International Journal of Computer Science and Informatics

Volume 3 Issue 4 Article 9

April 2014

INTELLIGENT CAR PARKING SYSTEM

S. AVINASH
R V College of Engineering, R V Vidyaniketan Post Office RVCE, Mysore Road, Bengaluru,
Karnataka-560059, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation
AVINASH, S. (2014) "INTELLIGENT CAR PARKING SYSTEM," International Journal of Computer Science
and Informatics: Vol. 3 : Iss. 4 , Article 9.
DOI: 10.47893/IJCSI.2014.1157
Available at: https://www.interscience.in/ijcsi/vol3/iss4/9

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Interscience Journals at Interscience Research
Network. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Journal of Computer Science and Informatics by an
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[email protected].
 INTELLIGENT CAR PARKING SYSTEM
S. AVINASH1, SNEHA MITTRA2, SUDIPTA NAYAN GOGOI3 & C. SURESH4
1,2,3&4
R V College of Engineering, R V Vidyaniketan Post Office
RVCE, Mysore Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka-560059

Abstract - Due to the proliferation in the number of vehicles on the road, traffic problems are bound to exist. This is due to
the fact that the current transportation infrastructure and car parking facility developed are unable to cope with the influx of
vehicles on the road. In India, the situation are made worse by the fact that the roads are significantly narrower compared to
the west. Therefore problems such as traffic congestion and insufficient parking space inevitably crops up. In his paper we
describe an Intelligent Car Parking System, which identifies the available spaces for parking using sensors, parks the cars in
an identified empty space and gets the car back from its parked space without the help of any human personnel. A Human
Machine Interface (HMI) helps in entering a unique identification number while entry of any car which helps in searching
for the space where the car is parked while exit. An Indraconrol L10 PLC controls the actions of the parking system. The
PLC is used to sequence the placing and fetching of the car via DC motors. We have implemented a prototype of the system.
The system evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of our design and implementation of car parking system.

Keywords - Proximity sensor, Infrared sensor, DC motor, Programmable Logic Controller.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Intelligent Car Parking System is being designed Unlike the above ideas, where it is only aimed at
for developing a user friendly, intelligent and finding out the vacant car parking space, the idea of
automated car parking system which greatly reduces making a prototype of an Intelligent Car Parking
manpower, land area for parking, fuel consumption of System was thought of, where this system would
the vehicle and reduces carbon emissions. identify the available spaces for parking using
sensors, park the cars in an identified empty space
A few existing studies focused on the applications of and gets the car back from its parked space without
car parking system using sensor technologies. Few the help of any human personnel.
systems adopt cameras to collect the information in
car parking field. However, a video sensor has two In this system it is required to sense empty space and
disadvantages; one is that a video sensor is the respective floor where the car can be parked. This
energetically expensive and the other is that a video could be done with the help of sensors so; various
sensor can generate a very large amount of data sensors that are available are temperature sensor,
which can be very difficult to transmit in a wireless Infrared sensor, UV sensor, Touch sensor, proximity
network. These greatly limit the application of video sensor, bio sensor, image sensor and acceleration
sensor. The system in [1] adopts wireless sensors in a sensor. Thus, for finding the floor in which the empty
car park field and each parking lot is equipped with space is present, Infrared sensors are used as it emits
one sensor node, which detects and monitors the and /or detects infrared radiation to sense a particular
occupation of the parking lot. phase in the environment. It is easy to interface and is
readily available in the market. Now, for sensing the
The status of the parking field which is detected by empty space in a particular floor, proximity sensors
sensor nodes is reported periodically to a database via are used as it detects the presence of objects that are
the deployed wireless sensor network and its nearly placed without any point of contact.
gateway. The database can be accessed by the upper
layer management system to perform various This system also required a motor for the movement
management functions, such as finding vacant of the mechanical arm which would be placing and
parking lots, auto-toll, security management, and fetching the car. The motors that are available are DC
statistic report. The system in [2] adopts vision based motors and stepper motors. So, it was thought of
system which is able to detect and indicate the using DC motor as, DC Motors have several
available parking spaces in a car park. The methods advantages over stepper motors. When it comes to
utilized to detect available car park spaces were based speed, weight, size, cost, DC motors are always
on coordinates to indicate the regions of interest and a preferred over stepper motors. The direction of
car classifier. The work done indicated that the rotation of motor can be controlled, so, the encoding
application of a vision based car park management of the rotation can be made by DC motor i.e. keeping
system would be able to detect and indicate the track of how many turns are made by the motors etc.
available car park spaces. Stepper motors jerks when it rotates. So it can be seen
that DC motors are better than stepper motors. Thus

