EEE231 DIGITAL ELECTRONICS LABORATORY

MINI PROJECT REPORT

TITLE:
SMART PARKING SYSTEM
(BASED ON COUNTER)

PREPARED BY:
SOH YAN YING
TAN CHANG HWA

(122630)
(121175)

Aim
The aim of this project is to design a smart parking system based on counter.

Objectives
The first objective of this project is to design a counter circuit using binary coded
decimal counter IC which is then the number is presented using a 7-segment display.
The second objective is to convert the output of the infrared receiver to the input of
UP count pin or DOWN count pin of 74LS192 IC to control the counting of the
counter circuit.
The third objective is to design a LED circuit which indicate whether the parking slots
are occupied or not.

Introduction
Searching for a parking space could be a big motoring headache, especially during
peak hours. The increase in number of cars recently has caused many traffic problems
such as traffic jam and shortage of parking slots. The motorists have to hover in the
parking area for a long time to seek for a parking slot. This is not only wasting their
time but also their money on petrol.
According to IBM Global Parking Survey, drivers have spent an average of
nearly 20 minutes in searching for a parking space globally. One in four (27%) of the
respondents self-reported being involved in an argument with a fellow driver over a
parking space.
Problem statement:
Below are commonly faced parking problems:
1) Difficulty in searching for a parking space
In cities, most of the motorists find it hard to search for an available parking
space, especially during peak hours. There are also some parking lots that
cannot be noticed easily, these parking lots might be wasted.
2) Time consuming in searching for a parking space
When the parking area is too crowded, the motorist might have to spend up to
hours driving around to search for an available parking space.
3) Traffic congestion
Motorists tend to drive slower when searching for a parking space so that they
will not miss any. This will lead to traffic congestion in the parking area.
As engineering students, we hope to help reduce this problem using the
knowledge we have in electrical and electronic engineering.

Solution proposed:
The solutions proposed to solve the problems state above are:
1) A system that counts and displays the number of cars in a parking area and the
total parking space in that parking area. This is to inform the motorist if there
are still available parking spaces in a parking area, helping them to decide
whether to enter the parking are or not. LDR is installed at each parking slot to
detect the presence of the car and show it using a LED.
2) A system that counts and displays the number of parking slot available at the
moment. Infrared sensor is installed at each parking slot to count up once
when a parking slot is occupied and count down once when a car leaves a
parking slot.
Design specification:
Operating voltage: 5V DC supply
Infrared sensor at the entrance and exit
LDR sensor at each parking slot
LED parking slot availability indicator
7-segment display as indicator of number of car

Solution chosen: 1st solution

The circuit consists of 2 parts, the first part is the counter circuit whereas the second
part is the parking slot availability indicator circuit. In this project, only 5 parking
slots are installed with the indicator.
In the first part, we install a pair of infrared(IR) LED and infrared(IR) receiver at the
entrance and also the exit of the parking area. When no car enters or leave the parking
area, the IR receiver will always receive the infrared and voltage across it will be low.
When a car enters or leave the parking area, infrared transmitted to the IR receiver
will be hindered and cannot be received by the receiver, voltage across IR receiver
will increase significantly.
Voltage of IR receiver at the entrance is then passed to a Schmitt trigger IC 7414
which the output will be connected to the UP count pin of IC 74192, whereas the
voltage of IR receiver at the exit is passed to Schmitt trigger and its output will be
connected to the DOWN count pin of IC 74192. When no car enters or leaves the
parking area, voltage of IR receivers are very low and the voltage in UP and DOWN
count pin is HIGH. Only when a car passes through the entrance for example, voltage
at DOWN count pin remains HIGH but voltage at UP count pin will change to LOW
and back to HIGH. This causes 74192 to count up once. 74192 will count down when
a car passes through the exit using the same principle at the DOWN count pin. The
CO pin and BO pin is connected to the UP count pin and DOWN count pin
respectively of the second IC 74192 to count the tens of the digit. We connect the
inputs A, B, C and D of both IC 74192 to ground so that the number on 7-segment
display start with 00 when switched on.
The second part of the circuit is to sense the presence of a vehicle at the parking space.
A green LED will be installed above each parking space, and it will remain on until
the parking space is occupied. Once the parking space is occupied, the green light
above it will turn off automatically. It will be much easier for the motorists to search
for available parking space as they will only have to look up and search for the
striking green lights.
How does this circuit work? It is the light dependant resistors (LDR) that allow the
LEDs to light up and turn off automatically. Light dependent resistor(LDR), also
called as Cadmium Sulphide (CdS) cell or photoresistor is a resistor whose value
depends upon the incident light intensity. In darkness, the resistance of LDR becomes
high and in light, the resistance gets low.
When the parking space is empty, the light falling onto the LDR (which is installed at
the centre of the parking space) causes its resistance to be low, thus the LED above
the parking space is switched on. When a vehicle parks at the parking space, it covers
the LDR, and the light intensity on the LDR decreases, causes the resistance of the
LDR to increase and thus switching off the green LED. The transistors in this circuit
acts as amplifiers to amplify the signals.

