What is smart parking? What are the core technologies?

What is smart parking? Smart parking refers to the application of wireless communication technology, mobile terminal technology, GPS positioning technology, GIS technology, etc. to the collection, management, query, reservation and navigation services of urban parking spaces, realizing the integration of real-time update, query, reservation and navigation services of parking space resources, maximizing the utilization rate of parking space resources, maximizing the profits of parking lots and optimizing parking services for car owners.

The "intelligence" of smart parking is reflected in: "intelligent parking space search + automatic parking fee payment". It serves car owners' daily parking, staggered parking, parking space rental, automotive aftermarket services, reverse car search, and parking space navigation.

Offline intelligence is reflected in the fact that it allows parkers to park in parking spaces more easily. First, it allows for quick passage, avoiding the problems of parking lots being managed by people, charging fees that are not transparent, and time-consuming to enter and exit parking lots. Second, it provides special parking spaces, such as parking spaces for large vehicles, parking spaces for novice drivers, parking spaces for charging piles, and other diversified and personalized consumer upgrade services. Third, it allows more cars to be parked in the same space.

The purpose of smart parking is to make it easier for car owners to find parking spaces, including offline and online intelligence. Online intelligence means that car owners can use mobile phone apps, WeChat, and Alipay to obtain information about parking lots, parking space availability, charging standards, whether they can be booked, whether they can charge, and sharing services at designated locations, and realize prepayment and online checkout functions. Offline intelligence means that it is easier for parkers to park in parking spaces.

The first is quick passage, avoiding the problems of parking lots being managed by people, charging fees that are not transparent, and time-consuming to enter and exit parking lots in the past.

The second is to provide special parking spaces, such as parking spaces for large vehicles, parking spaces for novice drivers, parking spaces for charging piles, and other diversified and personalized consumer upgrade services.

The third is to park more cars in the same space. For example, a multi-story parking garage can expand the number of cars parked per unit space; shared parking can solve the problem of parking vehicles in different time periods.

In the process of building a smart parking system, the following technologies are mainly applied and involved:

1. License Plate Recognition Technology

License plate recognition is an automatic pattern recognition technology that uses dynamic video or static images of vehicles to perform license plate number and license plate color recognition. The core of the technology includes license plate positioning algorithm, license plate character segmentation algorithm and optical character recognition algorithm. A complete license plate recognition system should include vehicle detection, image acquisition, license plate recognition and other parts.

The parking lot can realize automatic time-based charging of vehicles by installing license plate recognition equipment at the exit, recording the vehicle's license plate number and entry and exit time, and combining it with the control of automatic doors and barriers. When the vehicle detection part detects the arrival of a vehicle, it triggers the image acquisition unit to collect the current video image. The license plate recognition unit processes the image, locates the license plate position, and then separates the characters in the license plate for recognition, and finally outputs the license plate number.

2. Parking Guidance Technology

Parking guidance technology is a very important part of the development of smart parking. It can help car owners find parking spaces quickly, avoid blind driving, eliminate the trouble of finding cars, effectively improve the utilization rate of traffic roads and alleviate vehicle congestion. The mainstream parking lot smart parking guidance in the market now includes two types: ultrasonic and video.

1. Ultrasonic parking guidance system

Ultrasonic detectors are installed above the parking spaces to detect whether there are parking spaces below the parking spaces by using the characteristics of ultrasonic reflection, so as to guide the vehicle through the system. The ultrasonic guidance system is suitable for parking lots with heavy traffic and tight parking spaces. It can help car owners quickly and in real time understand the available parking spaces in the parking lot, so as to park quickly and efficiently.

2. Video parking guidance system

The camera is installed above the parking space, and the video is used to analyze whether there is a parking space below the parking space, so as to guide the vehicle through the system. The video guidance and car search system is suitable for large commercial plazas and airports with large traffic volume and relatively chaotic management.

3. Reverse car search technology

In large parking lots such as shopping malls and shopping centers, car owners often get lost and cannot find their vehicles when returning to the parking lot due to the large parking space, similar environment and landmarks, and difficult to distinguish directions. The reverse vehicle retrieval system detects the vehicle through a video parking detector, and the video is then transmitted to the identification terminal through a switch. After identifying the license plate and parking space information, it is transmitted to the data server through Ethernet and finally shared to each query terminal. Users only need to enter the license plate number or other relevant information on the query terminal to help them find the parking area as soon as possible.

4. Mobile payment for parking fees

Traditional parking lot payment is generally based on cash payment, and the fee is collected manually. However, there are too many loopholes in manual collection. Property management personnel cannot always know the collection situation, statistical reports are not timely, and manpower and material resources are wasted, and the cost is high. In the "Internet +" parking environment, many parking lots have upgraded and improved the parking process by laying smart devices, and guided users to pay online. This saves parking time to a certain extent and also brings convenience to parking lot management.

To solve the problem of "difficult parking", the smart parking model has a high degree of recognition and support in the minds of the public and is regarded as an effective means to solve the problem of static traffic in cities. Of course, if it is to be popularized, more high-tech needs to be used.

5. One-click call video intercom system

Emergency events such as vehicle scratches and collisions, occupied parking spaces, and the inability to open and close barriers due to various problems often occur in parking lots. Therefore, the one-button call intercom system is still a necessary system for parking lots, and its role in unmanned parking lots will become more important.

There are few parking spots, the distance is far, and it is difficult for fixed personnel to stay on duty 24 hours a day. These common problems of the one-button call intercom system used in traditional parking lots will become particularly prominent in unmanned parking lots. The new generation of one-button call intercom system not only solves these problems, but also enables the one-button call intercom system to play its original role, which can greatly improve the user experience of unmanned parking lots, achieve fast (convenient service), accurate (precise problems), clear (clear communication), zero (zero-distance communication), and reduce the comprehensive operating costs of parking lots. To achieve the above requirements, it is necessary to

1) Audio and video processing (including hardware terminals and cloud), audio and video Internet communications, mobile Internet and other technologies improve the user experience of products and better serve customers.

2) Cloud architecture enables centralized operation and maintenance and scheduling, reducing overall costs.

The one-touch video intercom system ensures a closed loop of the overall unattended solution and provides a perfect customer service experience.

To achieve the problem of "unattended parking deployment", the smart parking model has a high degree of recognition and support in the minds of the public and is regarded as an effective means to solve the problem of static traffic in cities. Of course, if it is to be popularized, more high-tech needs to be used.

6. Big data management combined with remote operation and maintenance

Based on the continuous accumulation of daily operational data of managers and car owners, the customer's hardware system is connected to the Internet through the intelligent management platform to generate a big data platform. Customers can remotely maintain system hardware, greatly improving their management efficiency. At the same time, the big data platform analyzes vehicle flow, passenger flow, and information flow to provide data support for customers' business decisions, promote customer business transformation, and increase operational revenue. The big data platform business is particularly suitable for large-scale networked group property management.