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two DC motors are used, one for vertical movement retrieval process prevents damage to
of the mechanical arm and the other one for the vehicles.
clockwise and counter clockwise rotation of the
mechanical arm. The two way rotation of the DC (b) It should provide environmental protection
motor is achieved by using the L293D dual motor by reducing vehicular emissions and general
driver circuit. energy savings.

This system also required a controller to control the (c) It should provide safety of vehicle by
functions of the whole system. The various types of preventing damages or dents to the car are
controller’s are Microcontroller, PIC microcontroller, avoided while parking through narrow drive
micro processor and Programmable Logic ways.
Controllers. So, Programmable logic controller (PLC)
is chosen as it is easy for technical’s to be dealing (d) It should easily accommodate all types of
with ladder logic more than C or assembly or other car’s and SUV’S.
programming language. The ladder logic is a very
simple way of interfacing it like turning motors on In accordance with the above requirements, an
and off based on a set of inputs. In PLC the logic is intelligent car parking system should minimize
obvious and easily modifiable. PLCs more suitable human operations and supervisions, so as to reduce
for industrial applications, they can bear the dust and the manpower and the loss from human mistakes.
hits. Also, the car park system is required to provide
higher accuracy, robustness and flexibility in
Based on this Literature Survey, the idea adopted for operations, more convenience to customers, lower
the project entitled “Intelligent Car Parking System” cost of operating and maintaining overall system.
was to use Infrared Sensors instead of wireless
sensors as it is of low cost, readily available, III. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
proximity sensor, DC motor instead of stepper motor
and Programmable Logic Controller. In this section we describe the design of the
Intelligent Car Parking System which deals with the
II. REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS sensors and relay circuits and then the motor control
unit.
In this section, we describe the requirements of
designing an intelligent car parking system. Although 1. Sensors and Relay Circuits
the conventional requirements of a car parking Electronic components used in the structure enable
system can be easily satisfied. In the following we complete control and management of the car parking
list, some important requirements of a car parking system. Various sensors are used to find out each
system. empty space along with the floor in which the empty
space is present.
The common goal for all car parks is to attract more
drivers to use their facilities from the business aspect. 1.1 Proximity Sensor
Thus, their basic facilities are required to fulfill the A proximity sensor is a sensor able to detect the
following conventional requirements: presence of nearby objects without any physical
contact. It often emits an electromagnetic field or a
(a) The location of the car park should be easy beam of electromagnetic radiation (infrared, for
to find in the street. instance), and looks for changes in the field or return
(b) The entrance of the car park should be easy signal. The object being sensed is often referred to as
to discover. the proximity sensor's target [3].
(c) The number of parking lots should be
abundant. The system consists of two floors for parking cars
(d) A parking lot should obtain a large space hence, eight proximity sensors are being used, four in
enough to park a car in. each floor. The voltage range of each proximity
(e) Easy to exit and re enter on foot. sensor is 5 to 12 V and sensitivity range varies from
10mm to 50mm. The proximity sensors are used for
However an intelligent car parking system should detecting the presence and absence of a car parked in
provide more convenience and automation to both the each parking space of each floor. It continuously
business and the customers. It should also satisfy the emits infrared rays and checks for an empty space.
following requirements: This acts as an input to the Programmable Logic
Controller which in turn helps in the placing and
(a) It should have a compact structure, Low cost fetching of cars. The Figure 1.1 shows the proximity
of ownership and simple; user friendly safe sensor.

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 Intelligent Car Parking System

voltage IR sensors output voltage to the 24 V DC

which will be used by the programmable logic
controller. The Figure 1.3 shows the Relay Panel
Board.

Fig. 1.1 : Proximity sensor.

