Development of a Solar-Powered Automatic Car Park Management System

Abstract

Abstract: Parking of cars can be considered a serious issue in developed and developing nations. Many cities suffer from a lack of automobile parking space because of the rapid increase in number of car owners. Urban parking issues often stem from an imbalance where the number of cars seeking parking exceeds the available parking spaces, creating a persistent congestion and difficulty in finding suitable parking spots. The manual system of managing car parking space can be cumbersome and always prone to chaos. Most efforts found in literature to automate car parking systems concentrate on software solutions, either using image processing to find vacant spaces or using mathematical methods to find and reserve a parking space. The aim of this work is to design and implement a solar-powered car park automation system using sensors (light dependent resistor sensors and infrared sensors) and controllers (Arduino). The system is designed to improve the efficiency and convenience of car park operations, while also reducing energy consumption and the carbon footprint of the car park. To achieve this, the sensors and controllers that automated the car park’s operations were powered by solar panels installed in the car park. Sensors were used to detect the presence of vehicles in the car park and to determine the availability of parking spaces, while controllers were programmed to open and close gates, control lighting and ventilation. The solar-powered car park automation system was tested and evaluated under different conditions and at different times of the day to show that the system was able to reduce energy consumption and improve the utilization of parking spaces in a closed area. The system was found to be 99.5% reliable with no false positive but single false negative attributed to accidental error. The system is easy to use and assist towards achieving sustainable development goals 7, 9, 11 and 13. Keywords: Car Park automation, Solar-powered system, Smart parking management, Real-time monitoring Renewable energy, Internet of Things, Carbon footprint reduction, Smart cities,