[001] Technical Field of the Invention

[002] The present invention relates in general to a vehicle parking and management system and in particular to a system and method for parking operation and management by identifying the available parking space and leading the vehicles to the parking space.

[003] Background of the Invention

[004] In many existing parking zones in places such as commercial buildings or shopping complexes, parking of vehicles is not done according to the size of vehicle or duration of parking. Manual or semi-manual parking systems need a lot of man power for directing and leading the vehicles to be parked at available parking zone. In fact getting parking space especially during the weekend (i.e. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday) or festival seasons is much in demand in shopping malls. None of the existing parking solutions efficiently allow the parking of vehicles by utilizing the parking area to the fullest. In most of the existing parking operations at the entry, the driver has few options such as either to collect the parking ticket from the ticket dispenser or insert pass card into the ticket dispenser or collect a ticket from an operation guy to get access to the parking area. On completion of this, the barrier gate opens up and allows the entry of the vehicle wherein vehicle is parked by the driver at his/her discretion depending upon the vacant space available. Many times, multilevel parking areas in shopping malls, cooperate campuses, hospitals, airports, public parking facility and the like are not designed properly to suit drivers' needs. In most of such places vacant slots available are displayed at the entrance of the parking area. The information regarding number of vacant spaces may be retrieved from the entry and exit gates of the parking area. Hence such systems don't give real time parking lot availability. Most of the times, finding a parking space in a multilevel parking space is a tedious and time consuming task. In the process of finding a vacant parking space drivers may have lot of confusion regarding whether the space is enough for their vehicle and also to identify a vacant space in partially filled parking space. In such cases a long queue may be formed outside the kiosk because of the parking confusions. During peak times the queue may extend to the entire drive way and even to the main road which chokes the entry of the parking space. The search for parking space in a partially filled parking area is time consuming as the driver has to keep searching for the parking slot through the half filled parking slots. Many times the driver may pass over a parking slot by mistake and later has to take a reverse in order to park in that slot. Taking reverse is dangerous as the next vehicle in the queue may not be watchful about such an action by the first vehicle or the second vehicle may have initiated a parking action already. Often in parking space a small car may be parked in a big parking lot resulting in non utilization of parking lot to the maximum because many big size vehicles won't be able to get a parking space even though space is available. Another major disadvantage of the existing parking facilities is that most of the activities such as guiding vehicles to the parking slot, guiding vehicles out of the parking space are done by human. Thus parking is more dependent on human beings and is more prone to error and time. Also it is not advisable for human beings to be inside the closed parking area for prolonged time because of the increased pollution.

[005] In many scenarios people have to go back to another place due to the lack of parking space in malls. There are many existing patents which disclose about various parking management and guiding systems. But none of the existing system manages the parking slot to the fullest and guides the vehicles to their respective parking slots without hassle.

[006] Hence there is need for a system which helps drivers to identify a parking slot, guiding the vehicle to the parking slot and also for the system which utilizes the available parking space to the maximum. Also needed is a system that allows the users to reserve their parking slot in advance according to their requirement.

[007] Summary of the Invention

[008] According to an embodiment, the invention discloses a system for automated parking management. The system includes a number of sensors for identifying parking activities in a parking area. The system also includes a parking sensing module communicably connected to the plurality of sensors and configured to analyze the parking activities in the parking area. The system also has a parking slot allocation module configured to receive data associated with the parking activities from the parking sensing module and to identify a parking slot for an entry vehicle based on one of user preference and system preference. The system also includes a parking assistance module configured to provide directional assistance to the entry vehicle for parking in the identified parking slot.

[009] According to an embodiment, the parking assistance module of the system includes a motion detecting module for detecting the movement of the entry vehicle. The system preference is based on either the size of the vehicle or duration of parking. The parking assistance module also includes a plurality of light sources for lighting a pathway to the identified parking slot according to the vehicle movement. The light source comprises at least one of a light emitting diodes (LEDs) or a serial bulb. In certain scenario light source includes a combination of two or more colored LEDs. The pathway to the identified parking slot is illuminated in a particular color for a particular vehicle.

[010] According to an embodiment, the parking assistance module includes audible indicators for assisting the entry vehicle to the identified parking slot.

[011] According to an embodiment, the system also includes a reservation module configured to enable the user to reserve a parking slot in advance. The reservation module enables the user to provide user preference for the parking slot [012] According to another embodiment, the invention discloses a method for automated parking management. The method includes step of recognizing available parking slots by using plurality of sensors. The method also includes step of receiving a plurality of vehicle entry and exit details from the sensor and user preferences for parking. The method also includes the step of identifying a parking slot for the vehicle either from the user preference or system preference and a step of directing the vehicle to the parking slot with the help of lighting source provided on the ground. The step of directing the vehicle to the parking slot includes step of detecting the motion of vehicle in the parking area and illuminating the light source according to vehicle movement and/or parking activity. The method further includes step of sending an alert to the user, wherein the alert indicates a deviation from the user preference.

