IoT-based Smart Multi-floor Parking Slot Detector System

Due to extreme urbanization and a massive increase in vehicle size, parking management has become increasingly difficult in modern cities. Specifically, problems arise due to rapid growth rates of new multi-floor parking complexes such as malls, hospitals, airports, smart commercial buildings, etc. Problems caused by poor parking management may include traffic congestion, wasted fuel, CO2 emissions, customer dissatisfaction, and so on, all as a result of drivers spending a large amount of time searching for available parking spots. Existing parking management systems use manual supervision or static signboards to provide drivers with parking spot availability information, and therefore are unable to provide real-time, floor-level parking availability information. The overall goal of this project is to create a system that will allow drivers to locate available parking spots quickly and accurately using Arduino, IoT, and embedded systems technology. The proposed solution is an IoT-based embedded multi-floor parking slot finder system—a system based on the use of IoT-enabled sensors, such as ultrasonic or infrared sensors, to continuously monitor the presence of vehicles parked in each parking space. The data from the sensors will be processed by the embedded controller and sent wirelessly to a centralized server or cloud service. The system will provide the capability to monitor multiple floors at once in a multi-floor parking complex, therefore allowing for accurate monitoring of every available parking slot, regardless of how many floors there are in the complex. Users will be able to access the current state of parking slots and receive directions to available parking slots via an online application or mobile application. The result will be a significant reduction in both the amount of fuel spent and the amount of time and distance that drivers travel when they are searching for available parking.