Smart Parking: Parking Occupancy Monitoring and

Visualization System for Smart Cities

Robin Grodi Danda B. Rawat Fernando Rios-Gutierrez
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering
Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460, USA Statesboro, GA 30460, USA Statesboro, GA 30460, USA
rg01148@[Link]. [Link]@[Link]. frios@[Link].

Abstract—Parking space is becoming a serious problem due be viewed from far away. The light is on by default and only
to the day-by-day increase in number of vehicles on the road. turns off when a vehicle is occupying the parking spot. This
Particularly, in cities with large population, or in places where allows drivers to see where vacant parking spots are at without
sports or artistic events are scheduled, looking for parking
space is a major problem and finding a parking spot can be having to circle the parking lots. This basic system works well
a frustrating experience. In order to combat this problem, some for drivers that are already in the parking lot, but does not help
parking lots have introduced sensors to detect when a car enters drivers who are still traveling to their destination.
or leaves a parking lot in order to track capacity and alert drivers Many parking guidance systems have been proposed in
if they are full. This is a partial solution that allows drivers to recent years that try to enhance upon the basic system. These
determine if a parking lot has open parking spots, but not the
exact location of those spots. In this paper, we present a prototype new systems each have advantages and disadvantages. All
of smart parking system using wireless sensor technology and of these systems require a mechanism to detect if a vehicle
networks. Using a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), parking spot is in the parking spot. This mechanism could range from a
statuses (occupied or idle) are detected and transmitted to a simple ultrasonic sensor [5] that detects a vehicle based on a
database. This information then be accessed by users through threshold distance or RFID chips [6] that are activated based
website or mobile app (application) to receive real-time updates.
This system should provide users with near instantaneous updates on distance to complex optical sensors [7]. These sensors
of available parking spots while the WSN allows for flexibility of detect the presence of a vehicle or other objects. Once a vehicle
sensor placement. With the successful implementation of smart is detected, the system needs a way to notify drivers or a
parking, the economical and time costs associated with traffic parking spot being occupied. Some systems have assumed that
jams, cost associated with wasted gas fuel, and time looking for the vehicles themselves are capable of sending and receiving
an empty parking space that are caused by inefficient parking
will be significant reduced. information [2], [3]. If the vehicle itself is able to communicate
Index terms– Intelligent Parking System, Smart Parking, with sensors and with other vehicles then we call this a
Wireless Sensor Networks. Vehicular Ad Hoc Network or VANET. A VANET makes
it possible for an ad hoc network to be formed between all
I. I NTRODUCTION sensors and vehicles within a certain range. By using VANET
With the growth of population and economical development, [8], [9], a system no longer needs a sensor at each parking spot
the number of vehicles on the road is increasing day by day. as they can use strategically placed transmitters to triangulate
Parking is becoming one of the major problems for cities, the location of the vehicles to determine if it is occupying
and is becoming very costly [1], [2]. Because of this, parking a parking spot [10]. The disadvantage of VANET systems is
is limited in major cities including universities and major that it would require the vehicles to have a dedicated tamper-
attractions all around the world [2]–[4]. For instance, finding resistant communication device. This means older vehicles
parking space during major events (such as during game day would not be compatible with the system without modification.
or graduation day) is challenging. Commuters lose working There is a need for a parking guidance system that works
hours and consume fuel while searching for empty parking without modification to existing vehicles. This work is along
spots. It can be extremely frustrating for drivers to search for a the line of transportation cyber-physical systems [11], [12].
parking spot in a parking lot. This frustration can occur either Another factor to consider is the wired infrastructure needed
due to the parking spots being difficult to find or because for most vehicle detecting sensors. Since installation of tra-
another driver has taken the parking spot before they can ditional systems require that wired infrastructure be installed,
reach the spot. Thus, intelligent, innovative and efficient ways some systems have suggested using a Wireless Sensor Network
for parking will have to be built to accommodate the parking (WSN) through the use of Zigbee networks [13], [14]. Zigbee
demands efficiently. In order to help out drivers, some parking networks are able to wirelessly communicate with a central
lots have installed parking guidance systems that attempt to coordinator that has information about all nodes (or sensors in
notify the drivers of open parking spots. One such common this case). This allows for sensors to be moved or repositioned
system has sensors at each parking spot with a light that can easily without the need for costly removal or installation.