[013] Thus, the system helps drivers to identify a parking slot and leading the vehicle to the parking slot and also utilizes the available parking space to the maximum.

[014] Brief Description of Drawings

[015] FIGURE 1 illustrates an exemplary environment in which systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention may be implemented.

[016] FIGURE 2 illustrates the block diagram for the system to manage parking of vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[017] FIGURE 3 illustrates flow chart of the method for managing parking of vehicles, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[018] FIGURE 4 illustrates flow chart of the method for directing the vehicle to the parking slot in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[019] FIGURES 5 - 11 illustrate various user interface present in the system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [020] FIGURES 12 - 16 illustrate various user interfaces present for SMS implementation of the system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[021] FIGURES 17 - 27 illustrate the various user interface present for mobile application of the system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[022] Detailed Description of the Invention

[023] Reference will now be made in detail to the description of the present subject matter, one or more examples of which are shown in figures. Each example is provided to explain the subject matter and not a limitation. Various changes and modifications obvious to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the invention.

[024] Before describing in detail embodiments that are in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of system components related to a system and method for managing parking operations. The invention gives a way to manage reservation of parking slots and various parking activities in a parking area.

[025] FIGURE 1 illustrates an exemplary environment in which systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention may be implemented. The network consists of several clients (101, 102, 103) where the system and method for managing parking operation is implemented. These clients (101, 102, 103) interact with server (105) and transmit the data required for the system and method for managing parking operation to various clients through a network

(104) . The server (105) uses various databases for receiving and correlating the various parking operations and guiding tasks. In some embodiments, the server

(105) may also connect to another server (106). [026] In practice, there will be more number of servers and clients. In some situations, a server may perform the functions of all the two servers (105, 106) illustrated in the FIGURE 1. It may be also contemplated that server may be one or many. It is also possible that in case of a standalone application mode, a server may not exist and all the logic may be implemented in the client.

[027] A client (101) may include any device such a personal computer, laptop, mobile device, tablet, set top box (STB), television (TV), gaming devices, or any other types of device that can support two way interactions with the user either using a graphical user interface or through other interface mechanisms such as voice or gesture or video. Thus, client (101) may be any device that is capable of displaying or receiving the information related to the system,

[028] In some cases all or part of the server configurations may be running on the client (101). In some cases, the client (101) may connect to multiple servers during the process of managing activity. In certain scenario, the client (101) may perform the functions of server or server may perform client functions.

[029] The above mentioned functions may be part of one server or several servers and each server may implement the functionalities of others. It may be possible that any of the server may be implemented using a cluster of servers involving two or more separate devices with all the other associated devices like load balancer, firewall , routers etc.

[030] Network (104) may include for example a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a Wide Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), a telephone network, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), an intranet, the Internet, a memory device, or a combination of networks. The network (104) may be wired, wireless, optical, or any other information transmission mechanisms.

[031] According to an embodiment, the invention discloses system to manage parking operation. Figure 2 illustrates the block diagram for the system. The system includes a plurality of sensors for performing various sensing activities. The plurality of sensors is placed in the entire parking area including entrance and exit to check whether the parking slots are occupied or empty. The system also includes a parking sensing module (202) communicably connected to the plurality of sensors and configured to analyze the parking activities in the parking area. The parking activities include entry, exit and parking of plurality of vehicles in the parking area. The system also includes a parking slot allocation module (204) configured to receive data associated with the parking activities from the parking sensing module (202) and to identify a parking slot for the vehicle based on one of an user preference or a system preference. The system further has a parking assistance module to provide directional assistance to the entry vehicle for parking in the identified parking slot.

[032] According to an embodiment of the invention, the system preference is based on at least one of the size of the vehicle and duration of parking. In certain scenario at the entrance the users are requested to provide details about the size of the vehicle as well as the duration for which the user requires parking. It is also envisaged to have an automatic size determining module which makes use of the various sensors to determine the size of the vehicle present at the kiosk for the user and leads the vehicle to a parking slot depending on the size of the parking slot.

[033] According to an embodiment of the invention, the parking assistance module (206) includes a motion detecting module for detecting the movement of the vehicle in the parking area. The parking assistance module (206) further includes a plurality of light sources for lighting a pathway to the identified parking slot according to the vehicle movement.

