Abstract

Smart car parking project aims at providing a confusion free and easy parking. This project helps the
drivers of the cars to park their vehicles with minimum wastage of time with accurate information of the
availability of the space to park over Android app. The operator also can collect parking fees efficiently
and the drivers can book and pay for their parking space over Android app. It includes an Arduino Uno
and Arduino Mega as the microcontroller unit to which the servo motors, LCD, object counter using IC
555 and IC 4026, ultrasonic sensors (HC-05) and IR sensors SR21-IC are interfaced. The LCD displays
the availability of the space, the counter keeps the check of the number of cars entering and exiting the
parking space, the servo motor helps as gate for the entry and exit of the cars. The ultrasonic sensors
detect the availability of the parking space.

Index Terms— Arduino Uno, Arduino Mega, ultrasonic sensors, IR sensors.

 INTRODUCTION

Smart car parking is an automated, flexible, user friendly and highly efficient technology as the booking
of parking slot for the driver’s vehicle is made possible using an Android app. Also, the operator can
easily keep the track of vehicles entering and exiting the parking space and parking fees collected.
Design a project of parking monitoring and control system to count the number of automobiles entering
and leaving a parking, open the gate for authorized personnel, provide information about free parking
spaces, create data base to provide statistics about people entering and leaving the parking space in
addition to using this system for security issues such as preventing violating people to enter the parking
space. This system uses efficient sensors and display circuits to withstand the surrounding
environment.The system will be powered form power utility available to supply the system components
with required supply for sensors, display, Arduino, door motors, and data base computer.

Project Objectives
• Design an efficient parking system to provide statistical information and enhance
the security of utility.
• Saving people‘s time in finding parking lots.
• Learn about energy impact on environment and our role as engineers to offer
solutions;saving energy of automobiles which in turns reduces CO2 emissions and
other harmful gases; hence better green environment.

Project Specifications
Main marketing features or specifications are:

• Low power consumption.

• High quality sensor and long life LED.
• Very clear display and efficient controller.
• Easy to install and maintain.
• Easily designed system to minimize the cost.
• The operating temperature of the whole system shall not exceed 70 degrees Celsius.
Background or Problem
Making a parking monitoring system especially at Saudi Arabia will be significantly
useful due to the increasing usage of parking lot as
population and buildings increase more and
more which indicates that there is really lack
of parking and a large amount of traffic
that look for free parking spaces. However,
this would be time consuming for people to
keep searching and

also there is an environmental issue since the automobiles is emitting CO2 which is a
major factor in affecting environment. In order to deal with the problems of the
metropolitan areas, there is a need to develop advanced solutions for efficient parking
space management especially at airports, malls, universities, and any large parking lots
that are used heavily. There are a number of companies that provide parking
management solutions such as Siemens, Nortech and Omnitech.a brief introduction about
each is described below but Omnitech was focused on due to the available information
they provided regarding used technology.

Siemens provides several parking management services including: intelligent parking

guidance systems, convenient pay-and-display machines, and modern car park
technology. It uses Sitraffic Guide: parking guidance system which uses dynamic
message signs to provide information to the driver on the current occupancy levels of
individual parking areas and guide people along the shortest route to final parking
destination which will dramatically reduce traffic volumes and environmental pollution.

Nortech uses group of products that provides

methods of counting vehicles entering or leaving a car park or depot and keeping track of
available spaces. it uses what they call it NorParc Level Counting and Guidance System
which offers real-time on-screen information feedback, alarms and report generation. It
can manage both small, single level car parks and large multi-storey car parks with signs
showing available space on each level.
Omnitech uses modern parking management systems which consists of entrance and exit
gate barrier units, parking guidance, car parking control and garage payment system, and
parking counting systems in all various types which are all connected from manual to
automatic pay stations and a car park management center. The main services that are
relevant and related to this context is parking guidance system and parking counting
system.One type of sensor is the OmnyPark OP-511 which is an ultrasonic parking
sensor that is used for garage parking guidance system designed with an ultrasonic
detector use as one of the main part of the parking guidance and management system
solution. Parking sensor makes use of ultrasonic detecting the vehicle parking space to
get message and transfer to Zone Control Unit or other equipment through the RS485
connection. One parking space needs one Ultrasonic Detector which is installed in the
middle of the car park space.
 Concept Generation
Many ideas can be generated by considering the different ways and technologies to
implement each subsystem. The below ideas were generated from all group members.

Energy: (1) normal grid, (2) solar (3) battery banks (4) multiple DC output
supply to accommodate the different rating for devices used in the control system.
Counting elements: (1) ultrasonic sensor,(2) motion sensors, and (3) IR sensors (4)
Optical sensors. (5) Magnetic sensor
Processing: : (1) controller, (2) data base computer.
Communication and connection: all units interconnected using wires and cable tray
systems.
Display and Action: (1) indoor/outdoor LED display, (2) Mech. Closing bar (3) Servo motor
(4) DC motor

All of these alternatives will result in different ideas for the design implementation so a careful selection is
highly required to select the best idea for each subsystem or component in order to fit the main objective of
the product design
 A. Construction and Working
The construction and working of the project is divided into two parts:-