c
978-1-5090-2246-5/16/$31.00 2016 IEEE
 Parking Detec!on User No!fica!on
Database
XBee

XBee XBee XBee XBee XBee XBee

Gateway
Web Server

XBee XBee XBee XBee XBee

XBee Connected Sensors Client Devices

Fig. 1. A typical system model for smart parking system.

Besides monitoring the status of each parking spot, some types of sensors can be used for this objective; each sensor will
systems have implemented reservation systems [15], [16] that have advantages and disadvantages depending on the location.
allow a driver to reserve a parking spot for a specific time In the following subsections we will cover a few possible
range. Drivers are able to send a message to the system either choices for detection sensors.
via internet request or Short Message Service (SMS) from any 1) Induction Proximity Sensor: One type of sensor that is
smart device or computer. This would mean that drivers could currently being used for detecting vehicles entering or leaving
guarantee that a parking spot would be available for them when a parking lot is the induction proximity sensor. This sensor is
they arrive. In order for this type of reservation system to work usually buried under the ground and detects when a vehicle
correctly, some sort of gate or lock would need to exist at the passes over it. This sensor detects vehicles by measuring the
parking spots in order to prevent unauthorized drivers from change in the earth’s magnetic field as the vehicle passes over.
occupying the reserved parking spot. If the magnetic field is varied by a certain threshold value, the
The rest of this paper is organized as follows: Section II sensor determines that a vehicle has passed over. This same
describes the different ways to detect a vehicle in a parking concept can be used for parking spots. If a vehicle parks over
spot (specifically the types of sensors) and how to notify users the sensor, the magnetic field change will be detected. This
of a vacant spot. The implementation of our system is shown sensor is very good at detecting metal object over the sensor
in Section III, which is broken down into both hardware and (such as vehicles) and will not send a false positive if someone
software specifics. Description and pictures of the working walks over the sensor. The disadvantage is that it needs to be
prototype are shown in Section V. The conclusion and future buried under the parking spot and would require the parking
works are wrapped up in Section VI. spot to be unavailable during installation.
II. S YSTEM M ODEL 2) Active Ultrasonic Sensors: Another type of sensor that
can be used to detect vehicles is an ultrasonic sensor. These
A typical system model for smart parking is shown in Fig.
sensors work by sending out a pulse of high-frequency sound
1. Smart parking systems consist of two fundamental parts:
and counting the time it takes for the echo to return. This
parking detection and user notification. Parking Detection is
time can then be used to calculate the distance to the object
responsible for detecting if a vehicle is in a parking spot. This
based on the frequency of the pulse. This sensor is very
can be done with many different types of sensors. The way of
good at detecting objects in the parking spot but is unable to
detecting the parking spot vacancy might be different but all
distinguish between vehicles and other objects. For instance,
sensors should return either that the parking spot is vacant or
a person could be standing in the parking spot and it would
that the parking spot is occupied. This information should then
report that the parking spot is occupied.
be sent to the User Notification system. User Notification will
relay the status of each parking spot to the end user. This can 3) RFID Sensor: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
be done either through simple systems such as a light being can be used to detect if a vehicle is occupying a parking spot.
toggled or it can be done with a complex web interface. Passive RFID chips work by receiving power from wireless
signals and then are able to transmit their own signal back.
A. Parking Spot Detection In this case, a passive RFID chip could be placed on vehicles
Parking detection requires some sort of sensor that can that would respond to transmitters located in the parking spots.
check the occupancy status of a parking spot. Many different When the vehicle is in the parking spot, the RFID would send

