Campus Project

A Student Project:
Automated Toll Collection System

Nazmul Hasan Pias and Mushfiqure Rahim

There are many rivers all over Bangladesh and with the development of technology and communication, there is now a need for building more bridges to go over these rivers. As ours is a developing country, most of the time we do not have enough funds to build a bridge on our own. So we have to rely on financial aid given by the World Bank or any other developed country. As a result, vehicles using these bridges have to pay a toll. Usually, it is seen that the toll is collected from vehicles manually, which is a time consuming task. Moreover, most of the collectors are corrupt as well. As a result, the government does not benefit the way it should. However, things will be different if we develop a digital system to collect the toll. This is what prompted us to come up with the idea of our project. We built a toll collection system to reduce this wastage of time and human resource and most importantly to eliminate corruption.

This project won the championship title at the Intra-Department project show BUET 2012.

	The project developers are Mehedi Hasan khan, Shihabur Rahman Chowdhury, Nowshad Alam, Mushfiqur Rahman, Avijoy chakma and Ashiquzzoha Ayon.

In this system we will identify each vehicle uniquely with an RFID (Radio-frequency identification) -TAG. We will attach the RFID-TAG as a sticker to every vehicle during the registration process. That RFID-TAG will bear the unique identification number for that particular vehicle. During the registration process, the vehicle's owner will be asked to provide the following information -- registration number, owner's national ID, phone number, bank account number and the name of the bank. In each of the automated toll booth, we will have an RFID sensor and a load sensor set up along with the control booth, which will house a computer and an operator. When a vehicle will pass through the booth, the RFID sensor will read its identification number from the sticker. The load sensor will measure the vehicle's weight and the amount of toll to be paid will be shown in an LCD display. The toll money will be deduced from the vehicle owner's bank account and he will be notified of the transaction via SMS or a text message. If the owner's bank account is out of funds, the payment will be marked as pending and he will be asked to pay it as soon as possible via SMS. If a pending payment is not cleared within 15 days, the vehicle will be blacklisted. If such a vehicle comes to the booth that does not have a RFID-TAG or has not been registered yet or the RFID-TAG has been destroyed somehow, the gate will be automatically closed and the vehicle will be shown the direction to go to a via a different lane, where the vehicle can register providing all the information needed and can have its own RFID-TAG attached or it can just pay the cash and pass by.

We are planning to attach a car tracking service with this existing system of ours. As we are identifying each car uniquely through its TAG, we can populate data of one particular car's passing through various toll-booths from the central server and can plot these on a map. Thus we can have an effective vehicle tracking service as well. We will also add a vehicle blocking service. By using this system we will be able to blacklist a particular car by specifying its TAG-ID. That car will not be allowed to pass through any of the toll-booths and in case the car does reach a toll booth illegally, the law enforcement force will be notified via SMS.

This system can be widely used on bridges and flyovers across the country. We can modify and deploy this system for car parking garages, shopping malls and residential apartments as well.

Book review

Keplar Tutubi:
A Fight for Humanity!

Promiti Prova Chowdhury

Going back to nature is probably the line that would come to one's mind after reading the thrilling science fiction book, 'Keplar tutubi' by Muhammed Zafar Iqbal. Already a popular read, which came out this year at the Ekushey Boi Mela from Tamralipi, the story is located somewhere in the future when planet earth is taken over by 'Robomanobs' (Human looking robots with no humane feelings.) These 'robomanobs' mingle with the human beings so that they can hide their identity and take control of the earth.

After taking control, however, the robomanobs start to fight amongst themselves, whereas the human beings unite as a team. Here the strength of mankind and their humane feelings are proven. Clearly, science and technology can be a blessing when they are used properly as well as wisely, but can be disastrous if used otherwise.

The book is an absolute must for the young science fiction fans in Bangladesh, which costs Tk 200 and can be found in bookstores around the country.