Raspberry Pi Traffic Lights

Looks like I need to sort my wiring out!

The classic hardware project to test out the GPIO 1 pins on my old Raspberry Pi! Made slightly more “advanced” by simulating two types of crossing depending on whether or not the IS_PUFFIN flag is set.

from gpiozero import LED
from time import sleep

IS_PUFFIN = True
GREEN_LENGTH = 10

green = LED(17)
amber = LED(22)
red = LED(27)

def reset():
    green.off()
    amber.off()
    red.off()

def stop():
    reset()
    amber.on()
    sleep(1)
    amber.off()
    red.on()
    sleep(5)
    
def go_puffin():
    reset()
    red.on()
    amber.on()
    sleep(1)
    red.off()
    amber.off()
    green.on()
    sleep(GREEN_LENGTH)
    
    
def go_pelican():
    reset()
    red.on()
    sleep(1)
    red.off()
    for i in range(5):
        amber.on()
        sleep(0.5)
        amber.off()
        sleep(0.5)
    green.on()
    sleep(GREEN_LENGTH)

print("Running...")
while True:
    go_puffin() if IS_PUFFIN else go_pelican()
    stop()

Testing

Future Work

  • Simulation of “traffic” and “pedestrians” using LEDs or similar to display randomised traffic patterns
  • Program a car using image recognition to detect the red light and stop accordingly
Timothy Clark
Timothy Clark
Software Engineer

Software Engineer and Writer supporting early careers in tech.