1) Entry Part

The Entry Part of the project consists of Arduino Mega microcontroller to which a servo motor, IR
sensor, LCD and ultrasonic sensor are interfaced. The servo motor acts as a gate at the entrance and it
opens and closes when the IR sensor detects presence of car. The LCD displays the parking slots which
are empty for the car drivers. The ultrasonic sensors detect the presence and absence of car in each
parking slot.
 2) Exit Part

The Exit Part of the project consists of Arduino Uno to which a servo motor, IR sensor and the object
counter are interfaced. The servo motor acts as a gate at the entrance and it opens and closes when the IR
sensor detects presence of car. The object counter circuit is designed using IC 555 and IC 4026 to count
the number of cars exiting the parking space. This will help the operator to calculate the amount
collected.
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
BLOCK DIAGRAM
COMPONENTS
The components used in the project are:-

1. Arduino Uno
2. LCD Screen
3. IR Sensor
4. Servo Motor
5. Object counter
 1. ARDUINO UNO

Arduino Uno a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P. It has 14 digital input/output pins
(of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs). It also has 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB
connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button. It is the most widely used and user friendly
microcontroller. Simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with an AC-to-DC adapter
or battery to get started.

2. LCD SCREEN

LCD screen is a flat-panel display, electronic visual display that uses the light-modulating properties of
liquid crystals and the liquid crystals do not emit light directly. LCDs are available to display arbitrary
images. It displays preset words, digits, and 7-segment displays.
 3. ULTRASONIC SENSOR

HC-SR04 is the ultrasonic ranging sensor. This economical sensor provides 2cm to 400cm of non-
contact measurement functionality with a ranging accuracy that can reach up to 3mm. Each HC-SR04
module includes an ultrasonic transmitter, a receiver and a control circuit. There are only four pins on
the HC-SR04: VCC (Power), Trig (Trigger), Echo (Receive), and GND (Ground).

4. IR SENSOR

An infrared sensor is an electronic device, which emits in order to sense some aspects of the
surroundings. An IR sensor can measure the heat of an object as well as detects the motion. Usually in
the infrared spectrum, all the objects radiate some form of thermal radiations. These types of radiations
are invisible to our eyes, which can be detected by an infrared sensor. Its operating voltage is 3V to 6V.
Its operating range is 2cm to 30cm with an operating angle of 35°.
 5. SERVO MOTOR

A servo motor is a rotary actuator or linear actuator that allows for precise control of angular or linear
position, velocity and acceleration. Servo can rotate approximately 180o. It has an operating voltage of
5V and operating speed of 0.12sec/60o with torque of 1.8 Kg-cm.

6. OBJECT COUNTER
The object counter is made up of two ICs:-

a) IC 555 in Astable Mode

IC 555 in Astable Mode is used to generate clock pulses which will drive the IC CD 4026. IC 555 in
astable mode is also called as free running oscillator. In astable mode, 555 timer is very simple, easy to
design, low cost and very stable.
 b) IC CD 4026

IC CD 4026 is a CMOS decade counter with inbuilt decoder to display on seven segment display. It
counts from 0-9 and displays the numbers on the seven segment display. It increments the number on
arrival of next clock pulse from IC 555.
Product planning
This product, like any product shall be made, need a feasibility study to ensure that this
product can be made in terms of the availability of components, cost, implementation,
professional technical skills required, safety requirements and most importantly its need
by the customers.

Our product's components were checked in the local market and found them available
relatively not costly. However, there are some challenges that would play roles on the
progressing of the product designing.One of them is that theteam was not sure about
whether the team can go to the level of programming a microcontroller due to the lack of
knowledge and experience of dealing with it in terms of theoretical or practical
experience. Also, the controller circuit requires good skills and experience in
programming and interfacing the microcontroller with the sensors, display, and data base
computer which might impede the product development process and success.Another
challenging factor is time management since all of team members are full of tasks other
than project which would impede as well the progress of the product development.
 MOBILE APP

The mobile app is divided into two sections:-

A. Users

This section of the mobile app can be accessed by the users. The users are the drivers who want to book a
parking slot for their cars. After payment, the parking slot is booked and reserved for the driver.
 B. Administrator

This section can be accessed by the administrator. The admin can redeem the amount of payment
collected through the app. Also, the admin can recheck the total amount collected with the total number of
cars entered into the parking area.
 ADVANTAGES

Smart Car Parking system is easier, efficient and less time consuming as it uses an Android app to book
the nearest parking slot and also helps in tracking the number of cars entered in the parking area and the
amount of payment collected which reduces human efforts. The system provides high performance in
tracking the car entering and exiting from the parking area and also its presence in a parking slot.

DISADVANTAGES

The system requires high maintenance as each sensor must work properly to provide efficiency in
working. High power dissipation is recorded through each sensor.
 RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

Smart Car Parking aims to provide efficient way of parking for drivers without any hesitation. The
Android app is flexible to be used by both users and administrator. The cars entering and exiting the
parking slots can be tracked with minimum errors. The amount of parking payment can be redeemed by
the administrator efficiently.
 REFERENCES
[1] https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardMega

[2] https://store.arduino.cc/arduino-uno-rev3

[3] https://www.engineersgarage.com/electronic-components/16x2-lcd-m odule-datasheet

[4] http://www.micropik.com/PDF/HCSR04.pdf

[5] https://sticktech.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/servo-motor-basics/