Skip to main content

First deployment for Libelium's Smart Parking sensor platform

Spain-headquartered Libelium, a specialist in wireless sensor networks, has announced the launch of its Waspmote-based Smart Parking platform, part of the company’s smart cities solution designed to be buried in parking spaces and to detect the arrival and departure of vehicles. The company says the platform, which will allow system integrators to offer comprehensive parking management solutions to city councils, will shortly be deployed in Santander, Spain.
January 27, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

Spain-headquartered 740 Libelium, a specialist in wireless sensor networks, has announced the launch of its Waspmote-based Smart Parking platform, part of the company’s smart cities solution designed to be buried in parking spaces and to detect the arrival and departure of vehicles. The company says the platform, which will allow system integrators to offer comprehensive parking management solutions to city councils, will shortly be deployed in Santander, Spain.

Libelium’s Smart Parking sensors can be buried in parking spaces and communicate with the rest of the sensor network using Waspmote’s ZigBee radio. According to Alicia Asín, CEO of Libelium,  “The first deployment of the platform will be with 742 SmartSantander – a unique city-scale experiment in applications of smart city technology which is already considered as a reference in the Smart Cities field”. In fact, the Network Planning and Mobile Communications Group from the University of Cantabria contributed to the testing and performance improvement of the sensor. Initially, 100 nodes are being installed in a pilot while the next phase will cover around 800 nodes in parking slots and street lights, for measuring environmental parameters, but eventually, around 12,000 sensors will be installed over the next three years.

According to Asín, Waspmote’s outstanding power management and over the air programming (OTA) mean that, once installed, parking sensors do not need to be accessed for years. Motes only need to transmit when a parking event – a vehicle arriving or leaving a space – takes place. With suitable batteries a sensor can operate for five years before it needs to be physically accessed for battery replacement. OTA programming enables the software for entire networks to be upgraded efficiently over the radio network without digging up the parking spaces. The low maintenance involved in smart parking sensor networks means that networks with hundreds of nodes can readily be deployed.

Smart parking sensors communicate with their gateway via radios at either 2.4 GHz or 868/900 MHz. For 2.4 GHz ZigBee connections, mesh networks are implemented with routing motes located in street lights. For the lower frequency radios, it is possible for parking sensors to communicate directly with the gateway as the propagation distance is longer.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Rooftop wireless antenna
    September 25, 2014
    With the Sencity Road MIMO, Huber+Suhner is extending its portfolio of rooftop antennas for buses, commercial vehicles, trams and underground railways. The new Sensity Road MIMO is able to achieve a far higher data rate than a standard antenna, supporting applications with very high data rates, such as passenger information systems, passenger monitoring or internet on board. Depending on the version, this compact omni-directional antenna includes two broadband radiating elements for 2G/3G/4G mobile c
  • Tinynode’s vehicle detection sensors on show
    April 5, 2016
    Tinynode, a Swiss specialist in wireless vehicle detection systems, will use Intertraffic Amsterdam to introduce a new generation of vehicle detection sensors that will provide customers with greater value, stability and business continuity. This innovative sensor technology – called Series 4 (S4) second generation – is being integrated into the company’s A4 and B4 car detection devices, as well as in A4-H and B4-H truck detection devices.
  • AGD traffic and pedestrian control
    February 19, 2018
    Radar detection specialist AGD Systems will use Intertraffic Amsterdam 2018 to showcase its traffic and pedestrian control solutions which include the new large-zone, IP-capable, real-time video 645 Pedestrian Detector and the 318 and 350 traffic control radars. Designed for the smart city, these ITS products all deliver ease of deployment, integration and setup to allow maximum flexibility for evolving traffic models. User communication with these traffic and pedestrian control devices is wireless
  • Amsterdam reaps the reward of digitised parking
    April 20, 2016
    Amsterdam had taken the final step in digitising parking and parking enforcement and the move is paying dividends. It was almost a decade ago that the City of Amsterdam decided to start the evolution - or maybe even a revolution – of its parking enforcement: it got rid of the paper parking permit or ticket behind the windscreen and introduced the digital parking right. It was the first step on a bumpy but successful road to digitization, resulting in a fore running position in on street parking enforcement.