Methodology
Procedure
Firstly, we design the circuit and construct it on a breadboard. The complete
component list is as follows:
Component
7414 IC
74192 IC
7447 IC
7-segment display
Potentiometer 100k
Infrared(IR) LED
Infrared(IR) receiver
Resistor 330
Resistor 10k
Resistor 220k
LED
Light dependent resistor(LDR)
BC548 npn transistor

Amount
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
21
2
5
5
5
5

Apply DC voltage of 5V to the circuit and check whether both the 7-segment displays
show digit 0. If 0 is not shown on both 7-segment display, we troubleshoot the
connection of the circuit.
After that, we check whether all the LEDs are light up or not. We troubleshoot the
connection of the circuit if any of the LEDs is not lighted up.
Next, by using an opaque object such as an eraser to represent a car, we move the
eraser across the entrance and the exit of the parking area where the pair of infrared
LED and receiver are located head-to-head with distance of 2cm between them. This
is to interrupt the infrared from being received by the IR receiver. If the number on 7segment display does not count up when we move the eraser across the entrance or
does not count down when we move the eraser across the exit, we troubleshoot the
infrared LED and receiver.

Lastly, we cover the LDR of each parking slot with the eraser. When the LDR is
covered, if the LED of that parking slot is not turned off, we troubleshoot the LDR
circuit.

Flow chart
Start
Design and construct the circuit
on breadboard
Turn on the DC power supply
and apply 5V to the circuit.
Check whether both 7-segment
displays show 0

Do both the 7-segment

displays show 0?

Troubleshoot the
connection of the circuit

No

Yes
Check whether all the LEDs are on

Do all the LEDs light up?

Troubleshoot the
connection of the circuit

No

Yes
Move an opaque object across entrance and exit.

Does the number on the 7-segment

display counts up when the object passes
the entrance and counts down when the
object passes the exit?

Troubleshoot the IR LED

and receiver

No

Yes
Cover each LDR of every parking slot with opaque object

Troubleshoot the
connection of the circuit

Does the LED at the parking slot

lights off when its LDR is covered?

