Parking bay sensor
Finding a parking space can be stressful, never mind the cost to your pocket and the environment as you drive around looking for that precious space. The ‘parking patch’ is here to help.  It brings together wireless sensors and a mobile phone app to steer drivers towards those elusive vacant spots, and allows traffic wardens to track down parking offenders.

The idea began when computer networking specialist, Adrian Bone, CEO of Deteq Solutions, wanted to capture information about one of his client’s car fleets. Bone's solution, developed with company co-founder John Bartington at the University of Essex in Colchester, is to attach a low cost battery-powered sensor, like a cat’s eye, to the road surface in each parking bay. Using a wireless connector it simply detects if there is a car above it and gathers this information in a database. It is then possible to determine where car parking spaces are located.

Faster updates
The smartphone app updates the driver approaching a destination and gives directions to the nearest available parking space. The technology is also very useful for traffic wardens, who can use it to track down illegally parked cars, rather than waste time patrolling the neighbourhood.  With thousands of spaces to process it was important to pare down the data to an absolute minimum. It takes a minimum of 5 seconds for a car to pull out and another car to pull in to a space, so getting the data to update quickly is a key to the sensor’s success.

Bone explains, ‘We’ve got ours down to under three seconds which was a really tough challenge and that has given us an edge over everyone else. We were very keen to get the cost down so all the components are recyclable, battery powered, there’s no infra structure, you stick them to the road and the other part to a lamp post. When it’s finished it can be removed.’

Exciting possibilities
The parking patch is getting a lot interest from local councils, hospitals and supermarkets, and satellite navigation producers. They are excited by the possibilities for developing their idea further. Reducing electricity consumption in car parks is just one of them. For now the smart parking sensor is making life easier and greener for drivers in its pilot test at the Sussex Innovation Centre.