1.1 Introduction
Portable microcontroller (μC or uC) is a solitary chip microcomputer fabricated from VLSI fabrication. A micro controller is also known as embedded controller. Today various types of microcontrollers are available in market with different word lengths such as 4bit, 8bit, 64bit and 128bit microcontrollers. Portable Microcontroller is a compressed micro computer manufactured to control the functions of embedded systems in office machines, robots, home appliances, motor vehicles, and a number of other gadgets. A microcontroller is comprises components like - memory, peripherals and most importantly a processor. Microcontrollers are basically employed in devices that need a degree of control to be ap plied by the user of the device (EIT, 2021).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
This chapter gives an overview of this project titled a queue management system (microcontroller based intelligent queue management system). This report started with the background of our study to give the readers an idea of what this project is all about before going into its technical details. The chapter also contain the problem statement, aims and objective, scope of work and as well as the project areas of application.
Queue management system are widely use device in big companies, market places and schools to assist the management/organization to maintain the queue of their customers/students in order to provide a quality service or business. This device is a very important to guide people in the banking hall, post offices, vote casting/election centers and as well as in the hospital, etc. Today, a queue management system will help so much in our institution, more especially in the ICT department where rush and disorder usually occur. The implementation ofqueue management system can provide the following advantages to our institution and to any business organizations as:
- Minimize students/customers waiting times.
- Make waiting time informative and entertaining
- Reduces frustrations, stress while maintaining orderliness.
- Improve productivity and operational efficiencies.
- Speed up students/customers throughput
- Increases sales and profitability
- Increase satisfaction levels and improve customer retention rates
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to design and construct a Portable Microcontroller Base Intelligent Queue Management System.
1.3 Statement of Problem
It is very hard to manage queue because human beings sometimes can be hard to control. Nobody wants to wait in a queue. In long queues or crowd places, chaos or disorder usually occurs. More especially when waiting time is high are many people are late and wish to be attended before the closing time. This makes people to jump queue and creating problems among themselves. The past queue management devices are very expensive and scarce. Only few organizations can afford it, yet, they have some limitations like size, immoveable and not visible which makes it inconvenience to be use outdoor or for multipurpose. Hence, our project focuses on a portable queue management system to control queue which can be moved from place to place such as in a ticketing counters, school premises and in health consultancy centers, etc.
Many organizations have tried to manage queue using manual counting but this method is not effective, transparent, straightforward and visible because people can cheat, be confused or stressed up .Queue always occur in schools when students must enroll on time to avoid late entry, or when they need to collect their examination registration number or receipt to be able to sit for an exam when the exam has started. Queue can occur in banks where customers are rushing to deposit money, open an account to leave the banking hall for another appointment or when registering for the BVN before the closing date or hour.
Public organization can be busy with people who quarrel and jump queues. Customers will complain, scatter the line and leave due to confusion, stress and time wastage. Queues of people form in various situations and locations can seriously cause problem, negatively affect abusiness resulting to fewer sales and loosing valuable customers.Because of the above listed problems, a queue management device has been developed.
1.4 Aims and Objectives of Study
The aim of this project is to design and construct a portable microcontroller based intelligent queue management systems device to maintain and control queue with order and efficiency. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were set out as follows:
- To develop a queuing algorithm for queue management system.
- To have a cost effective, simple and reliable electronic queue-reductionsystem that can assist any organizations or institutions reduce and manage queues.
- To eiminate quarrel and stress as to satisfy people and makes life more efficient and comfortable.
1.5 Scope of Study
The project was divided into two main parts: hardware and software. The hardware emphasized on the architecture and the specifications as well as the circuit connection of the system while the software scope emphasized on the development of the coding which will be programmed to meet the hardware specifications.
In this project work, the queue monitoring and control system have been developed for the purpose of controlling queue in the school ICT department, banking halls, hotel reservation counters, school hostels, ticket counters, insurance companies, customer service centers, etc.
1.6 Significance of the Study
Retailers can use queue monitoring system to reduce queues, making customers happier and also increases sales. By seeing the queuing time they will know when to perform tasks like re-stocking shelves and looking after customers. It also provides managers with evidence that they need resources for more staff at busy periods. Monitoring queues manage the queue in election voting center, saves time and prevent confusion in a queue area. It offers a greater degree of freedom when an organization is attending to their customers since the customer know the number of people currently in a queue.
Queue management system can be installed at airport to guide people at the counter where their ticket is called. For example airports, use queue monitoring to see how long people are waiting to go through security, and banks improve their service by measuring queue lengths. It can be used schools, institutions, transportation company, busy super market, or for vehicles in a filling station. Measuring and counting can be particularly useful in situations such as airport security where a large volume of people pass through an area in varying flow patterns and constantly varying physical locations.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.7 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet).
1.8 Organization of the work
This project report is written in such a way that each chapter is related to the next as shown in the block diagram below. The organization of the project report is well detailed and vast in its coverage. It covers all the activities encountered during the research work.
- The first chapter is the introductory chapter, which covers the background, project objectives, scope of the project, constraints and block diagram overview of the states.
- Chapter two presents the literature reviews.
- Chapter three covers the system analysis and design in details including the design methodology in block diagram form.
- Chapter four presents the system implementation which entails the component layout, the wiring schedule, the wiring diagram and also the complete schematic diagram, the testing and integration of the project design. The system testing was first carried out accordingly in a laboratory setting.
- Chapter six is the summary and conclusion which includes the summary of achievements, problems encountered during project design, recommendation and suggestion for further improvement.
