Parking Spot Sensor

Tempo di lettura: 9 minutes

Monitor and manage parking in the city

Cities lose more than 40% of potential revenues due to a lack of monitoring and analysis solutions to better understand the influence of pricing strategies and the consequence of ineffective controls. Areas subject to high levels of congestion and unauthorized parking often go unnoticed due to shortcomings and delays in the infrastructure for recording traffic flows and parking usage.

 

With an ultrasonic sensor widely used in the automotive sector, the Parking Spot Sensor is used to check the occupation status of parking areas. The information collected by the sensors makes it possible to provide citizens a service that directs them to available parking spots, thus making urban traffic significantly more fluid, or to manage innovative services such as PayBySpace or Parking Dynamic Pricing (variation of the parking price based on supply/demand). Furthermore, thanks to the data recorded by the sensors, it is possible to activate new business models that promote more efficient and sustainable management of urban parking spaces.

 

Technological components

The PPS consists of two hardware components, the PSS (Parking Spot Sensor) and the DCU (Data Collector Unit), as well as a software component, INES Cloud – PSS Parking Supervisor Module.

The PSS is a wireless sensor based on ultrasonic technology covered by a patent, available in two versions designed to adapt to the specific conditions of different parking areas and of any urban environment:

  • SURFACE PSS: the surface sensor can be glued or fixed with screws on the surface of the parking space to be monitored. It is equipped with a catadioptric lens and its dimensions comply with the Traffic Code. It can be customized with the emblem or coat-of-arms of the city or mobility company.
  • IN GROUND: the covered sensor is mounted flush with the road surface in a hole measuring 12.5 cm in diameter and 7 cm in depth. It is equipped with an external protective case which prevents it from being removed.

The DCU is the data collection and transmission control unit that packs the data received from the PSS and transmits it to the INES Cloud, along with the monitoring data. Each DCU manages an average of 25-35 sensors, which varies based on the configuration of the parking areas.

INES Cloud – PSS Parking Supervisor Module is the control center that allows parking managers to determine the occupation status of parking spaces in real time and to plan parking after analyzing real data.

PSS Tech Info

  • Dimensions: 140 x 140 x 29 mm
  • Attachment method: glue or screws
  • Detection distance: from 5 cm to 100 cm
  • Type of sensor: waterproof ultrasonic
  • Operating Temperature: -25°C/+80°C
  • Load: max 4 Tons
  • Networking from PSS to DCU: 433MHz
  • Networking from PSS to the Parking Supervisor: Lora, Sigfox
  • Transmission protocol: the sensor is identified by a UId (Unique Identifier) sent to the control unit together with the information detected with each change of status
  • Enclosure: IP65 drive-over
  • Battery: Li-SoCl2 Lithium Thionyl Chloride, 3.6V, 8.4Ah
  • Autonomy: > 10 years*
  • Certifications: CE

*values obtained from laboratory tests

DCU Tech Info

  • Dimensions: 178x130x50 mm
  • Installation method: attachment with 2 screws
  • Networking from PSS to DCU: 433MHz
  • Networking from DCU to the Parking Supervisor: GPRS 900/1800MHz Ethernet, WiFi with programmable Protocol, Lora, Sigfox
  • Server Integration: SOA / FTP
  • Storage: integrated flash memory
  • Operating Temperature: -25°C/+80°C
  • Enclosure: IP65
  • Battery: Li-ion 3.7V, 10Ah
  • Autonomy: Approx. 48 hours without recharging
  • Recharging: power supply / solar panel / external AC/DC converter
  • Control unit sensors: ~ 50
  • Certification: CE

Several control units can coexist, which can be installed and configured at a later date thanks to the automatic system for associating sensors with control units.

Infoparking & Parking Guidance

The PSS makes it possible to activate services to direct people to available parking spaces via smartphone, online, and variable-message panels in order to reduce the search time for parking spaces, which is the main cause of congestion and pollution in cities. Thanks to a predictive algorithm, it is possible to search for available parking spaces based on the place and time of departure/arrival and to be guided to the chosen destination based on predictions about parking availability.

PaybySpace

The PSS is an excellent solution to counteract the phenomenon of unauthorized parking, to optimize road control activities, and to improve performance. Thanks to integration with parking payment systems (parking meters, mobile apps), the controller can be directed to parking spaces where the payment has expired, thereby reducing the volume of unauthorized parking.

Dynamic Pricing

Using data on the occupation of individual parking spots provided by the PSS, it is possible to activate dynamic parking pricing policies, which increase or decrease parking costs based on real demand (such as peak times, special events, weekends, etc.). Such policies promote a fairer distribution of flows, cut down on traffic and the time spent searching for parking spots (-50% of km traveled, -43% of time), and reduce polluting emissions (-30%). Furthermore, experiments carried out in some American cities have shown how dynamic pricing helps to optimize the occupancy rate and increase the profitability of an individual parking spot.

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