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Abstract

</figure></iframe></div></div></figure>The latter part of the constructor and the render() function remain the same.Now comes the most important and complicated part of our code, the move() function. Let us focus on the code for vehicles moving towards the right, as the same conditions are checked for other directions, and the code is quite similar. <figure id="98e0"> <div> <div>

            <iframe class="gist-iframe" src="/gist/mihir-m-gandhi/346436779e84a2be4141f750929083ec.js" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="undefined" width="undefined">
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    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="7b1c">For each direction, we first check if the vehicle has crossed the intersection or not. This is important because if the vehicle has already crossed, then it can keep moving regardless of the signal being green or red, depending only on the vehicle ahead. So when the vehicle crosses the intersection, we set the value of <i>crossed</i> to 1. Now, if the vehicle goes straight i.e. it does not turn, then we add it to the <i>vehiclesNotTurned</i> list and update its <i>crossedIndex</i>, which is its index in the <i>vehiclesNotTurned</i> list. This is done because the order of the vehicles changes after the intersection as some turn and some do not, and the <i>vehicles</i> list defined earlier is not useful to prevent them from overlapping.</p><p id="339c">Next, if the vehicle is going to turn, it moves straight until the turning point which is the middle of the intersection. This movement can happen in 3 cases:</p><ol><li>If it has not reached its stop point before the intersection</li><li>If it has already crossed the intersection</li><li>If the traffic signal controlling the direction in which the vehicle is moving is Green</li></ol><p id="af07">Along with this, we need to ensure that there is no overlap with the vehicle ahead when it moves. This is decided by taking into consideration the following <b>three parameters</b>: the coordinate of the vehicle ahead, the width/height of the vehicle ahead, and the <i>movingGap</i>. Also, if the vehicle ahead has already turned, then we need not worry about overlap. Only when any of these three conditions are satisfied along with no overlap, the coordinate of the vehicle is updated by incrementing/decrementing it by the speed of the vehicle, depending on its direction of motion.</p><p id="f76b">Once the vehicle crosses its turning point, if the <i>turned</i> value is 0, it turns as it rotates while moving along both the x and y-axis. Once the <i>rotationAngle</i> is 90 degrees, the <i>turned</i> variable is set to 1, the vehicle is added to the <i>vehiclesTurned</i> list, and its <i>crossedIndex</i> is updated. Else if the <i>turned </i>value is 1, the vehicle moves only if there is a sufficient gap to the vehicle ahead, found using the <i>vehiclesTurned</i> list. This is decided based on the same three parameters mentioned above. This turning logic is coded separately for the two lanes to have more control over the simulation.</p><blockquote id="5d31"><p>This is where the originalImage is used. Rotating an image is considered a destructive transform. This means that every time it is performed, the image loses pixel data. For this reason, it is better to re-transform the original image than to keep transforming an image multiple times. Thus, we rotate the originalImage by rotationAngle and update the image by this modified image, while keeping the originalImage unchanged.</p></blockquote><p id="b6e4">Lastly, if the vehicle is not going to turn, then the first part remains the same as the turning vehicles, and they move straight until they cross the intersection. However, after crossing the intersection, they simply move if there is a sufficient gap to the vehicle ahead, found using the <i>vehiclesNotTurned</i> list. Again, this is decided based on the three parameters mentioned above.</p><p id="7aea">The entire <i>move()</i> function is given below. Note that this function is also a part of the <i>Vehicle</i> class defined above and needs to be indented accordingly.</p>
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    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><h2 id="9a13">Creating objects of TrafficSignal class</h2><p id="a920">We need to modify the <i>initialize</i>() function so that the 4 <i>TrafficSignal</i> objects are initialized with random values between the range specified by <i>randomGreenSignalTimerRange</i> if <i>randomGreenSignalTime</i> is set to True.</p><div id="9fdf"><pre>def initialize():
<span class="hljs-keyword">min</span>Time = <span class="hljs-keyword">random</span>GreenSignalTimerRange[<span class="hljs-number">0</span>]
<span class="hljs-keyword">max</span>Time = <span class="hljs-keyword">random</span>GreenSignalTimerRange[<span class="hljs-number">1</span>]
if(<span class="hljs-keyword">random</span>GreenSignalTimer):
    ts1 = TrafficSignal(<span class="hljs-number">0</span>, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">random</span>.randint(<span class="hljs-keyword">min</span>Time,<span class="hljs-keyword">max</span>Time))
    signals.append(ts1)
    ts2 = TrafficSignal(ts1.yellow+ts1.green, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">random</span>.randint(<span class="hljs-keyword">min</span>Time,<span class="hljs-keyword">max</span>Time))
    signals.append(ts2)
    ts3 = TrafficSignal(<span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Red, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">random</span>.randint(<span class="hljs-keyword">min</span>Time,<span class="hljs-keyword">max</span>Time))
    signals.append(ts3)
    ts4 = TrafficSignal(<span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Red, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">random</span>.randint(<span class="hljs-keyword">min</span>Time,<span class="hljs-keyword">max</span>Time))
    signals.append(ts4)
else:
    ts1 = TrafficSignal(<span class="hljs-number">0</span>, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Green[<span class="hljs-number">0</span>])
    signals.append(ts1)
    ts2 = TrafficSignal(ts1.yellow+ts1.green, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Green[<span class="hljs-number">1</span>])
    signals.append(ts2)
    ts3 = TrafficSignal(<span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Red, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Green[<span class="hljs-number">2</span>])
    signals.append(ts3)
    ts4 = TrafficSignal(<span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Red, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Yellow, <span class="hljs-keyword">default</span>Green[<span class="hljs-number">3</span>])
    signals.append(ts4)
repeat()</pre></div><h2 id="204c">repeat() function</h2><p id="0b4e">The same applies to the <i>repeat</i>() function as well. The only change is that if <i>randomGreenSignalTimer</i> is set to True, we generate a random number between <i>randomGreenSignalTimerRange</i>[0] and <i>randomGreenSignalTimerRange</i>[1], and set it as the green signal time.</p><div id="8e72"><pre>def repeat():
global currentGreen, currentYellow, nextGreen
while(signals[currentGreen].green&gt;<span class="hljs-number">0</span>):
    updateValues()
    time.sleep(<span class="hljs-number">1</span>)
currentYellow = <span class="hljs-number">1</span>   
for i in range(<span class="hljs-number">0</span>,<span class="hljs-number"

