Car Parking Space Detection Using Open CV

Surya k Devi M
Research student periyar Maniyammai Assistant professor, Periyar Maniyammai
Institute of Science &Technology, Institute of Science &Technology,
Tamilnadu, India. Tamilnadu, India.
[email protected] [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The rapid growth of urban steps : image preprocessing to reduce noise,
populations has led to increased vehicle identification of parking space boundaries,
usage, creating challenges in managing and occupancy classification for each parking
limited parking resources. Traditional spot. Techniques such as background
methods of monitoring parking spaces are subtraction, contour analysis, and machine
labor-intensive, inefficient, and unable to learning algorithms are employed to detect
provide real-time availability information. whether a spot is vacant or occupied. The
Automated parking space detection using system is designed to be adaptable to various
computer vision offers a scalable and lighting and weather conditions, making it
efficient solution to this problem. This study suitable for both outdoor and indoor parking
presents a parking space detection system facilities. Furthermore, OpenCV’s
based on OpenCV, an open-source computer compatibility with machine learning
vision library. The system uses live video frameworks like TensorFlow enables
feeds from cameras in parking lots to analyse enhanced accuracy through deep learning-
the occupancy status of parking spaces in based vehicle detection.
real-time. approach involves several key

KEYWORDS: Parking Space Detection, Computer Vision, OpenCV, Real-time Monitoring,