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out it’s signal and be detected. This means that only vehicles
with the RFID chips would be detected. This is an advantage
because it would not detect other objects, such as animals or 5v Supply
people but also a disadvantage because it requires the RFID Echo (Output)
Trigger (Input)
to be present on the vehicle.
Mode (NC)
4) LIDAR Sensor: LIDAR sensor work similar to the 0v Ground
ultrasonic sensors. Both sensors send out a high-frequency
pulse and wait for the echo to determine the distance to the
object. For LIDAR, light pulses are used instead of RF signals. ^Z&Ϭϱ
This means the sensor is more accurate and works at farther
distances, but is also much more expensive. Fig. 2. Typical SRF05 ultrasonic sensor Pinout configuration.
5) Camera Detection: Cameras are also very good at
detecting parking spot occupancy. By using a single camera
placed in a location that can view the entire parking lot, B. Software
image processing can be used to determine if a parking spot
is occupied or not. Non-vehicle objects would not be detected 1) Vehicle Detection Sensors: Each sensor is connected to
meaning that this type of detection would be accurate, but it an Arduino Uno microcontorller that is running Labview for
also requires the use of image detection - which would require Arduino code. A labview program was written that intiaties
a computer. connection with the remote MySQL database and then begins
sensing using the attached sensor. We use SRF05 Ultrasonic
B. User Notification sensors for testing. These sensors require a pulse of atleast
Each of the various sensors that can be used at the parking 10µS is sent along the trigger line and then waits for an echo
spot have been discussed. These sensors need to be connected to return on the echo line. The time taken for the echo to
to a user notification system. There are multiple ways to do return is used to determine the distance. A threshold distance is
this. One way is to wire the sensor directly to a notification predetermined and used to compare to the read sensor distance.
system; an example of this would be to wire the sensor to a If the value is below the threshold value it reports to the
light. By default the light would be on and if a vehicle was database that the parking spot is occupied. In order to report
detected it would turn the light off. Another way is to have all this to the database, an internet connection is required.
of the sensors connected to a central coordinator that is able 2) Local Internet Gateway: By default the XBee devices
to then display this information. One step further would be to we had are not capable of internet access. A gateway device
have this central coordinator put this information on the web - is used to communicate with the XBee modules and provide
allowing anyone with a internet connected device to view the internet access. This gateway device must have a communica-
information. tion path to all XBee devices in the network (either through
single or multihop communication). Since XBee is capable of
III. I MPLEMENTATION mesh network configuration, any XBee device is considered as
In this section, we present implementation of a smart both a router and client device. With the internet connection
parking system as a proof of concept. set up through the gateway device, connection the database
must be established.
A. Hardware 3) Remote MySQL Database: In order to organize and store
Each parking spot is equipped with an ultrasonic sensor the data from the sensors effectively, we employ the use of
being controlled by an Arduino Uno [17]. For our prototype a MySQL database. Each XBee device is assigned a unique
we use the SRF05 ultrasonic sensor (pinout can be seen in identifier when installed in our network and uses this identifier
Fig. 2). In order to make the system wireless, the Arduino as the row it will use in the database. Each row has information
Uno uses a Wireless XBee shield and an XBee Series 2
module (as shown in Fig 3). Xbee are capable of using a few
different communication setups. By running the XBee devices
in mesh configuration, each XBee is able to act as both a router
and an end device. This means that a communication path
between any two devices can be routed through any number
of XBee devices. The shortest path will be determined and
used to maintain efficient communication. All XBee devices
are then wirelessly linked back to a central gateway device to
allow them to access the internet. Since we are using mesh
configuration the connection to the gateway doesn’t have to
be a direct link. Messages can be sent through other XBee
devices if a direct link to the gateway cannot be established. Fig. 3. Typical XBee S2 Module.