No

Yes
Result and Discussion

End

Counter circuit
For the IC 74192 to count up once, voltage at DOWN count pin must HIGH, while at
UP count pin, the voltage must goes from HIGH to LOW and HIGH again. For IC
74192 to count down once, voltage at UP count pin must HIGH whereas voltage at
DOWN count pin must goes from HIGH to LOW and HIGH again.
When a car enters through entrance, changes in voltage of IR receiver is:
VIR receiver(entrance)=0.5V VIR receiver(entrance)=4.8V VIR receiver(entrance)=0.5V
The changes in output voltage of Schmitt trigger IC which is also the change in
voltage at UP count pin of 74192 IC is:
VUP pin=4.46V VUP pin=0.2V VUP pin=4.46V
The voltage at the DOWN count pin remains as 4.46V. This causes the IC 74192 to
count up once when a car enters through the entrance.
When a car leaves the parking area through the exit, changes in voltage of the IR
receiver at the exit is:
VIR receiver(exit)=0.5V VIR receiver(exit)=4.8V VIR receiver(exit)=0.5V
The changes in output voltage of Schmitt trigger IC which is also the change in
voltage at DOWN count pin of 74192 IC is:
VDOWN pin=4.46V VDOWN pin=0.2V VDOWN pin=4.46V
Whereas the voltage at the UP count pin remains as 4.46V. This causes the IC 74192
to count down once when a car leaves through the exit.
LED circuit
When a parking lot is available, the light falling on the LDR installed in the centre of
the parking lot causes the resistance of the LDR to be as low as 10K Ohm. Current
flows into the base of npn BC548 transistor, and LED lights up.
When a parking lot is occupied, the light is blocked by the vehicle, thus the resistance
to LDR increases to 10.43M Ohm. This prevents current from flowing into the base of
of npn BC548 transistor, thus LED does not light.

Discussion
In the circuit we have designed, the output voltage of IR receiver is the main input of
the counter circuit. In order to reduce noise and provide an input with a sharp and
independent jitter to the IC 74192, the output of IR receiver is first connected to the
Schmitt trigger IC 7414 which can produce 2 stable states according to the input
voltage range.
In the LDR circuit which indicate the availability of parking slot, npn BC548
transistor is included in the circuit as amplifier. It is because the light emitted by the
LEDs is very dim without the transistor due to the high resistance of LDR.
The pair of infrared LED and receiver must be arranged and installed properly so that
infrared wave can be received by the receiver. It is because of the receiver has a
limited operating angle and distance, therefore it causes some problems when the
number on 7-segment displays stop counting up or down due to the discrepancy in the
receiver. This is solved by attaching the IR LED and receiver close enough on a hard
surface or case.

Conclusion
In this mini project, a prototype of a smart parking system that is practical and useful
has been built using minimum cost. The system has been proven to be effective in
reducing parking problems by displaying parking availability information at the
entrance, helping the motorists to decide whether to enter the parking area or not. It
has also helped reduce traffic congestion as the information displayed will prevent
more motorists to come in when the parking area is already full. This is done by the
counter circuit using IC 74192 using output voltage of infrared receiver. The green
LED lights at all available parking spaces which act as indicator make it easier for the
motorists to spot them, thus reducing searching time and frustration. This system can
be implemented in the parking area of companies, factories, shopping malls, hospitals
or any closed parking area.
Some future developments that can be done to improvise this system. A mobile app
which shows the parking information to the users and allows the user to reserve a
parking space can be developed. Upon reaching the parking area, the user will be
guided to the reserved parking space. This is especially useful in reducing reaching
time and traffic congestion during peak hours, as it allows users to go directly to the
parking space reserved. Users can also pay the parking fees using the app.
Through this mini project, we have understood the fundamentals of digital system and
have applied the knowledge we have in designing and constructing the smart parking
system. We have also learnt the characteristics and functions of a few electronic
components that we were new to, for example, the Infrared Receiver, IC 74LS47 and
74LS192. After learning about these components, we actually used them in our circuit.
Besides technical knowledge and experience, we have also learnt time management,
critical thinking, and team work. Tasks have been delegated evenly between the two
of us, problems have been discussed and solved together. We managed to complete
the circuit and prototype within the time given. It has been a great team experience
and we enjoyed the process.

Contribution of team members

Soh Yan Ying: -

Idea presenter
Design and construct the LED indicator circuit
Verify and troubleshoot the circuit
Modify and proof read mini project report
Design the presentation slides
Design and build prototype

Tan Chang Hwa: - Idea presenter

- Design and construct the counter circuit
- Verify and troubleshoot the circuit
- Modify and proofread mini project report
- Search of ICs and components
- Solder wires to some components to be placed on prototype

Reference
Internet/online:
1) Youtube, People Door Counter Circuit, Posted by mister_rf [Online].
[Accessed on 12 November 2014]. Available from World Wide Web:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT9fBp7YxMw
2)