DESIGN AND STUDY OF A SMART PARK SYSTEM: UNIVERSITY OF KUFA AS A CASE STUDY

Abstract

Finding a vacant parking space nowadays is time and fuel consuming. This problem may cause drivers to get frustrated and eventually improper parking will appear. The universities, in particular, are one of these places, which needs more attention for providing parking services. Therefore, this study has focused on finding the parking required for such facilities and the benefit of applying smart parking services there. The main campus of the University of Kufa has been evaluated by collecting parking data for both on-street and off-street parking. The results of field data show a clear lack of parking space for most of the faculties in the main campus. The required additional parking spaces are 260.This study has suggested using the smart parks. The model of smart park system has been introduced by this study as a solution to the parking problem, especially in the university and generally in other places. Arduino and ultrasonic sensors were used to detect the empty places in a park and display this status to the screen. The model has been applied at the park of College of Engineering with encouraging results.