City engineer's automated divider promises to ease traffic

Will this automated divider ease Bengaluru's traffic congestion?

City-based engineer Ashwin  Natarajan - who has designed the automatic smart divider or SMIDER - thinks so. SMIDER is engineered to function both in automatic and manual modes.

The divider across the road would stop and reroute traffic across less congested lanes, while also allowing cops to let vehicles like ambulance or fire tenders on a priority basis.

"It helps in decongesting traffic and also makes way for emergency vehicles," Natarajan said. "The panel board attached to SMIDER allows traffic policemen to either operate it in an automated method through available presets or in manual mode where they can move or open it."

The divider is an electromechanical device powered by the 1/2-1HP motor. It can be controlled by a remote and also by a pre-installed panel board. Through the remote control system, it can be moved or collapsed when needed.

Ashwin and his schoolmate Sachin Kamaladharan have set up a crowdsourcing campaign to raise funds to implement the project in the city. So far, they have collected
Rs 85,000. According to them, the prototype cost around Rs 2 lakh.