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Patrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
AS motorists enter Kwekwe Polytechnic College (KPC) in Kwekwe, they are greeted with a novel experience — traffic lights that revolutionise the flow of vehicles at the college entrance.
These traffic lights stand out for their innovative features, prioritising the direction with more traffic, consuming low power, and efficiently notifying authorities of breakdowns, traffic offenders, and potential vandalism.
KPC is among the country’s higher learning institutions making strides with high-impact projects, and its latest creation, the traffic density controlled traffic lights, exemplifies its dedication to innovation. While many intersections in towns and cities suffer from malfunctioning or intermittent traffic lights, causing chaos and traffic jams, KPC’s traffic lights promise a smoother and more organised flow of vehicles.
Elec Madzingo, a lecturer in the Electrical Department specialising in Instrumentation and Control, spearheaded the creation of the smart traffic lights. “As the economy is growing, we see a surge in investment in motor vehicles and these motorists only need working traffic lights so that they are able to drive through intersections without bumping into each other or being verbally insulted,” he said.
Traditional traffic lights treat all directions equally, leading to unfair traffic density distribution.
“A lot of traffic offences like ‘red robot crossing’ go unaccounted for, causing accidents at intersections. City councils don’t know the density of cars passing through junctions, thereby failing to plan renovations and improvements of roads. There is no real time capture as to what happens around traffic lights that accidents will depend on human witnesses. Also vandalism and theft go unnoticed,” he explained.
To address these challenges, Madzingo designed traffic lights that not only adapt to varying traffic densities but also function independently from the national power supply, operating as power-saving smart traffic lights. The backup system ensures a reliable and cost-effective solution. Madzingo’s proudly Zimbabwean innovation has already garnered interest from rural and urban councils, eager to partner with KPC to install smart traffic lights in their respective areas.
“Yes awaiting partnership contracts with city councils and Rural District Councils. If the momentum remains, we may start with Kwekwe, our home town. We foresee installing them around Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries,” revealed the lecturer.
Madzingo said he grew up in Kwekwe and went to Globe and Phoenix Secondary School before enrolling Kwekwe High School for A-level.
For tertiary education Madzingo proceeded to NUST in Bulawayo where he did Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic Engineering before being engaged by Bindura Nickel Corporation as assistant Instrumentation Engineer and Royaltronics as Projects Engineer.
Asked what drives him, Madzingo responded, “Engineering is there to provide life solutions using scientific theories, I want to be a solution to troubles.”
That’s where the satisfaction lies. Zimbabwe must give solutions which relate with itself. Giving ourselves a comfortable space for ourselves. Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo (Ilizw lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo).”
KPC Principal Evans Masara – a practical man and a supporter of innovation unparalleled said Kwekwe City Council was impressed with the concept, and has asked the college to install the robots at five intersections in the city.
Kwekwe has one functional robot near the main bus terminus in the CBD.
“We are just waiting for Kwekwe City Council to give the green light and funding to start the project,” said the principal.
Other towns and cities which have shown interest in the concept include Harare, Masvingo, Gweru, Kadoma and Rusape Town Council.
Masara added: “More engagements are in progress and we believe that this Kwekwe Polytechnic developed traffic control system could be the panacea to control traffic in mega cities such as Harare.”
In April this year, KPC came third in the Presidential Innovation Awards for the best innovation in the Environment Sector and finalist in the Presidential Award for the Best Exhibition at the Innovation Fair.
In June, Kwekwe Polytechnic came second in the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce awards – Tertiary Institution (5.0 implementer) of the year 2022 award.
The KPC principal said they strive to provide quality vocational, innovative, technopreneur and manufacturing technology that is relevant for industry and commerce.
Online Reporter