[034] According to another embodiment, the parking assistance module (206) further comprises a plurality of light sources for lighting a pathway to the identified parking slot according to the vehicle movement. The light sources may be embedded either on ground or on the ceiling of the pathway. The light source includes different light emitting diodes (LED) or serial bulbs. The pathway to the identified parking slot is illuminated in a particular color for a particular vehicle. For example the light source includes a light unit with four different colors LED. Such light sources may be embedded in the parking pathway as well as parking slot in order to guide the vehicle to their respective parking slot. The different color may blue, green, yellow and red. The red color shows the exit way always. And each vehicle on the queue to the parking slot may be assigned a particular color so that path to the identified slot will be illuminated using that color enabling the user to easily identify the parking slot. The assignment of color may be in such a way that the first vehicle has to follow blue color, second vehicle has to follow green color, third vehicle has to follow yellow color, fourth vehicle again follows the green color and so on. The light source explained above is by way of example only. It is envisaged to have lesser or more number of colored lights to guide the vehicle to their respective parking slot.

[035] According to another embodiment the parking assistance module (206) has audible indicators for assisting the entry vehicle to the identified parking slot. This audible indicator may be very much useful if the lighting sources fail.

[036] According to another embodiment of the invention, the system further has a reservation module (210) configured to enable the user to reserve a parking slot in advance. The reservation may be done online or through users mobile or through the kiosk in the entrance of the parking area. It is also possible to perform reservation in advance by sending a SMS from the user's mobile to the system. During the process of reservation the users are required to give details regarding the type of vehicle, time period for which parking is required. Once the user gives such data the system gives the user two options either to select the parking slot by them or to ask system to assign a parking slot for the user. Once the system assigns a parking slot the user is provided with a reference number which helps the user to proceed towards the parking slot reserved by the user. The user has to enter the reference number provided by the system during reservation on to the kiosk at the entrance of the parking area. Once the user enters the reference number the system illuminates the pathway with a particular colored light to lead the user to the designated parking lot. This avoids the unnecessary confusion which the drivers face during usual parking operation in a multilevel parking area. During the reservation the user has to provide details regarding time period for which the user intend to use the parking slot. So once the parking happens the system may send alert SMS to the user regarding the timing and the user has the option to renew the reservation and continue using the parking slot. The system also provides facility to have registered user which enables them to give rewards to the loyal as well as punctual users of the system.

[037] According to an embodiment of the invention the entry of a vehicle to a parking space is through a kiosk. At the kiosk user is presented with a user interface where the user may provide details regarding the type of the vehicle and the time period for which parking is required. Then the parking slot allocation module (204) identifies the parking slot based on the user inputs corresponding to the size of the vehicle, time period for which the parking is required and so on. For example, the system shows only the parking slots which is corresponding to the size of the vehicle the user has mentioned. If the user mentions that he wants to park the vehicle for a longer period of time then the system suggests only farther parking lots in order to provide convenience for all the users. Thus by specifying the type of vehicle by the user helps in identifying the best suited parking slot for each of the vehicle inside the parking area.

[038] Figures 5-11 illustrate the various user interfaces in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Figure 5 illustrates the welcome page of the system to manage parking operation. Here user may click on the enter button in order to get into the reservation module. Once the user enters the system, system displays various options such as Web booking, mobile application, SMS-short message service, tele calling and so on. If the user has already done a reservation then the user has to enter the code he has received during reservation. If the user has not reserved the parking slot then the user has to use the kiosk then the user has to click on next. The next user interface will get displayed which is illustrated in Figure 7and the user is requested to enter the car size, approximate time for which parking is required and also to enter the phone number in order to receive messages regarding his parking activity. Figure 8 illustrates the user interface for the user to select the parking slot. Here there are two set of user interface one in which the user by himself select the parking slot and another interface which lets the system to identify a parking slot. If the user has selected the option to choose the parking space by himself then the user is shown the user interface 8-11 in succession. Figure 8 illustrates the user interface which allows the user to select the level in which the user wants to park the vehicle. Once the user selects a particular level in which he wants to park the vehicle the user is shown the parking layout for the specified time by the user as shown in Figure 9. If the user selects a particular available slot the selected slot is highlighted as dotted line parking slot (1000) in Figure 10. The user is then provided with the available time slots for that particular parking slot as shown in Figure 10a. The selected parking slot is marked in dotted lines and marked as (1001). Once the user confirms the selection of the parking slot user is shown the path to his parking slot in the user interface with a particular colored light as shown in Figure 11. The dotted line (1001) indicates the lighted pathway to the parking slot from the kiosk. Once the user completes the procedure in the kiosk the user is guided to the selected parking slot by the parking assistance module (206). The user has to follow the path illuminated by the lighting source with the particular color.