Options

3): for vehicle in vehicles[directionNumbers[currentGreen]][i]: vehicle.stop=defaultStop[directionNumbers[currentGreen]] while(signals[currentGreen].yellow>0):
updateValues() time.sleep(1) currentYellow = 0
minTime = randomGreenSignalTimerRange[0] maxTime = randomGreenSignalTimerRange[1] if(randomGreenSignalTimer): signals[currentGreen].green=random.randint(minTime, maxTime) else: signals[currentGreen].green = defaultGreen[currentGreen] signals[currentGreen].yellow = defaultYellow signals[currentGreen].red = defaultRed currentGreen = nextGreen nextGreen = (currentGreen+1)%noOfSignals signals[nextGreen].red = signals[currentGreen].yellow+signals[currentGreen].green repeat()</pre></div><h2 id="1f88">generateVehicles() function</h2>The generateVehicles() function is modified as shown below. The vehicle type is set by generating a random number from allowedVehicleTypesList. This list is populated in the Main class below. We define a new variable will_turn, which is initially set to 0. will_turn is then set to 1 with a 40% chance using random numbers. Lastly, in addition to the existing variables, this will_turn variable is also passed in the constructor while creating an object of the Vehicle class.<div id="8de5"><pre>def generateVehicles(): while(True): vehicle_type = random.choice(allowedVehicleTypesList) lane_number = random.randint(1,2) will_turn = 0 if(lane_number == 1): temp = random.randint(0,99) if(temp<40): will_turn = 1 elif(lane_number == 2): temp = random.randint(0,99) if(temp<40): will_turn = 1 temp = random.randint(0,99) direction_number = 0 dist = [25,50,75,100] if(temp<dist[0]): direction_number = 0 elif(temp<dist[1]): direction_number = 1 elif(temp<dist[2]): direction_number = 2 elif(temp<dist[3]): direction_number = 3 Vehicle(lane_number, vehicleTypes[vehicle_type], direction_number, directionNumbers[direction_number], will_turn) time.sleep(1)</pre></div><h2 id="726d">Main class</h2>There is only one small addition here. We just need to populate the allowedVehicleTypesList according to the allowedVehicleTypes dictionary. For this, the following code needs to be added right at the beginning of the Main class, as shown below. The rest of the Main class remains the same.<div id="4cc3"><pre>class Main: global allowedVehicleTypesList i = 0 for vehicleType in allowedVehicleTypes: if(allowedVehicleTypes[vehicleType]): allowedVehicleTypesList.append(i) i += 1</pre></div><h1 id="a2bc">Running the code</h1>Time to see the results. Fire up a cmd/terminal and run the command:<div id="5888"><pre>$ python simulation.py</pre></div><figure id="01b9"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*dhRA3M5L5pH5rmUsqdLueg.png"><figcaption>Snapshot of final simulation output showing vehicles turning</figcaption></figure><figure id="004b"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*FwYlT4MUI2OLs4g5FLwhdg.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure id="320a"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*GSJwZxuK8chZmw7QlXNhug.png"><figcaption>Snapshots showing simulation with: (i) Cars only, (ii) Heavy vehicles only (Buses and Trucks)</figcaption></figure>And we are done! We have added the three additional features — turning functionality, vehicle type controller, and random green signal timer function — to our simulation. This makes the simulation more representative of the real-life scenarios and gives us more control to customize it, thus serving as a handy tool for data analysis as well as AI or ML applications.Source code: <a href="https://github.com/mihir-m-gandhi/Traffic-Intersection-Simulation-with-Turns"></a><a href="https://github.com/mihir-m-gandhi/Traffic-Intersection-Simulation-with-Turns">https://github.com/mihir-m-gandhi/Traffic-Intersection-Simulation-with-Turns</a>This