The Parking Guidance And Information System

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

PGI is a parking technology that guides and provides information about the availability of parking spaces located in major cities. Information, ranged from "empty" or "full" lot, to the number of availability, or to the exact location of available spaces, are displayed at various spots so that drivers can make better decision[1]. PGI includes either the entire city area or function only within the car park facility [2].PGI along the city assists the commuters to know about the status of parking areas throughout the city paired with other relevant information .While PGIS within a particular parking area helps in locating the vacant parking slots. Both the techniques present driver with dynamic information on parking within controlled areas and direct them to appropriate parking spots [5]. Parking information can be displayed on variable message signs (VMS) which make use of sensors deployed at the parking lots. These VMS are deployed at major roads streets and intersection or it may be disseminated through the internet [3] [4].

Various implementation methods can be adopted for parking guidance. The system in Shinjuku and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania segregates the city into color coded areas for in providing guidance [6] [1].In [7] the author describes that the PGIM implements shortest path algorithm to calculate the shortest distance from parking berth to nearest preferred entrance. The system operates by monitoring the availability of vehicle berth and making the information collected available for patrons and car-park operator. In [11] a parking management subsystem is used to which data is sent, processed and forwarded to database module via gateway transceiver module associated with the subsystem. The database module stores the event based on sensor data and display the corresponding information on the parking lot GUI. Smart Parking Assist System (SPAS) in [12], includes 16 sensor nodes, 4 guiding node, 3 parking lots. Sensor node check the status of parking spaces and send the report to the MCU(AVR Controller) which transmits the status information to Parking Status Display Unit(PSDU) .The system makes use of LED to indicate whether the respective is free or not.

Internet also plays a major role in guiding commuters to available parking areas. Drivers can also access the central system via mobile phones. GPS (Global Positioning System) in [8] maps the driver’s current position based on GPS data along with the status of three of the nearby car-park are sent to the mobile phone based on commuter’s current location. Other technology used for guidance includes GIS technology [9] which disseminates to users via Internet, mobile phones. In [5] a Smartphone application is developed through which drivers interact with the "smart parking" system.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology developed in recent years. The RFID reader reads the encoded information of RF card via radio frequency technology and this information is sent to computer via USB interface [13].In [5], the system performs ID checking using RFID technology for off-street parking. RFID tags in [10] are used for guidance so that commuters can locate the assigned parking slot easily.

VEHICLE DETECTION TECHNIQUES:-

Vehicle sensors and detections are broadly classified into 2 categories, they are:

Intrusive sensors

Non-intrusive sensors

INTRUSIVE SENSORS:

These sensors are the one which leads to the invasive procedures of installation typically these sensors are installed in the holes on the road surfaces, tunneling under the road surfaces and these can be installed easily on the ground and the ceiling of the car park. There are different type of the sensors are available on the basis of the costs, environmental condition, calibration, accuracy, range implementation and on the design basis. They are Infrared sensors, Inductive Loops, magnetometers, magneto resistive sensors. This type of sensors generally requires the cuts on the roads or on the ceiling for the installation and thus may indirectly leads in reducing the life of these roads or ceiling whenever it is being installed

Infrared sensors: this type of sensors is used for finding the empty spaces for on the different floors. Infrared sensors detect the vehicles by emitting the infrared energy and thus detects on the basis of the amount of the energy that is reflected. By using this sensor the accurate position of vehicle, speed is detected.

Problem arises in this sensor is at the time of the snow and dense fog which may lead to affect the operation of the sensor.

INDUCTIVE LOOP DETECTER

These are wired loop having a frequency range from 10 to50 kHz, depending on the models. It behaves as a tuned electrical circuit which includes loop wire and lead-in-cable as inductive elements. The inductive loop detects the presence of the vehicle as inductance of the loop directly depends on the oscillation frequency and thus cause the electronic unit to send the pulse to the controller indicating the presence of the vehicle .Electronics unit is in conjunction with inductive elements. The ILD (inductive loop detectors) provides the basic traffic parameters (e.g.: volume, presence, occupancy, speed and gaps).The problem associated with this inductive loop detector is that it required the multiple detectors to checks the particular locations. Wire loop are thus leads to stresses of the traffic and the temperature.

