/OUTPUT ports i.e. PORT 0(pin 39 to 32),
PORT 1(pin 1 to 8), PORT 2(pin 21 to 28) and PORT 3(pin
10 to 17). It will operate on 5V DC supply.

Figure 2.2: IR-Transmitter Circuit

IR Receiver & Reset To Traffic Light Section

Traffic light has a receiver. The receiver uses Infrared
module (photodiode). The output of the photodiode is
connected to microcontroller. Microcontroller is wired here
in time delay and switching mode. It provides negative
pulses which drives traffic control section with pnp
transistor.

Figure 2.1: Pin Diagram of 8051 Microcontroller

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
Traffic light is controlled with time delay by 89c51
according to program, it is provides the output to traffic
light at pin 10-17 and 24, 25. The output of 89c51 provides
a negative pulse which switches to PNP transistor and
traffic light is controlled by PNP transistor. Microcontroller
feeds input at pin 36, 37, 38, 39 from NPN transistor which
reset the all traffic light and switched to a green light on
emergency route. LCD displays the instruction of
ambulance car which is derived by 89c51 microcontroller
according to program.

In this port 10 and 11 pins of 8051 are utilized to

connect MAX232. The 10th pin (RX) is connected to 9th
pin of MAX232 and 11th (TX) is connected to 10th of
MAX232.
4. Liquid Crystal Display Unit (LCD)
Liquid Crystal Displays are created by sandwiching a
thin (10-12 micro mm) layer of a liquid crystal fluid
between two glass plates. JHD 162A Liquid Crystal
Display (16x2) i.e. 16 Characters x 2 Lines. It is used to
display the message sent from Ambulance.

3. GSM and MAX232

GSM stands for GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR MOBILE
COMMUNICATION. GSM was developed as a digital
system using TDMA (TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE
ACCESS) technology. This GSM Modem can accept any
GSM network operator SIM card (SUBSCRIBER
IDENTITY MODULE) and act just like a mobile phone
with its own unique phone number. SIM 900 is used for
Serial Communication.

5. Power Supply Unit

The household AC 240 V will be too hazardous as we
need a Direct current of 5V (DC) power supply for the
operation.

MAX 232
MAX 232 is an interface between 8051
MICROCONTROLLER and GSM. The 89C52 of 8051
family of microcontroller has a built in serial port that
makes it very easy to communicate with the personal
computers (PCs) serial port but the 89C52 outputs are 0
and 5V but we need +10 and -10V to meet the RS232 serial
port standard. When a MAX232 IC receives a TTL level to
convert and it changes a TTL logic 0 to between +3 and
+15V and change TTL logic 1 to between -3 to -15V and
vice versa for converting from RS232 to TTL.

Figure 2.4: Circuit Diagram Of Power Supply

The above circuit utilizes the VOLTAGE

REGULATOR IC 7805 for the constant power supply.
The capacitors must have enough high voltage rating to
safely handle the input voltage feed to circuit. The circuit is
very easy to build for example into a piece of Zero board.
For the proper working of this local control section except
the mobile phone or local telephone set it needs a
permanent back up which gives a 5V back up continuously.
This is achieved by using a 5V regulated power supply
from a voltage regulated IC 7805. This 5V source is
connected to all ICs and relays. This IC gets a backup from
the Step down transformer.

Figure 2.3: Interface diagram with 8051

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
IV. EXPERIMENTAL SET UP AND RESULT DISCUSSION

Figure 2.5: Voltage regulator pin diagram

B. Software Used
A Cross compiler is used for compiling and linking the
code written for 8051 Microcontroller.
Serial communication software is used for downloading
code to 8051 Microcontroller.
Operating system: Windows XP.
The program here is written in Embedded C language.
Embedded C is a set of language extensions for the C
Programming Language by the C Standards Committee to
address commonality issues that exist between C
extensions for different embedded systems. Historically,
embedded C programming requires nonstandard extensions
to the C language in order to support exotic features such as
fixed-point arithmetic, multiple distinct memory banks, and
basic I/O operations. The software program is written by
using the KEIL MICROVISION environment and
assembly language. The program written is then converted
in HEX code after simulation and burned on to
microcontroller.

Figure 3.1: Traffic Controller

The above Figure 3.1 shows the basic microcontroller

circuit with oscillatory circuit and reset switch. The
microcontroller uses a crystal oscillator with a baud rate of
9600 bauds/sec. The reset circuit is used to reset the
microcontroller.

Figure 3.2: Emergency System

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
Figure 3.2 shows micro controller based circuit for
emergency based messaging system. Where the message is
displayed in the 16x2 LCD.

Figure 3.3: Ambulance Car With Switches

Figure 3.3 shows an ambulance car equipped with

messaging service switches. 1st ROW indicates SEVEN
HILLS HOSPITAL, 2nd ROW indicates CARE HOSPITAL
and 3rd ROW indicates K.G.H HOSPITAL. 1st COLUMN
indicates DR.AVINASH, 2nd COLUMN indicates
DR.RAM and 3rd COLUMN indicates DR.RAMESH.

Figure 3.4: GSM Module

GSM is used for sending messages. SIM 900 is used in

serial communication. GSM with 3G connection will
enable video conference.