[039] According to an embodiment, the invention also has a SMS (Short Messaging Service) reservation facility which helps the users in reserving the parking lot by sending SMS to the system. Figures 12-16 illustrate the various stages in SMS booking. Figure 12 illustrates the message send to the system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention where the user has to enter <Book parking > and send the SMS to the number 77070. The number depends upon the service providers of the user. Once the message is received by the system the system sends back a message asking the user to select the place in which the user requires parking. Once the user selects the place in which the user wants to book the place by sending the options to the specified number for e.g.: <01>77070. Figure 13 illustrates the SMS send by the user and the next message received by the user. The user is asked to select the size of the car by the system. The user is required to send SMS to the system by specifying the size option of the vehicle. Once the system receives the size option user is being asked to select the parking time as shown in Figure 14. Once the user sends the SMS mentioning timing to the system the user receives the space availability details and the floors in which the space is available as illustrated in Figure 15. After the user sends the parking floor selected, the user receives a confirmation message with a code as illustrated in Figure 16. The user uses the received code at the parking space for parking the vehicle. The user has to provide the parking space kiosk with the code received. This in turn activates the lighting source at the parking area which directs the user to the reserved parking slot.

[040] Figures 17- 27 illustrate the various user interfaces for the mobile application in accordance with an embodiment of the. Figure 17 illustrates the mobile interface displaying various applications. Once the user select the particular application for reserving the parking the system mobile starts loading the application as shown in Figure 18. Once the application gets loaded the user is asked to enter their smart card number if they are already registered other wise user has to get registered. If the user is already registered then the user has to enter one's smart card number and then the user is asked to select the place to book their parking space. Once the user selects the parking space then the user is asked to select the parking time. Figure 20 illustrates that Garuda mall has been selected by the user. Figure 21 illustrates that the user has selected Podium 1 whereas Figure 22 shows that timing between 7pm-9pm selected. After selecting the time slot user is requested to select the parking zone on podium level 1. Figure 23 illustrates that the user has selected zone D. After selecting the parking zone the user is requested to select a slot in on the parking space. Figure 24 illustrates that the user has selected space D7 in parking zone D. Once the user selects the parking slot in the parking zone user is provided with a kiosk code for entering the parking space. Figure 25 illustrates a sample Kiosk code send to the user. Then the user is prompted for 3 ways of payment option as shown in Figure 26. User may either pay money or may pay later during the entrance to the mall. After the user receives the kiosk code, user has to provide the received code to the kiosk at the time of entrance to the parking area. Once the user kiosk code to the kiosk, the user is guided by the lighting source to the reserved parking slot. Further the system is capable of reminding the user about the already done reservations and also provides means to cancel or amend reservation already done.

[041] According to an embodiment, the system is configured to provide access to the parking area by means of smart cards. The user has to swipe the card in order to get access to the parking area. In certain scenario the card may be automatically detected by the system at the entrance. The smart card contains the details for identifying the user, type of the vehicle and also regarding the reservation details. The smart card may be either prepaid or post paid which is to be used in multiple parking areas. So at the kiosk the user has to swipe the card and then the user is asked to mention the parking time required if the user is not done a reservation for parking. If the user has already done a reservation then the kiosk automatically determines the user's reservation and the barrier gate gets opened for the user. The pathway to the reserved parking slot gets illuminated guiding the vehicle to the reserved parking slot.

[042] According to an embodiment, the invention discloses a method for managing motor vehicle parking. The method includes step (302) of recognizing available parking slots by using plurality of sensors. The parking slots in the parking area are built-in with a number of sensors which is capable of identifying the vacant parking slots in the parking area. The sensor may include one of an ultrasonic, mechanical, electrical, electromagnetic, inductive and optical device capable of detecting the parking status of a parking slot. The method further includes step (304) of receiving data regarding plurality of vehicle entry and exit details from the sensors and user preferences for parking. The method also has step (306) of identifying a parking slot for the vehicle either from the user preference or system preference. The system may provide a nearest or farthest parking slot depending on the time period for which parking is required or depending on the size of the vehicle. If a user wants to park the vehicle for longer period of time then the system provides with a farthest parking slot.

[043] The method also includes step (308) of directing the vehicle to the parking slot with the help of lighting source provided on the ground. The step (308) of directing the vehicle to the parking slot also includes step (308a) of detecting the motion of vehicle in the parking area. The method further includes the step (308b) of illuminating the light source according to at least one of vehicle movement and parking activity. Here each vehicle in the queue for parking is expected to follow a particular color. The path to the particular slot is illuminated with that particular color so that each vehicle may proceed to the designated parking slot by following the illuminated color. The method further includes step of sending an alert to the user, in which the alert indicates a deviation from the user preference.

[044] The method as described above includes a series of steps and their order of execution in the embodiments of the invention illustrated and described herein is not essential, unless otherwise specified. That is, the steps may be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and embodiments of the invention may include additional or fewer steps than those disclosed herein. It may be envisioned that executing or performing a particular step before, contemporaneously with, or after another step is within the scope of the invention.

[045] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein may be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.