MAGNETOMETER

Magnetometers are the sensors which are less sensitive to snow, fog types of the weather problem. The best part of the magnetometer sensor is this magnetometer sensors are less susceptible to stresses of traffic then loop detectors and also with the advancement in the technology of the wireless network. Magnetometer sensors also support some models in which wireless RF links transmits the data. The area where the magnetometer sensors have a problem is Magnetometer has some models which are having small detection zones and also it is expensive to implement and maintains.

NON-INTRUSIVE SENSORS

These are sensors which can be installed and maintained easily and also unlike the intrusive sensors. It cannot require the invasive procedures. There are various non-intrusive sensors are available they are ultrasonic sensors, RFID, acoustic sensors. Each sensor is having different parameters thus the studies regarding these parameters are mentioned below.

ULTRASONIC SENSORS

An ultrasonic sensor transmits the pulse between 25 to 50 kHz depends upon the transmitted energy which is reflected back to the sensor. Ultrasonic sensors have an advantage that the multiple lane operations can be performed and also ultra sonic sensors is easier to install. Problem associated with the sensors is that change in temperature can affect the performance.

RFID

RFID is more secure and the efficient technology which is having 3 units, i.e. Transceiver, Transponder and Antenna.

Transceiver is the one which is used to send and receive the information from the transponder where the transponder contains the information from the antenna. The best thing about the RFID is that it is a cost effective i.e. the RFID can be thus installed at the low costs and the maintenance is can be done in a easier way and also the problem can be resolve with the high speed .the problem associated with RFID is regarding The privacy of the personal details.

ACOUSTIC SENSORS

Acoustic sensors are he one which detection of the vehicle on the basis of sound produces by the vehicles through the microphones installed for the detection of the vehicles.

His acoustic sensors thus has an advantage that it can supports multiple lane operations but the complication arises in the acoustic sensors is for the data accuracy at the time of the cold temperature and also few specific acoustic sensor models are has not recommendation for the slow moving vehicle sin stop and go traffic.

INNOVATIVE ADVANCEMENTS:-

PARKING THROUGH USER INTERFACE

To find a parking space in most metropolitan areas especially during the rush hours is difficult for drivers. So by periodically knowing the parking status from the sensor deployed in parking areas, the reservation service is affected by the change in physical parking status [1].using the advanced technology a commuter may enquire about availability of parking space or make a parking reservation at a given destination and pay online. The system is assist through a variety of methods like mobile phones or internet. Required information can be provided to the commuter before or during making a trip to the car parking area.

In [2] a smart phone application is built through which driver interact with the smart parking system by logging in with unique ID and driver’s general information such as license number,credit card number etc.the system reserves the optimal parking space for a driver based on the user requirements that combine proximity to destination and parking cost. In study in [3]reveal options of using the internet through WAP(wireless application protocol) enabled mobile phones. In addition to SMS service for drivers to access the information and reserving the parking space.

In [4] the paper describes the reservation of the parking spot by using a software interface called extensible markup language(XML) which display the anti-spot in a user friendly. In this systemthe reservation order consist of reserved parking spot,a time stamp and transaction expiration time information. The driver can also use this interface to cancel their reservation. Various companies during the recent years are involved in the development of e-parking system such City and Suburban parking Ltd.(city and suburban n.d.), ParkingCarma (ParkingCarma n. d.). Some sophisticated implementation techniques proposed in [3][5] requires the use of smart card and magnetic card and Bluetooth so that commuter can get access the parking area.

To address the problem of multiple car chasing a single slot, some designers reduce the number of vacant spaces when publishing the live availability information to keep a buffer[6].

AUTOMATED PARKING SYSTEM

it is a mechanical or computer controlled technique which minimizes the area or effort required to park the car into appropriate slot. Automated parking system efficiently allows stacking and the commuter need not to go the car park area providing extra safety measures covering both vehicles and patrons [1].first use of automated parking system was made in Paris, France in 1905 at the garage reu de ponthieu[2]. Automated parking system so a spurt of interest in the U.S. In the late 1940’s and 1950’s with browsers, pigeonhole and Roto Park systems[2].Europe, Asia and central America had been installing more technically advanced automated parking systems[3].using this automated parking, drivers and passengers are safer since they don’t have to walk through parking lots, garages and consequently handicap access is improved[4][5].