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
TABLE I
Showing Response of traffic light when Ambulance is approaching

Figure 4: Emergency Messages

st

Speed of
Ambulance

Distance
Of
Ambulance
from the
Traffic
Light

Orange
Light

Green
Light

Red
Light

5 m/sec

40 meter

No

No

Yes

5 m/sec

30 meter

No

No

Yes

5 m/sec

20 meter

Yes

No

No

5 m/sec

10 meter

No

Yes

No

NOTE:

st

If the 1 ROW and 1 COLUMN SWITCH in

Ambulance Car is pressed then a messageDR.AVINASH
REPORT TO SEVEN HILLS will be received by
DR.AVINASH.
If the 2nd ROW and 2nd COLUMN SWITCH in
Ambulance Car is pressed then a messageDR.RAM
REPORT TO CARE will be received by DR.RAM.
If the 3rd ROW and 3rd COLUMN SWITCH in
Ambulance Car is pressed then a messageDR.RAMESH
REPORT TO K.G.H will be received by DR.RAMESH.
If the 2nd ROW and 3rd COLUMN SWITCH in
Ambulance Car is pressed then a messageDR.RAMESH
REPORT TO CARE will be received by DR.RAMESH.
Emergency messages sent to different doctors asking
them to report to different hospital at emergency situation.
Micro controller based hardware system which controls
traffic light during emergency situation using Infrared
sensors is designed. This emergency vehicle is also
equipped with a messaging device which alerts doctors
about the condition of the patient.
A dynamic traffic light controller will also aid removing
traffic congestion and will also help save lot time
Using the GSM enabled messaging service the doctors
can be asked to report to the nearest hospital which could
aid in quick recovery of the injured patient.

A. The above table conveys that, if we take the Average

speed of Ambulance to be 5 meter per second (Our
calculation value), the Traffic light receiver will start
responding to the ambulance transmitter when it is 20
meter away and changing of light colors will take at
every 2 seconds i.e. Light changing from Red to Orange
and Orange to Green will take 4 Second overall.
B. Irrespective of Speed, the Ambulance and Traffic light
will start responding at a distance of 20 meter and Light
changing process will take place at every 2 seconds. The
changing of light from Green to Orange will take 2
seconds which will caution the green light running
vehicles that Light has been changed and they have to
stop before the traffic light. And an additional 2 seconds
is being provided to change light from Orange to Red for
providing extra time for green light running vehicles to
settle themselves properly and for smooth running of
overall Traffic System. Once green light is given in
Ambulance side, it will be green as per normal traffic
timing system (or) until the time when transmitter of
Ambulance and Receiver of Traffic light are in
contact(this situation will be considered when
Ambulance from some other side is approaching the
traffic light while an Ambulance is crossing the Traffic
light). The Ambulance and Traffic light will be in
contact until 20 meters after crossing the traffic light i.e.
it will take 4 seconds more after crossing the traffic light
if the Ambulance is running at a speed of 5 meter per
second.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
C. There may case arise that Ambulance approaching
from all 4 sides. In this case, the ambulance whos
Transmitter will come in contact of Traffic light
Receiver first will given the priority.
D. In case if two Ambulances are exactly equal distance
from traffic light (practically not possible), then the
traffic light receiver will give chance to Transmitter of
any one Ambulance randomly without considering any
fact.

High Resolution Cameras provide the Microcontroller

system with continuous traffic feed. Using the data
obtained from the cameras a graph plotted .The graph gives
the area covered by the vehicle. On knowing the amount of
traffic the microcontroller decides the amount of timings to
be allotted for each of the lights.
A live conferencing system can be established in the
ambulance by the help of which the patient could be helped
in the ambulance itself.
REFERENCES

V. CONCLUSION

MAZIDI &MAZIDI, 8051 Microcontroller and embedded systems

(2nd Edition), Prentice Hall Publications, 2009.
[2] KENNETH J.AYALA, 8051 Microcontroller (3rd Edition),
Thomson Publications, 2004.
[3] KENARNOLD, Embedded controller hardware design, Newness
Publications, 2007.
[4] John Wharton, An Introduction to the Intel MCS-51 Single-Chip
Microcomputer Family, Application Note AP-69, May 1980, Intel
Corporation.
[5] Intel MCS 151 and MCS 251 Microcontrollers, Design and
Architecture of 8051.
[6] Basic circuit diagrams http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/supply.asp
[7] 8051 Microcontroller http://www.8052.com/tut8051
[8] Serial communication http://electrosofts.com/serial/
[9] Embedded
Systems
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Embedded_Systems/8051_Microcontro
ller
[10] GSM module http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_module
[11] Photo resistor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoresistor
[12] Data
sheets
http://www.analog.com/static/importedfiles/data_sheets/ADUC833.2.pdf
[1]

The following paper will help to assuage blockage of

emergency vehicles in traffic by the usage of electronics
and communication technique. Traffic signal pre-emption
(also called traffic signal prioritization) is a type of
system that allows the normal operation of traffic lights to
be pre-empted, often to assist emergency vehicles The most
common use of these systems is to manipulate traffic
signals in the path of an emergency vehicle, stopping
conflicting traffic and allowing the emergency vehicle
right-of-way, to help reduce response times and enhance
traffic safety. Sometimes, signal pre-emption is also used at
railroad grade crossings to prevent collisions, and by lightrail and bus rapid transit systems to allow public
transportation priority access through intersections to
ensure they remain on schedule and improve commute
times. The overall paper along with the process of traffic
light control also shows the message and visual
communication using GSM with 3G connection in
Ambulance.
VI. FUTURE SCOPE
The Traffic light system in India is a fixed system
whereas that in Foreign countries its a dynamic approach.

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