Literature Review

Literature Review

This chapter is literature review of parking system in public areas. Three studies regarding the application of the parking guidance system are also explained here.

BACKGROUND STUDY OF PARKING GUIDANCE IN CAR PARK

            Parking guidance system is systems that obtains information about available parking spaces, process it and then present it to drivers by means of variables message signs. This system can be implemented in two ways, which are to guide drivers in congested areas to the nearest parking facility with empty parking lots. The latter guidance system addresses driver’s need for information about the position and number of the parking lots that are actually available within a parking structure. This system reduces time and fuel while searching for empty parking lots and helps the car park to operate efficiently.

            Car park inside a building is become popular because it is user friendly and prevent vehicle from exposing to the sunlight, especially in the place where parking lots are high demand. This type of car park poses a parking guidance system that primarily based on the use of message signs to give drivers information regarding parking availability inside the car park. The availability of parking lot inside car park normally is obtained from the sensors that count the number of cars entering and exiting or, in other cases, by comparing the ticket issued at machines. This information is sent to a computer that processes it and availability is generally expressed in terms of “full” or “empty”. In some cases the actual numbers of parking lots are given.

            Every car park owners have their different parking guidance system. The wider use high technology like sensor and wireless communication in some parking guidance systems have successfully attract and meet the requirement of customers. Three car parks and parking guidance system are list as followed:

Case 1: The Baltimore/Washington Airport Car Park

Smart Park, Baltimore/Washington Airport parking system is one of example of parking system to guide car drivers within parking facilities to empty parking lots. It is an automated parking guidance system intended to make finding a parking lit quick and hassle free at the Baltimore/Washington Airport. This system is currently available in all parking lots in the new Daily A Garage and on Level 2 of Hourly Garage.

            At car park entrance, ultrasonic sensors mounted over each parking lot are used to monitor the vacancy status of each parking lot and a display board is used to display the number of parking lots available in car park.

             

Figure: Parking Lot at Baltimore/Washington Airport.

            After entering the car park, car drivers will see a green arrow as shown in figure below is used direct them to lanes with vacant parking lot.

Figure: Green Arrow Indicator to Direct Car Driver to Empty Parking Lot

            At the same time, to prevent car drivers enter the lane that does not has empty parking lot, red light indicates lanes where no parking lots are available. Once parking spaces are fully deployed, electronic signs at both hourly and daily entrance plazas will reflect the status of vacant parking spaces on each level.

Case 2:  Plaza Low Yat Car Park System

            Plaza Low Yat parking system is one of example of local in-door car park in Kuala Lumpur that guide car driver to available car park.

                                                                                                            

Figure: message sign board to guide car driver to park their car

            At the same time, to easy car drivers remember where locations of their car, a message board which indicates the zone and row of parking lot inside car park as shown below is else can be found here.

Figure: message sign board indicates the zone and row of parking lot

When car drivers want to go out from this car park, a message board is used to prevent the congestion inside car park and ways car drivers find out the exit of car park. Message sign boards that indicate KELUAR as shown in figure below will guide car divers go out from this car park.

Figure: message sign board to guide car driver go out the car park

Case 3: Plaza Singapore car park system

            Plaza Singapore has introduced ST Electronics’ user friendly parking guidance system. With the multiple space display boards positioned at the strategic locations, drivers can get real time information guiding them to the areas where parking lots are available.

            With this system, even when car park is full, car drivers need not wait at the car park entrance and be allowed entry the car park anytime. This is because whenever a car park lots is vacated, a sensor will automatically signal the car parking management system allow another vehicle to enter. This will prevent a long queue of car from forming at the entrance point. Figure below shows at the entrance to the car park, a main parking lot display board indicates the availability of parking lots for the various levels within the car park. This display board allows car drivers to know the total parking lot at each level of car park.

           

Figure: main parking lot display board at the entrance car park

This car park also uses vehicle detection bar located at the entrance and exit of each level.

Figure: vehicle detection bar

            Therefore, whenever a vehicle enters a particular level, another sub-display board as shown in figure below will immediately update the display board at the level even before the vehicle park into the parking lot. With this way, the driver of the next vehicle will not be misled into entering that level, only to find the lot being taken.

