Days of dysfunctional traffic lights could soon be over, with the designing of a ‘single phase’ system by a student of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Final year Physics student, Bruce Christopher Konu has built a traffic light that gives off all three colour signals of red, yellow and green from one source, which means reduced production and maintenance cost.

Traffic signals complement human wardens to ensure adherence to safety regulation on the roads.

Mal-functioning traffic lights remain a major concern, especially, among road users due to the danger they pose to public safety.

In the laboratory, Bruce has been working on cost- effective ways of building and repairing traffic lights.

Bruce Christopher Konu

“When the traffic light run into trouble you have to go through trouble to repair all the phases so I contacted my supervisors, Dr Reuben Tamakloe and Dr Michael Donkor and informed them of LEDS which give off all the three colours,” he said.

Operation of the signal is based on RGB color model which represents initials of three primary colours; red, green, and blue. 

The lights are fused together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colours.

“With this one, cost is reduced by three and maintenance is also reduced by three,” he emphasised. 

The light is equipped with a GSM chip which reports status of the machine.

“You can use your phone to shut it and put it on in any part of the world,” he said.