YSGOL Gyfun Emlyn’s Team Lightning has won a prestigious national computer programming competition.

Teams from schools across the UK competed in the programming competition in London.

Pupils Ben Dodd and Edward Upton invented a system that uses a Raspberry Pi device to reduce the frustration of long waiting times at traffic lights, especially temporary ones at road works.

It does this by calculating the most efficient traffic light cycle timings, depending on factors such as distances, speed limits and car types.

The Raspberry Pi is used to control the traffic lights and has a web interface that allows an engineer to change the variables for that traffic system.

The judges said: “It is a complex system that shows depth of capability. The team learnt a lot from simulation and how to optimise traffic lights. They thought about the great potential of the product and how it could be optimised to improve their offering with a real-time solution.”

The day offered a fantastic opportunity for the students to present their ideas to industry leaders.

The annual contest, organised by PA Consulting, challenges primary, secondary and college students from across the UK to design products using the Raspberry Pi microcomputer.

Team members Ben and Edward are no strangers to success in competitions – in the past they have travelled to America to represent Wales in the Robotics World Festival.