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Parking guidance systems eliminate the me and frustraon drivers spend looking for a parking space. At the same me, the system enables the car park to be fully ulised leading to increased car parking revenue. Kevin Sheldrake, business development manager at Carlo Gavazzi UK, outlines the benefits of a car park guidance system to both drivers and car park operators alike
riving round and round a car park looking for a space in which to park can be extremely annoying. According to
research by the British Parking Association, 39 per cent of motorists say finding somewhere to park is a stressful experience, while car parks that are difficult to navigate frustrated 27 per cent of drivers.
Trying to find a car park space wastes time, it wastes fuel, and it increases vehicle emissions. What’s more it is unnecessary when a smart parking guidance system can guide a driver swiftly to a vacant space by the shortest route, making for a more enjoyable visitor experience. Finding an appropriate parking space is particularly important for drivers with young children or for those with special needs who require bays with dedicated pushchair or wheelchair access. Similarly, owners of electric vehicles will need to find those bays fitted with electric charging points.
Dynamic signs
On entering a car park, a parking guidance system will guide a driver to an area with vacant spaces using dynamic signs that incorporate green arrows to indicate the direction in which to drive. Once in the proximity of the space, drivers are guided to the vacant space by vibrant LED indicator mounted above each space. The LEDs turn from green to red to indicate that the space is occupied. It is a simple solution that delivers results: it ensures the time and frustration drivers would spend looking for a space are almost completely eliminated; delivering increased customer satisfaction and ensures drivers will want to return to that particular car park. At the same time, from the operator’s perspective, the system enables the car park to be fully
FOCUS: SMART BUILDINGS The quest for the best space
utilised, as soon as a space becomes available it is detected and indicated immediately, leading to increased car parking revenue.
Carlo Gavazzi’s car park guidance system has been developed over 10 years. It uses ultrasonic technology to detect if a space is occupied. The ultrasonic sensor has a built in LED indicator, eliminating the need for two separate devices to be installed. In addition, because the sensor's address is safely enclosed in the base, a damaged unit can easily be replaced without the need to reconfigure the system, which ensures its long-term reliability and minimal maintenance costs.
The car park guidance system also has the option to add energy saving functions to control car park lighting and ventilation utilising Carlo Gavazzi's smart building control range of products. Pedestrian lighting, for example, can be controlled using presence detectors. Similarly, ventilation fan speed can be adjusted based on carbon monoxide levels. This can lead to significant energy savings because the power required to move air through the fan varies as a cube of the air volume, so a small reduction in fan speed can reap significant power savings.
In addition, Carlo Gavazzi’s active occupancy management function further increases energy savings in a multi-storey car park by filling it one level at a time, only opening the next level once the previous level is full.
Management software
A basic car park guidance system is comprised of a number of segments of ultrasonic sensors and direction displays linked by a three-wire Dupline bus, which supplies power and enables communication to each device. Each segment is driven by a master generator, which can manage up to 90 sensors. The car park controller links all the segments
together and performs the intelligent functions like reading the status of the sensors and updating the displays accordingly. In addition, the system is also easily scalable to allow for the possibility for expansion or phased development.
The system incorporates a web server-based car park management software to enable it to be accessed by different users and in different languages via a standard browser. The status of each bay and the displays can be monitored through the graphical user interface. Occupancy rates for the different types of spaces at the various levels and areas of the car park can be seen as graphs. Alarms such as ‘Space 2.25 exceeding max parking time’ or ‘Level 3 occupancy exceeds 90 per cent” pops up on the screen and go into the alarm log, allowing the operator to take immediate action. Carlo Gavazzi’s software includes a booking and reservation
management feature. By default, the sensors show a green LED light for vacant status and red for occupied status but the user can change the colour to one of their choosing at any time through the user interface should they want to reserve spaces for specific purposes or increase the number of disabled spaces or even to reserve a space for a VIP. Alternatively, an operator can schedule the change using the calendar function to take place on a particular day and time.
Automated functions
The car park controller is a web service and API, allowing third party software easy access to all of the data. This enables parking guidance to be integrated with other systems such as revenue management or building management, external signage or even smart phone apps. The automated functions and data of Carlo Gavazzi’s car park guidance system can become an integral part of a building’s BMS via the standard BACnet protocol.
Traffic management systems in smart cities can direct drivers to car parks with available spaces, easing congestion and saving time and fuel searching for somewhere to park their car. Once at a car park, it makes sense for there be a smart car park guidance system to direct a driver straight to an available space seamlessly.
www.carlogavazzi.co.uk/fieldbuses/car-park-guidance-system 22 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER SEPTEMBER 2019 Read the latest at:
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The car park guidance system also has the opon to add energy saving funcons to control car park lighng and venlaon
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uA smart parking system can guide a driver swily to a vacant space by the shortest route using a combinaon of dynamic signs that incorporate green arrows and LED indicators lights
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