Smart Parking System with IoT

Based on the findings of leading analytics organizations, an average person living in a metropolitan city wastes around 17 hours each year by driving around trying to find a parking spot. In this paper, we will be attempting to solve this problem by using a microcontroller module and IR sensors that work in tandem with an IoT (Internet of Things) system. The prototype consists of a NodeMCU ESP8266 wifi module with a built-in microcontroller and 5 IR sensors. The microcontroller module receives the data gathered by the 5 IR sensors, two of which are placed at the entrance and exit gates while the other three are placed at the respective parking spots to detect whether that spot is occupied or not. The microcontroller module then uploads the received data to the IoT system which then uses the data to guide the driver to a free parking spot. When implementing this concept, we find that the driver experiences a much less tedious and much more time-efficient process when parking his/her vehicle.