Commercial parking systems developed by companies such as automation parking system(Automation, n.d.), Fata SkyParks(FATA SKYPARKS, n.d.), PARKMATIC Automated and mechanical parking system(PARKMATIC, n.d.) that design and manufacture fully automated and mechanical parking systems for automatically identifying, moving and storing and retrieving cars for parking lots thus providing the drivers with a fast, safe and valet type of parking experience.

It is very important to ensure that there is a proper safety and no mishandling of vehicles y these automated, computer controlled mechanism. A three level software design in a research by Mathifssen and Pretorious (2007) introduced a three level software design which includes Logical Layer(LL), Safe by Layer(SL) and Hardware Abstraction Layer(HAL) so that vehicles are stored in a safe manner and there is no misuse and improper handling.

An human machine interface is used in[6] to enforce automated parking which uses DC Motor for the movement of the mechanical arm placing and fetching the cars.

SMART PAYMENT SYSTEM

Smart payment system makes use of advanced technologies such as Smart Cards instead of using conventional payment technologies via parking meters so that no inconvenience is caused to the commuters due to delay. A Smart Card being a credit card sized piece of plastic is identified uniquely by a microchip embedded in it has the ability to store,process and write inportant data.[8].Its use has become an alternate and most viable means for the patrons to pay for transport services.The system allows fast and convenient payment, improving collection rates for fine and also the rate of assaults on parking officials is reduced [1].

Smart payment systems are implemented in places such as Finland,Italy,London and the United States[2][3][4][5].technologies include debit card, creditcards, smart cards which comprise of contact method since they require contact of card parking meter and contactless method comprise of Automated Vehicle Identification(AVI) and RFID technologies[5].Parking meters also make use of other technologies such as having a solar power source and wireless connectivity.

Some technologies like Wi-Fi connectivity (photo violation technologies,n.d.) handles payment of fines and take photos of vehicles violating parking rules for evidence are used[6].Prior registration via Internet and capability of short message service(SMS). Notification is also incorporated in some systems to remind the commuters tosettle the payment for additional time extension if necessary [4].

Since the data related to the patrons such as personal account information is highly confidential, it is possible that smart payment systems may lack on the grounds of security and privacy. Also, attacks such as sniffing,spoofing, denial of service,malwares,worms[7]exist in RFID implementation.

Transit Based Information System

Limited availability of parking contributes to roadway congestion, air pollution and dry frustration and confusion. Auto access to park and ride lots which is fast and convenient, is essential to make transit competitive with the auto in sub-urban areas. Transit based information system is implemented in countries like France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Switzerland, United State and United Kingdom [1]. Recent application provides real time information to patrons about the availability of parking spaces in park and ride lots and traffic conditions such as accidents and delays. This scheme benefits in the sense that it increases the utilization of public transportation as commuters can park their vehicles in the parking area and use public transportation easily. It also lowers down the consumption of fuel and transit revenue increases [1].

In order for the transit based information system to successful, proper planning is done for selecting location for park and ride parking. The smart parking proposal for Valley Transit Authority (VTA) along highway 17/880 in Santa Clara Country (San Jose-area), California, incorporates advanced technologies in park and ride lots to encourage drivers on congested roadways to use transit or ride share [2].

Research conducted for siting park-and-ride car parks in Columbus, Ohio uses Geographic Information System (GIS) [3]. Additional calculation conducted by [4] considers some factor such as geographical, network, travel time from points of demand to park-and-ride facility location.

RECENT SMART PARKING TECHNIQUES USED:-

Traffic authorities in many cities are building smart parking systems over past two decades since parking in many major cities around the world is limited and is not cost effective. In this section, we present the details of various advancements done recently in developing smart parking systems.

In [1], a new "Smart Parking "system is proposed for an urban environment. The system assigns and reserves an optimal parking space for a driver based on user requirements that combine proximity to destination and parking cost while also ensuring that the overall parking capacity is efficiently utilized. For their pilot project, use of ultrasonic sensors is done which are mounted in MEMSIC IRIS wireless sensor motes. All sensors in one level of a garage or on one street construct an X-Mesh wireless network which connects all sensors and transmits sensing data to upper tier via gateway. With this technology, far away placed sensors can still transmit data to gateway. For off- street parking, the system performs ID checking using RFID technology at the gate of a parking lot. While for on-street parking, this system uses a light system placed at each parking spot, where different colors indicate different parking spot states.