1.2 Infrared Transmitter

Infrared led is used for the purpose of detection. The Fig. 1.3 : Relay Panel Board
system consists of twenty-one Infrared Transmitters
1.4 Voltage Divider Circuit
[4]. Thin sheet metal strips are placed behind each car
A voltage divider (also known as a potential divider)
park space and one behind the place where the driver
is a linear circuit that produces an output voltage
is asked to keep the car i.e., in the ground floor.
(Vout) that is a fraction of its input voltage (Vin).
Behind each car park space and in front of each floor,
Voltage division refers to the partitioning of a
two Infrared Transmitters are placed at a vertical
voltage among the components of the divider [6].
distance of 4cm. These are shorted so that they start
emitting at the same time in case of a free space
available.

A single Infrared Transmitter is placed in the ground

floor which continuously emits until the receiver
receives it. This is done so that the mechanical arm
can detect the presence of a car which has arrived for
parking. Two Infrared Transmitters are used for each
floor. While fetching a car from its parked space, the
first (the one below the floor) Infrared Transmitter is
turned on whereas while placing a car, the second
(the one above the floor) Infrared Transmitter is
turned on.

In case of placing a car, an empty space is searched

by the proximity sensor and then its respective IR
Transmitter and floor transmitter is turned on, which
Fig. 1.4 : Voltage Divider Circuit
together guides the arm movement and helps in
placing the car. The Figure 1.2 shows the Infrared In this system, a voltage divider circuit is required
Transmitter. for converting the output voltage of 24 V of the PLC
to a voltage of nearly 5V which is used by the
sensor. The output of the voltage divider circuit is
found out by simulating it in PSPICE simulator as
shown in Figure 1.4.

2. Motor Control Unit

Electrical components which are primarily used are
Fig. 1.2 : Infrared Transmitters
the standard DC Motors that help in accomplishing
the motion of the mechanical arm. The DC Motor
1.3 Relay Panel Board used in the system is of 12 V DC. DC motors are
A relay is a kind of switch which is controlled by an controlled using Indracontrol L10 PLC.
electric current. A relay panel board is used instead
of adding a mains switching relay. It is a 2.1 Main Controller Board
commercially manufactured circuit board fitted with Indracontrol L10 Programmable Logic Controller
a relay, LED indicator, back EMF preventing diode, (PLC) serves as the Intelligent Car Parking System’s
and easy to use screw-in terminal connections [5]. “brain”, controlling and managing all the functions of
In the system, three 12V and 250v/10 Amp AC, the car parking system. The Indracontrol L10
8 relay boards are being used to switch the low Programmable Logic Controller that is used in the

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 Intelligent Car Parking System

system operates on a 24 V DC supply which is in in case of entry and F2 in case of exit. If entry is
built in it. A Human Machine Interface is used in this selected, then the user is asked to enter the given code
system for entering an unique identification number and in case of exit, the user is asked to enter the
while entry and exit of a car. The communication port unique code.
that is being used in the system is Ethernet. To store Placing of a cr
the program, a SanDisk firmware flash card is used Flowchart 1.2
[7].
The Flowchart 1.2 explains the operation while
2.2 DC Motor placing a car. If the empty space is first floor then, the
A DC motor is an electric motor that runs on direct first floor’s upper transmitter is switched on and the
current (DC) electricity [9]. Two Standard DC mechanical arm carrying the car is raised till it
Motors are being used in this system. The DC Motors reaches first floor (detected by arm receiver). Then,
performs the task of moving the mechanical arm in the mechanical arm is rotated in anticlockwise
the clockwise and counter clockwise and vertical direction using second motor simultaneously first
direction for the placing and fetching of cars. Using motor is switched off. When the arm reaches the
the L293D Dual H Bridge converter, the motor is respective space, arm is lowered by rotating the first
made to rotate in both clockwise and counter motor in opposite direction and finally car is place
clockwise direction. and the mechanical arm is brought back to its initial
position by controlling both the motors sequentially.
IV. PROGRAMMING AND TESTING

Programming of the system enables its working.

