A MODIFIED METHOD FOR ROAD SIGN DETECTION &

RECOGNITION

ABSTRACT
Road sign detection is an important for regulating the traffic. In this paper over
segmentation technique is used for the detection and recognition of a road sign
with the integration of shape analysis. The main focus is on the implementation
and efficiency aspect of this technique. There is a detailed analysis of over
segmentation has been shown. This proposed algorithm can be used as a part of
driver assistant system. The proposed algorithm can detect road signs with any
colour and any of the shapes (circle, triangle, rectangle, diamond, pentagon, or
octagon). The key feature of over segmentation is to make much of
segmentation of the image so that the object and background can be
distinguished easily .There is also a creation of predefined database of shapes
based on various features which is explained in details in following paper .The
accuracy also measures for the detection of road sign. Therefore the proposed
technique will address to a wide range of problem for detection of the road sign
when the sign is partially occluded, rotated, scaled and tilted.

INTRODUCTION
Road sign detection has been an important issue for research recently. Road sign
detection is a technology by which a vehicle is able to recognize the different
signs put on the road e.g. "speed limit" or stop sign or "children" or "turn
ahead etc. Traffic signs are used to regulate the traffic. Traffic signs are used
for guiding the driver. Automatic detection and recognition of road traffic signs
is an essential task of regulating the traffic and guiding and warning drivers and
pedestrians [1]. It is also possible to design specific signs, for example mobile
robots with a format similar to traffic signs that would indicate some kind of
information about tasks, prohibitions or warnings in the environment [2].
Sometimes very serious accidents happened takes place due to the factors such
as when the stop sign is not noticed by the driver or the psychological state of
the driver. The causes of accidents are also related to the partial occlusion of a
traffic sign, deterioration of the sign or possible distraction of the driver [3]. It is
necessary to solve the problems that are involved in traffic detection. The test
set of these problems reported in [4] [5].Road sign detection is most important
for Driver Assistance System, autonomous vehicles, and inventory purposes.
Driver Assistance System is used to increase the driver safety. Road signs carry
much useful information such as to drive the vehicle in the correct lane and at
the right speed; to avoid obstacles. It gives information to the driver about the
presence of any specific sign. The road signs are used to indicate the state of the
road. The sign may have numerous numbers of different sizes and colours.

Fig. Reference sign

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Camera

ALCD

UART

PC with Mat
lab
application

Speaker

Controller

APR

Fig. Block diagram

WORKING PRINCIPLE:
PC will be having running algorithm which detects sign. Camera captures sign
and captured image is processed in algorithm. PC communicates with controller
through UART protocol. Detected sign name voice output is given by APR and
speaker.

PIC16F877A
PICs are popular with both industrial developers and hobbyists alike due to their
low cost, wide availability, large user base, extensive collection of application
notes, availability of low cost or free development tools, and serial
programming

(and

re-programming

with

flash

memory)

capability.

PIC16F877A is a latest enhanced flash microcontroller from Microchip.

Additional components that you need to make this IC work are just a 5V power
supply adapter, a 20MHz crystal oscillator and 2 units of 22pF capacitors.
Special Microcontroller Features
Self-reprogrammable under software control

40 Pin IC
Wide operating voltage range (2.0V to 5.5V)
Single-supply 5V In-Circuit Serial Programming
Programmable Code Protection
Two 8-bit (TMR0, TMR2)timer/counter with Prescalar
One 16-bit timer/counter
DC-20MHz clock input

ALCD (alpha numeric lcd display)

Its a 2x16 ALCD with 16pin. A liquid crystal display is a thin, flat electronic
visual display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals (LCs).
LCs does not emit light directly.

HARDWARE USED
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

PIC16F877A
ALCD
APR
Speaker
PC
MAX 232

SOFTWARE USED
1. Microchip lab
2. Pickit 2 programming flash
3. Hi tech C compiler

APPLICATIONS
1. Used in vehicles
2. Sign language coach

ADVANTAGES
1. Easy and economical
2. Life saver
3. Can be updated to other applications easily

DISADVANTAGES
1. Depends on environmental conditions