Cost-Effective Real-time Parking Space Occupancy Detection System

The improvement of the efficiency of parking space usage in big cities is a key factor which can lead to reduced pollution, vast amounts of time saved by drivers, and reduced space needed for additional parking. Information gathered by parking space occupancy detection can be used to make smart decisions about future infrastructure improvements as well as for active traffic re-routing. In this paper, we take a look at the existing widely used parking space occupancy detection systems and analyze their drawbacks. As a solution to some of these drawbacks, we present the design and implementation of a cost-efficient parking space occupancy detection system that utilizes computer vision techniques for image classification on low-cost hardware. Lastly, we evaluate the feasibility of such a system in real-life conditions.