Design, Simulation and Implementation of a Microcontroller Based Automatic Car Parking System

Abstract

Rapid growth in vehicle numbers has increased pressure on limited parking facilities, particularly in commercial areas and public offices. This study designed, simulated, constructed and evaluated a microcontroller-based automatic car parking control system with automatic gate shutdown. The system was simulated in Proteus using an ATmega328 microcontroller programmed in the Arduino language. Its principal units comprised two TCRT5000 infrared detectors for vehicle detection, a microcontroller, a servo motor, an LCD and a DC power supply. A prototype was constructed and tested to determine its sensitivity and accuracy in detecting vehicles entering and leaving the parking area and in controlling the entrance gate according to the recorded vehicle count. For vehicles entering the parking area, the system achieved a sensitivity of 98.40% and an accuracy of 94.42%. For vehicles leaving, the sensitivity and accuracy were 99.30% and 94.38%, respectively. The overall sensitivity was 98.85%, while the overall accuracy was 94.40%. These results indicate that the prototype detected and controlled most vehicle movements under the experimental conditions, although a small proportion of events was not correctly controlled. The system also displayed the parking status and operated the gate according to vehicle movement and available capacity. The developed prototype may support automated parking control in small parking facilities and reduce the manual effort and time associated with managing vehicle entry and exit.