Using ladder diagram logic, instructions that
collectively define the process of its parts movement
are specified and compiled [8]. This logic is
subsequently downloaded onto the Programmable
Logic Controller, which performs the required motor
functions by using the DC motors and the placing and
fetching of car by using the mechanical arm. Also
essential synchronization of the parts is achieved by
the Programmable Logic Controller.

Programming of the system is desired for the

following functions:
1) To find out an empty space from the inputs of the
Proximity sensors.
2) To make the transmitter of the corresponding,
floor and ground floor turn on.
3) To make the DC Motor rotates in both clockwise
and anticlockwise motion.
HMI Working
Flowchart 1.1

The Flowchart 1.1 explains the operation of Human

Machine Interface which will ask the user to press F1

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 Intelligent Car Parking System

Fetching of car Flowchart 1.3

The Flowchart 1.3 explains the operation while

fetching a car. If the car to be fetched is in first floor
then, the first floor’s lower transmitter is switched on
and the mechanical arm is raised till it reaches first
floor (detected by arm receiver). Then, the
mechanical arm is rotated in anticlockwise direction
using second motor simultaneously first motor is
switched off. When the arm reaches the respective
space, arm is raised by rotating the first motor in
opposite direction and finally car is brought back to
its initial position by controlling both the motors
sequentially.

V. RESULTS

For the Intelligent car parking system to work

properly, the inputs from the Human Machine
Interface was given and hence the following results
were obtained. The following figures shows the
sequence of operation while placing a car.

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 Intelligent Car Parking System

Fig. 2.1 : Mechanical arm reaches the ground floor

Fig. 1.6 Mechanical arm lifting a car from ground floor
After entering entry in the HMI and then entering the
unique code, it was seen that the mechanical arm lifts
the car from the ground floor as shown in Figure 1.6.
Then, the mechanical arm starts moving upwards
with the help of the screw jack mechanism and the
first DC Motor and as soon as the mechanical arm
receiver receives the rays from the first floor’s
transmitter, the arm rotates in anticlockwise direction.
The Figure 1.7 shows the mechanical arm sensing the
first floor and Figure 1.8 shows the rotation of the
Fig. 1.7 : Mechanical arm receiver sensing the rays from the mechanical arm for placing the car in an empty space.
first floor transmitter Then, the mechanical arm receiver senses the rays
from the space transmitter and then places the car.
This is shown in Figure 1.9. After placing the car, the
mechanical arm rotates in clockwise direction and
then gets down. This is shown in Figure 2.0. Then,
finally, the arm gets back to the ground floor and the
motor stops. This is shown in Figure 2.1. Similarly,
the fetching of a car operation takes place in the
opposite manner.

VI. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

Fig. 1.8 : Mechanical arm rotating in anticlockwise direction
for placing car The mechanical model of the Intelligent Car Parking
System is compliant to achieving the proper placing
and fetching of cars. The model is rigid and is
capable of housing and shielding the DC Motors,
Proximity sensors, IR transmitters and an IR receiver.
Three separate supplies were used in this system, a
24V, 12 V and a 5V supply. The 24V supply powers
the L10 Programmable Logic Controller which is in
built in it, which acts as the brain of the system,
manages and controls all the functions of the system.
The DC Motors which are used for the clockwise
counter clockwise and vertical up and down
movement of the mechanical arm is driven by a 12V
Fig. 1.9 : Mechanical arm receiver sensing the rays of the
empty space transmitter and placing it supply given from a 12V adapter. The proximity
sensors which are used to find out an empty space for
placing car is powered by a 5V supply which is given
by a 5V adapter.

Detection of parking slot availability is achieved by

using proximity sensors. Infrared transmitters and an
Infrared Receiver is used for detecting the floor as
well as the space which has got an empty space to
park a car. Proximity detects the space from where a
parked car has to be fetched and brought back to the
ground floor. A relay panel board is used for
switching the low voltage IR sensors output voltage
Fig. 2.0 : Mechanical arm moving downwards towards the
ground floor to the 24 V DC which will be used by the

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 Intelligent Car Parking System

programmable logic controller and vice-versa and a Sensor Networks”, 1st International Symposium on
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nearly 5V which is used by the sensor. The ladder Daniel Devaraj, Yap Yooi Yoon, “Vision-Based Automated
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Intelligent Car Park Management System based on Wireless

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