is the second part in a series of articles:<ul><li><a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/traffic-intersection-simulation-using-pygame-689d6bd7687a">Traffic Intersection Simulation using Pygame, Part 1</a></li><li><a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/traffic-intersection-simulation-using-pygame-part-2-9ce512fdb253">Traffic Intersection Simulation using Pygame, Part 2</a></li><li><a href="https://towardsdatascience.com/traffic-intersection-simulation-using-pygame-part-3-98159178ef30">Traffic Intersection Simulation using Pygame, Part 3</a></li></ul>This simulation was developed as part of a research project titled ‘Smart Control of Traffic Lights using Artificial Intelligence’. Check out its demonstration video <a href="https://youtu.be/OssY5pzOyo0">here</a>. This research work was presented at IEEE International Conference on Recent Advances and Innovations in Engineering (ICRAIE) 2020 and published in IEEE Xplore. Read the paper here.Thanks for reading! I hope this article was helpful. If you have any doubts or need further clarification, feel free to reach out to me on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mihir-gandhi-0706/">LinkedIn</a>.</article></body>

Why Breathing Exercises Are So Important At Reducing Stress

How only 10 minutes a day can help you successfully reframe stress

Today, everyone copes with stress differently. It’s highly individualistic, depending on each person’s traits, emotions, lifestyle, and much more.

Some drink alcohol to the point that they forget about the stress, some start to exercise, others smoke cannabis. There might not be a “right or wrong” tactic for handling difficult moments, that’s why it’s of no use for one person to judge another how she/he is coping.

As long as the “activity” does not cause your health to deteriorate and does not lead to long-term consequences, it is alright. Surely, there are cases when the intake of certain medications might be needed in order to keep one alive, disregarding the ill effects in the long run.

However, no matter how many ways there are to handle stress, there is one particular thing that we do every day that we may have not thought could be a game-changer — breathing.

Particularly, I’m talking about meditation and mindfulness.

It’s no surprise that these practices have made a lot of fuss in the past couple of years; and no wonder. Videos, seminars, and podcasts are now being made in relation to this growing trend. “Retreat” centers are being open all around the globe. Currently, mental health seems to be one of the biggest priorities for the public.

The practice of mindfulness and meditation has long been around, however, it was not long ago since we all found out that taking care of ourselves and our well-being is of prime importance for living a better, stress- and anxiety-free life.

According to the Harvard Business Review, and two recently published studies by the scientific magazine, breathing exercises have the biggest impact for both: immediate and long-term anxiety and stress decrease.

The first study, published by a research team in the Yale University, explored how three practices impact people’s mental health:

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: The MBSR is a meditation program, focused on mindfulness. Mindfulness, according to the renowned Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, is:

A kind of energy that we generate when we bring our mind back to our body and get in touch with what is going on in the present moment, within us and around us. We become aware of our breathing and come home to our body, fully present for ourselves and whatever we are doing.