Other system mentioned in [2] proposes an Intelligent Car Park Management System based on wireless sensor networks. The system makes use of Motes Processor Radio boards(MPR),sensor boards equipped with the sensor of light, acoustic, temperature and a sounder. The sensor nodes are deployed to a car parking field and transmit the collected information to the gateways. The Mote Interface Board (MIB) MIB510 provides the gateway for the motes and allows the display of sensory data on user PC and other standard computer platforms via a RS232 serial interface.

A Smart Parking system proposed in [3] is a novel, secure and intelligent parking system based on the concept and framework of NOTICE which is a privacy-aware architecture for the notification of traffic incidents. The sensor belts are embedded in the road at regular intervals. Each belt consists of a collection of piezoelectric pressure sensors, a simple aggregation and fusion engine and a few small transceivers. The pressure sensors in each belt allow every message to be associated with a physical vehicle passing over the belt. Vehicles are also fitted with a Tamper Resistant Device (TRD) such as a Event Data Recorder(EDR). The vehicle’s transceiver unit, speedometer, gas tank , sensors for outside temperature feed their own readings into TRD. To prevent misdetection of vehicles, both Infrared devices and sensor belts are used to double check if the vehicles are behaving correctly.

Management of Car Parking System Using Wireless Networks proposed in [4] aims at implementing smarter and better parking guidance mechanism which reduces significantly vehicle travel time and parking time. In this system,all the infrared sensor nodes sense the status of the car space and transfer the information to the AVR Controller.Consequently, AVR sensor senses the status of car parking space and displays the information on the LED screen for the user. Thus time required by the driver to find vacant parking space is reduced. Also, the chances of entering into unusual space leading to congestion are also reduced.

[5] Proposes PGS parking guidance system based on wireless sensor networks .the system consist of a WSN based VDS(Vehicle detection subsystem ) which gather information on the availability of each parking lot & displays it on a VMS(Variable Massaging system). VDS consist of T-sensor nodes, T- sink node & T-BS. Each T-Sensor node has a magnetic sensor which detects, ferrous materials in a vehicle & notified the detected events to the T-Sink node which then forwards the information to T-BS.T-BS is equipped with a t-Sink node to communicate with other Sink nodes & also acts as a gateways between WSN & conventional internet.

According to [6] A Prototype Parking System using wireless sensors networks, describes the smart parking management system based on WSN technology with advanced features like remote parking monitoring automated guidance & reservation mechanism , a system architecture & its subsystem level components is design . the architecture is based on the embedded system & also proposes a real time scenario of parking management system by a prototype model.

Intelligent car parking system proposed in [7] , identifies the available spaces for parking using proximity sensor and infrared sensor. A proximity sensor detects the presence of the near by objects without any physical contacts .this system also makes use of a human machine interface[HMI] and DC Motor for the movement of the mechanical arm which would be placing and fetching the cars. The [HMI] helps in entering the unique identification no. during the entry of any car ,which helps in searching for the spaces where the cars is parked while exit. Thus it doesn’t take the help of any human personal . an Indraconrol L10 PLC controls the action of the parking system.

In [8] the paper introduces the parking guidance system utilizing wireless sensor network & ultrasonic sensor, implements shortest path algorithm to calculate the shortest distance from the parking berth to the nearest preferred entrance the shortest path calculation is done using A*(A-star) shortest path algorithm which is a bi –directional curistic search , best first algorithm. The system updates by monitoring the availability of the vehicle berth & the information gained from the ultrasonic sensor detection and calculation from the A* algorithm is used to guide patrons to the parking berth.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS:-

With the development of the smart parking systems, nearly all parking demands are met. But some basic issues which are holding back these innovative parking systems include cost, security and reliability. No doubt, with the use of wireless technologies like Zigbee, the infrastructure cost has been reduced and the necessary security ensuring the identity of notes integrity is provided.

More efforts should be concentrated to make the issues of misparking and reservation conflicts completely obsolete. Energy conservation and environment friendliness are also two major criteria in which through research work should be directed.