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ROBOTIC CAR PARKING SYSTEM
-A solution to the conventional Car Parking Systems
Kshitiz Vishnoi *, Akhilesh Pillai, Sanoob Mohammed & Yashodan Karkarey
Mechanical Engineering , PIIT, New Panvel
kshitiz_vishnoi@yahoo.co.in
aspillai@student.mes.ac.in
m.sanoob@yahoo.com
yash_09@live.com
Key words: Robotic, Car parking, PLC, RFID
Abstract
In metropolitan cities, vehicle parking has become a major concern in all busy areas and a good
traffic system needs a good parking system. Different types of vehicle parking are applied
worldwide namely Multi-level Automated Car Parking, Automated Car Parking System,
Volkswagen Car Parking, etc. The aim of this project is to design and build a prototype of an
automated parking system which will automatically park and retrieve the vehicle without the
driver. The driver will park his vehicle on a pallet at the platform of the car park. The robotic
arm mechanism is used for driving the parking platform. After the driver swipe the RFID card
for the desired parking space on the control panel, the vehicle will be transported to that parking
space. In order to retrieve the vehicle, the driver will again swipe that RFID card for his vehicle
on the control panel. The system will retrieve the vehicle from the parking space and send it back
to the original position where the driver is waiting. Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is
used in the design of the prototype of the automated parking system and to control the
movement, needed to transport and retrieve the vehicle, to and from, the available parking space
based on the signal from the driver. A program is required to run for the PLC using CX-
Programmer by drawing ladder diagram. By testing and analyzing the working model, we can
definitely get the view to develop the convenient parking facility near the commercial areas. At
prototype level, it has been attempted and presented in the seminars.
Introduction
It is very frequent for people using their cars
as a means of transportation to still walk
considerable distances from the place they
parked to their destination of interest or to
work and conventional parking like open
lots, above ground, underground and on
street parking, dedicated buildings etc. are
generally being in use. But problems are
associated with such conventional parking
concept. As these are large in size because
of inefficient use of space. It is difficult for
municipalities as well as the private sector
for the development of parking place in
central business area due to the non-
availability of such a large parking space.
Also in central part of cities will impose cost
and surface restrictions on the feasibility of
new projects.
We have seen how conventional parking
systems (Fig-1), multilevel ramp parking
(Fig-2) have reached their limitations. The
increasing number of vehicles on the road,
and along with shrinking conventional
parking areas, has caused lot of parking
problems, particularly in urban areas. As
many of India’s existing and newer cities are
getting urbanized, parking is getting more
inconvenient because of diminishing parking
spaces. One of the more convenient ways
overcome such problems, is by means of
Robotic Car Parking Systems (Fig-3).
Fig-1: Conventional parking system
Fig-2: Multi level parking system
Therefore, Automated parking is a solution
to overcome such parking problems. This
method of automatically parking and
retrieving cars or vehicles to solve the
problem of increasing demand for safe and
convenient parking as the number of
vehicles are increasing day by day. The
driver parks his car at the entrance of the car
park structure and from there; the car is
automatically moved through the garage and
stored in an open parking space. All these
are done by utilizing computer controlled
system of pallets, conveyors, shuttles,
carriers and lifts in transporting cars from
the arrival level to a parking space and vice
versa without human assistance. Later the
car will be returned to the driver using a
signaling device outside the building.
Fig-3: Automatic/ Robotic car parking system
Methodology:
This is demonstration and prototype project.
It is a combine effort of mechanical,
electrical and electronics for an automatic
car parking zone system using PLC control.
The basic requirement here is to design and
implement an elevator with electric motor.
The elevator should able to fetch car and
move up. Here, PLC is used to control all
the activities. The input devices like sensor,
switches will send a signal to PLC and PLC
will made a response. The response
normally involves turning ON and OFF an
output signal to some of devices. The
motion of the elevator is again controlled by
PLC. Some of the measure components are
list below along with Fig-4 & 5.
1. PLC AS CONTROLLER
2. STEPPER MOTOR
3. LINEAR BALL BEARING
4. FLEXIBLE BEAM COUPLING
5. IR SENSOR
6. SMOOTH RODS
7. THREADED RODS
8. FLANGE NUT
9. TIMMING BELT
10. RFID
11. BAKELITE
12. AURDINO
13. ALIMINIUM CHANNELS
14. DEMO CARS
15. CONNECTORS
16. PLC AS CONTROLLER
17. STEPPER MOTOR
18. LINEAR BALL BEARING
19. FLEXIBLE BEAM COUPLING
20. IR SENSOR
21. SMOOTH RODS
22. THREADED RODS
23. FLANGE NUT
24. TIMMING BELT
25. RFID
26. AURDINO
27. ALIMINIUM CHANNELS
28. DEMO CARS
29. CONNECTORS
Fig-4: ARDINO circuit components
Advantages:
1) Space Saving:
A.P.T. Parking’s automated parking system
can use 40% less surface area compared to a
conventional garage to fit the same number
of parking spaces. More importantly, A.P.T.