The technique, according to the study, has three formal ways of practicing: mindfulness meditation, body scanning (the purpose is to tune in to your body (i.e. to reconnect to your physical self ) and notice any sensations you’re feeling without judgement or self-consciousness, and simple yoga positions.

Various Different Breathing Exercises: SKY (Sudarshan Kriya Yoga) Breath Meditation is a breath-based meditation technique that is aimed at reducing stress and improving one’s calmness.

This particular meditation program also includes positive psychology skills, such as social connection, meaning and purpose, and acts of kindness. Yoga postures and other breathing exercises are also included in the program.

The Sudarshan Kriya Yoga’s benefits are diverse. SKY can be used for treating stress, anxiety, PTSD, depression, substance abuse and so on.

This type of yoga has three different techniques:

“Victorious Breath”

Here, while breathing, the practitioner consciously follows his breath and its movement while passing through the throat. It’s an extremely slow way of breathing — only 2 or 3 breaths per mine.

This allows the airway resistance to increase, which in turn allows each breath cycle to be prolonged “to an exact count.” Data suggests that this technique may lead to mental and physical calmness.

The Ancient Syllable “OM”

This is chanted several times while breathing in and out. This plays a huge role in reducing anxiety. The chant has long been known to help people with such problems.

In basic terms, the chant symbolizes the ultimate reality, our consciousness, and our inner-self — also referred to as Atman, which is a Sanskrit word. It’s the essence of the individual. No need to mention that this syllable is probably the most important one in Hinduism when it comes to spiritual symbols.

Several studies argue that, during an “OM” meditation, there is a mixture of mental alertness with physiological rest. Also, people exercising it, feel an increased sensitivity to sensory transmission. In theory, one who realizes the true nature of “OM,” will merge with the Absolute.

“Bellows Breath”

Also known as Bhastrika, this breathing technique is a Pronayama exercise that involves breathing forcefully in and out, filling and emptying the abomen and lungs.

All three techniques are designed to reliefve and eventually help you get rid of negative emotions, such as stress and anxiety. Of course, there are numerous more breathing techniques out there. However, I think that sometimes just sitting and breathing is enough. It’s probably up to personal preferences.

Foundations of Emotional Intelligence (EI): The last program, studied by the researchers at Yale, explored how different techniques improve emotional awareness and regulation.

Yes, this program is not focused on any breathing or yoga techniques. However, it still can aid your brain when it comes to dealing with stress and anxiety.

Of all three different programs — MBSR, SKY, and EI, researchers found out that the Sudarshan Kriya Yoga, which consisted of various breathing techniques, experienced the greatest mental-health benefit.

University of Arizona had also conducted a research on the impact of the SKY method. There, researchers found out that this particular style of breathing had a profound impact on reducing stress and improving mood. I’ve also heard stories about how soldiers benefited from this technique and had their anxiety levels significantly reduced.

Personal Experience

As for my experience with breathing exercises and reducing anxiety, I have found out the following:

Meditating doesn’t require you to have a certain technique. There is not a right or wrong way in doing it. Sometimes it’s that simple: you just sit down cross-legged, close your eyes, and start breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth, while following the air coming in and out of your body. Nothing else.

There is scientific evidence that breathing in a particular way while meditating could help you handle stress and anxiety more easily. However, the breath is just a tool that allows you to enter the world of consciousness. This is how you become present in the moment, in the Now. While you’re consciously present, it becomes really hard for anxiety and stress to enter your life.

Being mindful throughout the day also helps. You don’t have to be seated to be aware of your body and mind. Mindfulness is all about being present with what you do. Be that washing dishes, doing the laundry, cooking, or just laying down and staring at the ceiling.

Even if you happen to be doing some mundane work like dusting your room, tell yourself the following: “OK, right now I’m dusting the room and I’m giving my whole attention to it.” All the while following your breath, body movement, and being aware of any arising thoughts.

So, the moment you feel overwhelmed by anxiety or stress, try to get back to what you’re doing at the moment. If this doesn’t help in the moment — sit down and take some big deep breaths, no technique needed, just follow your chest expanding and contracting. It has helped me a lot.

Thank you for taking some time to read my article! If you wish to read more written by me, check my Medium page:

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