IoT Project: Automated Car Parking with Empty Slot Detection Analysis

This paper delves into the Internet of Things (IoT) and its applications, focusing on an automated car parking system with empty slot detection. The project aims to solve parking challenges by utilizing sensors and network connectivity. The system employs ultrasonic sensors to identify vacant parking spaces, relaying information to a coordinator and server. The paper outlines the system's functionality, including the use of sensors, communication protocols, and user interface for parking requests and payment. It highlights the benefits, such as ease of use and automated payment, while acknowledging potential drawbacks related to sensor accuracy and implementation costs. The project is presented as a viable solution for smart cities, offering significant advantages despite the initial investment. The paper also includes a conceptual model of how the system works, along with references to support the analysis. This assignment is published on Desklib, a platform providing AI-based study tools.

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Introduction
This paper is aimed at discussing Internet of Things and its applications in recent times to solve common
problems experienced during day to day lives. Internet Of Things or as it is commonly referred to as IOT
is the inter-networking of a range of physical devices which are embedded with various electronic
devices, sensors, software and have network connectivity capability to enable them to communicate
with each other by sending and receiving information. The main objective of IOT is connectivity of
devices to enable them to communicate and relay information between themselves. The paper narrows
the discussion to one case study which is Automated Car Parking with Empty Slot Detection.
Problem definition
Cars are becoming an essential part of our lives with a lot of people choosing cars to travel from place to
place while doing their different errands. Because of high use of cars by many people within a city
parking of the cars has become a major problem where by it is not easy for someone to find a parking
slot to park their cars as they go on with their errands. A rising technology which is being termed as
Smart Cities is on the rise where by cities are incorporating technology specifically IOT to solve problems
like finding empty slots in a certain area of a city. The Automated Car Parking with Empty Slot detection
is the one of the IOT projects that is being used and is still being developed and improved to be used in
smart cities.
Solution
To solve the problem of finding an empty slot the Automatic Car Parking with Empty Slot Detection is a
very useful project. The project has been designed to work by enabling users to find an empty slot
around the area they are driving at. When the user indicates that they want to park the vehicle, the
system starts searching for the nearest empty slot. Parking slots have sensors which are able to send
and receive data. So when a broadcast is sent from the car looking for car space it goes to all the sensors
in every parking slot near the area. The slot which is empty responds and the car is directed to that
specific parking slot. This project is able to work because there is communication of physical devices to
identify which parking slot is not occupied (Automated Parking System, 2015).
The following diagram shows a conceptual model of how the system works.
Figure 1: Cited From: (Aqraa and Jaber, n.d) page 4

The diagram above demonstrates how the system works.
The system unit is the system contained by every paring slot. This unit is installed to detect if there is a
car in that parking slot and to relay information to the coordinator which then relays to the server.
The coordinator contains an Ethernet module which is ensures interconnectivity with the server so that
the user is able to issue a parking request and the server instructs the coordinator to look for an empty
slot.
For the system unit to detect is there is a car in the parking slot, it uses ultrasonic sensors. The ultrasonic
sensors detect any physical objects in the parking slot resembling a vehicle. Thus to avoid miscalculation
the sensors are configured to sense a stationary car and the distance of the car from the sensors. This
helps eliminate the problem of the sensors detecting a passing car when a parking request is sent. Thus,
for the parking slot to be empty, the sensors must show that the car is stationary and that the distance
between the sensors and the car indicates that the car is parked (Automated Parking System, 2015).
Figure 2: Cited From: (Aqraa and Jaber, n.d) page 8
When using more than one ultrasonic sensor the following issues must be highly considered.
 Collision of between the sensors and interference between the sensors plays a crucial role to
ensure that the two sensors will not affect each other.
 The reading of the sensors does not happen simultaneously as a sensor is read once at a time.
Thus the timing between when the first sensor reads and when the second sensor reads is very
crucial.
After reading and confirming that the slot is empty information is relayed to the coordinator then to the
server and back to the mobile phone of the user who requested to find an empty parking slot. The user
can then drive the car to the empty using the directions provided.
After the vehicle is parked, then the user can check out by paying for the time the car has been parked
there. The system unit has an LCD and a keypad where they are supposed to enter their payment details
and the checkout is done.
Pros of the system
The system has many advantages if implemented to enhance the smart cities project. The following are
the pros of the system.
 The system makes it very easy for drivers to find empty parking slots by just sending a parking
request. The system itself is responsible for looking for an empty slot by communicating with
the coordinator unit which in turn coordinates with the system units installed in every parking
slot and then determining which parking slot is empty.

 The system makes it very easy to pay for parking because it automatically calculates the time
the car has been in the parking and the driver can pay for the parking using a unit just right
there in the parking slot.
Problems of the system
The following are the possible problems with the system.
 The ultrasonic sensors are not 100 % accurate because they can be affected by external physical
conditions thus the system unit might not be very efficient and might provide inaccurate
information to the coordinator units. However, this is not a bigger problem as compared to
using IR sensors which are very inefficient during daytime (Aqraa and Jaber, n.d).
 The project by itself is very costly because mainly of the system units installed in every parking
slot.
Conclusion
The automated Car Parking System with Empty Slot Detection is a very viable project to implement in
any city wishing to achieve the smart city status. Although it is costly to implement, if implemented it
can bring about more benefits thus justifying the cost of the project.
References
Aqraa, G., & Jaber, M. (n.d.). Smart Parking System . Internet Of Things, 1-20. Retrieved August 11, 2017,
from https://eng.najah.edu/sites/eng.najah.edu/files/smart-parking-system.pptx.
Automatic car parking indicator using 8051. (2013, June 6). Retrieved August 11, 2017, from
http://embedded-electronics.blogspot.com/2013/06/automatic-car-parking-indicator-using.html
Automated Parking System. (2015, June 28). Retrieved August 11, 2017, from
https://www.hackster.io/GreenRobot/automated-parking-system-d3ddda