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about the status of the parking spot, the last read time and the
identifier used to store the information. A ’true’ value stored
in the status column means that the parking spot is occupied
while a ’false’ value means the parking spot is available.
4) [Link] Webserver: A webserver was also set up to
enable users to view the parking information from any smart
device or computer. The webserver was set up using [Link].
[Link] is an event driven javascript framework that is being
used in our prototype to update our website in real time.
Whenever a user connects to our website, [Link] recognizes
the user and begins pushing updates at a predetermined interval
(for our setup, we used ever 5 seconds). Each parking spot is
viewable through this website and displays either a red or
green background depending on the vacancy status (red for
occupied, green for vacant) of the parking spot.

IV. T HE A LGORITHM
Based on the analysis above, we present a formal algorithm
as Algorithm 1 for detecting a parking spot. This Algorithm
1 is run by each parking spot monitoring senor in a infinite
loop in real-time.
Fig. 4. Example Mobile App for the Smart Parking System

Algorithm 1 Parking Detection Sensor Code Flow

Require: T d, Threshold Distance U i, Unique Identifier
0: procedure S TARTUP
0: Establish Connection with Local XBee Gateway to be accessed by any device capable of internet browsing. In
0: Establish Connection with Remote MySQL Database Fig. 4, we show a sample of how this looks on a mobile app.
0: end procedure
0: procedure V EHICLE D ETECTION
Benefit Analysis: Note that according to a US Environmen-
0: Pulse 10uS on Trigger Wire tal Protection Agency technical report, the fuel consumption
0: Wait for signal on Echo Wire for a gasoline vehicle with energy efficiency with 22 miles
0: Record time from trigger signal to echo per gallon costs about 11.36 cents per mile when gasoline
0: Calculate sensor distance detected, Sd costs $2.50 per gallon. Furthermore an average car emits 368.4
0: end procedure
grams of CO2 (carbon dioxide) per mile and a light duty
0: procedure DATABASE U PDATE
truck emits 513.5 grams of CO2 per mile. Also, on average, a
0: if Sd > T d then driver attending a high demand event or crowded parking lots
0: Using U i Send ’True’ to MySQL Database spends an average of ten minutes looking for an empty space.
0: else There are over 10 thousands cars on-campus and over 20
0: Using U i Send ’False’ to MySQL Database thousand cars during sports (football) or artistic events looking
0: end if for parking. With these calculations, if each vehicle has to
0: end procedure=0
travel half-mile (let us say) extra distance while searching for a
parking spot, 10k vehicles would spend over $568 extra in fuel
and emit 1842 kilograms of CO2 (if car size is average) and
2567.50 kilograms of CO2 (if truck size is light duty which
V. R ESULTS
are commonly used during sports event such as football game).
The prototype was successfully implemented using Arduino For the same number of vehicles the manhour wasted looking
Uno connected with Ultrasonic sensors. These sensors were for a space is about 1667 hours. These numbers would be even
able to establish an internet connection by using the XBee higher for higher number of vehicles and for extra miles or
module that was wirelessly connected to a local XBee gateway. travel time. Thus, proposed smart parking systems results in a
This gateway provided Internet connection and allowed the sustainable parking systems using wireless sensor technology
sensors to report their status to the remote MySQL database. and networking parking spot statuses are reported in real-time
The [Link] webserver was set up and able to provide live and show the information to the people who are looking for
updates to end users with a refresh rate of 5 seconds. With the empty parking space. Thus, smart parking system helps
this working prototype, we are able to see that this system is to reduce fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emission, save
capable of working and is able to be scaled up to an amount parking search time for the commuters, and reduce traffic jams
equal to the limit of the local gateway. This web server is able associated with parking search.

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parking spots around their desired location.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported in part by CEIT FRSG at Georgia
Southern University. This work was also supported partly by
the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant CNS-
1405670. However, any opinion, finding, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF or GSU.

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