Figure: display board at the entrance to each level

The comparison of parking guidance system in car park case studies

            The comparison of parking guidance system in car park case studies is shown in table below. This table clearly shows some foreign car parks already improve the parking guidance system inside car park by applying sensor to detect the availability of parking lot inside car park and display the availability of parking lots inside car park in message display board to help car drivers to easily locate the empty parking lot. Therefore, these foreign car parks are more user friendly than some local car parks.

Problem Statement

Problem Statement

One of the major problems of traffic congestion at public area is the “searching for parking space” that effect in tremendous loss in several aspects that causes traffic congestion. It may be detailed out as follows:

i.          Difficulty in finding available parking space

Without any information of parking activities and situation in the parking area, drivers normally drive their vehicle from lane to lane, zone to zone, and level to level to search for a parking space. They have no any specific destination to park their vehicles because they do not know the parking availability until they reach to the parking area.

ii.          Traffic congestion

Many people often drive around the parking area until they find a parking space. The situation worsen and adds more vehicles on the specific area at that point in time due to people tend to drive much slower when they are searching for a parking space. The long queue of car waiting for vacancies in parking area is a common scenario that happens everywhere includes on street parking areas, inside and outside the shopping malls or public areas.

iii.         Time wasting in searching parking space

The traffic congestion in parking area also is waste of travel time. People have to face challenging parking task because car drivers such as shoppers, office workers, tourist, and businessman have to drive around looking for an empty lot. The scenario much more complicated when multiple users are looking for a parking lot in a crowded area. Subsequently, competition among drivers occurs when multiple vehicles simultaneously receive an indication of an available parking spot. However, only one vehicle will successfully get the space, while others have to repeat the process of searching in the new parking location. Obviously, people have to waste their time in searching and waiting just only to get a parking lot.

iv.        Poor parking service effects on productivity

Inefficient parking system may effects on sales and productivity. Store owners either in shopping mall may lose business profits if people avoid to go to the parking areas that poor in management. People who trapped in the congestion parking areas may affect their routine activities and workers will late in their appointments.

v.         High frustration and stress level among drivers

The combination of the problems above will contribute to other physical and psychological problems. The crowded situation, air and noise pollution and wasted time.

Objective

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the project are:

a)    Study and learn how to control the hardware in order to develop a good product can be matched the commercial market requirement.

b)    Study and learn the functionality if the PIC so that it can be applied in electronic control system.

c)    To practice electronic cicuit design with the circuit design and simulation software.

d)    To learn the skill of layout PCB fabrication.

e)    To learn the skill of IC programming.

f)     To develop a prototype of product to improve the design of local car park parking lot guidance system in order to help car drivers to easy locate parking lot available.

Overview

OVERVIEW

Nowadays many local car parks are built inside shopping mall or multipurpose building to provide parking lot to car driver. Car park inside a building is become popular in many shopping central because it user friendly and can prevent car from exposing to the sunlight. This type of car park normally poses a parking guidance system that primarily based on the use of message signs to give drivers information regarding parking availability inside the car park. The availability of parking lot inside car park normally is obtained from the sensor that count the number of cars entering and exiting or, in other cases, by comparing the tickets issued at machines. This information of parking lot availability inside car park is generally expressed in terms of ‘full’ or ‘empty’ on display board at the entry of car park. The actual number of parking availability inside car park is rarely given.

            Everyday, hundreds of cars enter the car park and looking for empty parking lot inside car park. Therefore, it is difficult to find out an empty parking lot. Inside most local car park, car drivers sill need to find out an empty parking lot themselves. They will definitely waste a lot time for searching an empty parking lots if they do not know where they are, especially when there are only a few of empty parking lot available at each row of parking lot. Therefore, it is important to have an effective empty parking lot tracking system to display empty parking available at each row of parking lot and guide car driver to there.

            The development of this project prototype can act as way-finder to guide car driver inside the car park to parking lot available inside car park and guides car driver to go there. It is a PIC microcontroller based project. It uses the infrared sensor to detect the vacancy of each parking lot at a level of car park, sending signal to microcontroller to process and display total of available parking lot on seven segment display, at the same time, an arrow also used to shows the location of these available parking lots.