Parking’s automated parking garage can
save up to 60% of the cubic feet of a garage
leaving more space for other more profitable
uses.
2) Vehicle Security:
The vehicle is as safe if placed inside a bank
vault. Once a driver parks his vehicle in an
entry cabin and turns off the engine, the
driver is the last person to touch the vehicle.
The vehicle is moved by the parking
equipment until it is stored in its computer
assigned parking space inside the garage
Storage Vault. No person has access to the
Storage Vault and no equipment ever
touches the vehicle. The driver is the only
person who has access to his/her vehicle so
she/she can leave his/her belongings safety
inside in vehicle. No risk of Dents from
Fig-5: Mechanical Structure model
other drivers opening doors into your
vehicle. No risk of Damage from other
drivers backing into your vehicle
3) Personal Safety:
Personal safety is optimized because a driver
never leaves the safe and comfortable
confines of the well-lit entry cabin. The
entry cabins are conveniently located and
well monitored so there is no walking
aimlessly through a garage searching for
your parked vehicle. No driver ever has to
walk alone through a garage or a dark
stairwell to retrieve his vehicle.
4) No risk of Physical Harm
A.P.T. Parking Technologies is an active
participant in the green building boom. Our
automated parking system is
environmentally responsible by eliminating
harmful vehicle toxic. No CO
2
Emissions as
vehicle engines are off during entire storage
and retrieval process
No Fuel Usage driving up and down ramps
searching for a parking space or exit
Lower Noise Pollution as no tires screeching
up and down ramps and no horns honking
Reduced Building Footprint permits the
balance of a site to be dedicated to other
“green” features.
5) Design flexibility:
Automated parking’s module concept is
ideal for office buildings, residential
buildings, mixed-use buildings, airports,
hotels, and transit centers. Automated
parking garages can be built aboveground,
belowground or both and can include any
façade to match a neighboring building or
historic neighborhood. Lower construction
costs and low operation costs because costly
construction components are eliminated.
Prototype Model:
Fig-6: Prototype Model of Car parking system
Our prototype model (Fig-6) represents what
would be the construction and working of an
actual robotic car parking system. The main
structures of the system are the parking rack,
made of acrylic material, and the Robotic
Arm. The system utilizes a PLC, which is
the main controlling part, as it controls the
movement of the Robotic Arm, and thereby
stores the vehicle that is to be parked at the
available parking slot, and retrieves the
vehicle upon being given the signal. Stepper
motors are used to provide the required
movement of the robotic arm, with 3 motors
being used, one for each axis of movement.
The smooth rods and the threaded rods act
as guide ways for the movement of the
robotic arm in all the three axes of direction,
i.e. X-, Y-, and Z-axis respectively. The
feedback for the movement of the robotic
arm is provided by 3 pairs of IR sensors,
each pair positioned at either end of the
corresponding axis. Other components such
as Flange mount, Flexible Beam Coupler,
timing belt, Arduino, etc. complete the
entire system. The system is also paired with
an RFID card reader system, so that a
particular car corresponding to a particular
RFID card can be stored and retrieved, by
identifying and recognizing the car’s
corresponding card. These parts in total
complete our car parking system.
Conclusion and Discussion:
We have seen how conventional parking
systems have reached their limitations. The
increasing number of vehicles on the road,
and along with shrinking conventional
parking areas, has caused lot of parking
problems, particularly in urban areas. As
many of India’s existing and newer cities are
getting urbanized, parking is getting more
inconvenient because of diminishing parking
spaces. One of the more convenient ways
overcome such problems, is by means of
Robotic Car Parking Systems.
Robotic car parking systems helps utilize
existing and newly created parking spaces in
an optimum manner. Though still at a
nascent stage in India, robotic car parking
will help us utilize the ever-shrinking
parking space in better ways, particularly in
urban areas. By taking up this project, we
have understood the basic requirements, the
functioning, and the abilities of such types
of vehicular parking systems.
While there are existing robotic car parking
systems in India, they are implemented on a
small scale. To highlight the fact that such a
type of parking system has huge potential in
India, we have considered a possible what if
scenario, that is, what if this type of parking
system were to be implemented in an
existing parking area which has reached its
limitations by conventional parking system.
For this, we have considered the possibility
of implementation of a robotic car parking
system in Nehru Palace, in Delhi. By our
estimate, not only better space utilization
can be achieved by means of obtaining more
parking spaces from an existing area, but the
time and money savings are also substantial.
Thus, there is a huge potential for robotic
car parking systems in India, as they help us
utilize existing parking spaces better and
help reduce pollution, time wastage and
stresses caused due to parking issues.
Acknowledgements
Authors express their gratitude to
Dr.Dhanraj.P.Tambuskar, HOD, Mechanical
Department , PIIT , New Panvel , for his
guidance and support.
References
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3. E.A Parr, Industrial control
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P.E.(1989),”Enhancing PLC
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Khurmi Gupta.