Occupancy.
I. INTRODUCTION management systems are therefore critical to
improving urban mobility, reducing
As urbanization intensifies, cities emissions, and enhancing overall user
around the world face mounting challenges in convenience. Traditional approaches to
managing limited parking resources amidst parking management, which often rely on
growing vehicle ownership. The scarcity of human monitoring or simple ticketing
parking spaces in densely populated areas systems, are both labor-intensive and unable
often leads to increased traffic congestion, to provide real-time information on parking
wasted fuel, and driver frustration, as availability. In contrast, automated parking
individuals spend significant time searching space detection systems use advanced
for available spots. Efficient parking computer vision and machine learning
techniques to track the occupancy status of address these issues, machine learning
parking spaces in real time. These systems techniques such as Haar Cascades and
enable drivers to access live updates on Support Vector Machines (SVMs) were
available spots, significantly reducing the applied, enabling better accuracy in
time spent searching for parking and controlled settings, though they required
alleviating congestion within parking extensive feature extraction and training data,
facilities and surrounding areas. This study limiting scalability. With the advent of deep
presents a methodology for parking space learning, convolutional neural networks
detection based on OpenCV, an open-source (CNNs) like YOLO and SSD became
computer vision library widely used for popular, providing high accuracy and
image processing and machine learning adaptability across different environments.
applications. OpenCV offers a flexible and These models, however, are computationally
powerful toolkit for detecting, classifying, intensive, posing a challenge for real-time
and monitoring parking spaces by analysing implementation without significant hardware
real-time video feeds from cameras installed resources.
in parking lots. The proposed system
processes each video frame to identify III. METHODOLOGY
defined parking boundaries and classifies
each space as occupied or vacant using The methodology for developing a car
techniques such as background subtraction, parking space detection and counting system
contour detection, and object classification. involves several key steps, starting with data
acquisition. The system captures video or
image frames from a parking lot using a
II. LITERATURE REVIEW camera feed, ensuring the data includes
varying conditions such as different lighting
Car parking detection systems have and weather. The next step is preprocessing,
gained importance in urban traffic where the video frames are converted to
management, with various computer vision grayscale to reduce computational
techniques developed to enhance detection complexity, followed by noise reduction
accuracy and efficiency. Initial methods using filters like Gaussian blur to enhance the
focused on image processing in OpenCV, quality of the input. Parking spaces are then
using edge and contour detection to identify predefined either manually or automatically
occupied parking spaces, though these using techniques like edge detection or
approaches often faltered under varying Hough transforms to mark areas of interest
lighting and weather conditions (Patel & (AOI) where detection occurs. For car
Kumar, 2018). Background subtraction was detection, two primary approaches are
another commonly used technique, detecting employed: traditional image processing and
movement in predefined zones, but often deep learning-based models. Traditional
misclassified shadows and reflections as cars, methods utilize background subtraction
leading to high false-positive rates. To techniques, such as MOG2 (Mixture of
Gaussians), to identify moving objects in the several key stages that integrate computer
parking lot by comparing each frame to a vision and machine learning techniques.
background model. After identifying Initially, the system requires setting up the
potential vehicles, contour detection is development environment with essential
applied to locate the boundaries of these libraries such as OpenCV for image
objects. However, for more robust processing, TensorFlow Torch for deep
performance in various conditions, deep learning models, and NumPy for numerical
learning methods such as YOLO (You Only operations. The system begins by acquiring
Look Once) and SSD (Single Shot Detector) video footage from a parking lot, either
are employed to detect cars in real time, through pre-recorded videos or real-time
providing higher accuracy and adaptability in camera feeds. Each frame is processed by
diverse environments. Once cars are converting it to grayscale, applying Gaussian
detected, the system checks if they intersect blur for noise reduction, and sometimes
with predefined parking spaces using performing background subtraction to detect
bounding box overlap. If a car is detected moving vehicles. Parking spaces are
within a parking space’s boundaries, the predefined within the system, either
space is marked as occupied; otherwise, it manually by specifying coordinates or
remains vacant. The system continuously automatically using edge detection or other
counts and reports the number of occupied image processing techniques. The core of the
and vacant spaces, displaying this system focuses on car detection, which can
information in real-time on the video feed or be achieved through traditional methods like
storing it for later analysis. background subtraction and contour
IV. SYSTEM DESIGN detection or by using deep learning models
such as YOLO (You Only Look Once) and
SSD (Single Shot Detector) for more
accurate and real-time detection. These
models identify cars and draw bounding
boxes around them. The system then checks
whether these bounding boxes overlap with
the predefined parking spaces, marking the
spaces as occupied or vacant accordingly.
Real-time counting and reporting of parking
space occupancy is another crucial aspect of
the implementation. The system continuously
updates the number of occupied and vacant
spaces, displaying this information through
Figure 1. Architecture diagram
text overlays on the video feed or generating
V. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
periodic reports for further analysis. Post-
processing and error handling are essential to
The implementation of a car parking
ensure the system’s robustness, addressing
space detection and counting system involves
challenges like false positives caused by capable of handling real-time performance,
environmental factors such as lighting or with frame processing times of 20-40
occlusion. Once implemented, the system is milliseconds on a mid-range GPU, which is
evaluated for accuracy and performance sufficient for practical applications in parking
using metrics such as precision, recall, and lot monitoring. Although deep learning
processing speed. The final step involves models require more computational power,
deploying the system in a real-time they strike a balance between accuracy and
environment, either on a local server or speed, making them suitable for real-time
cloud-based platform, depending on the operations. For less computationally
requirements. In a local deployment, the intensive environments, the system could be
system processes the video feed and provides further optimized by reducing the resolution
real-time updates on parking space of video feeds or employing simpler models.
availability, while cloud deployment allows The system also demonstrated robust
for remote monitoring and scalability. This performance under various conditions,
integrated approach offers an efficient, maintaining high detection accuracy even
automated solution for monitoring parking with dynamic lighting, reflections, and
space occupancy, making it ideal for smart vehicle occlusion. Despite this, the system
city applications and optimizing parking faced challenges in extreme weather
management. conditions such as heavy rain or fog, where
visibility was compromised. In these cases,
VI. RESULT AND DISCUSSION the detection performance slightly declined,
The results of the car parking space revealing the inherent limitations of
detection and counting system indicate that it computer vision systems when confronted
performs well across multiple key metrics, with adverse environmental factors. To
including accuracy, speed, and robustness. In mitigate these issues, integrating additional
terms of detection accuracy, the system sensors like infrared or radar could be
performed admirably with deep learning beneficial, helping to maintain detection
models like YOLO and SSD, which accuracy in less-than-ideal conditions.
demonstrated a detection rate of around 90- Overall, the system proved to be both
95%. These models outperformed traditional efficient and reliable, with room for further
image processing methods, such as enhancement to address edge cases and
background subtraction and contour improve performance in more challenging
detection, especially in scenarios involving environments. However, traditional methods,
partial vehicle occlusion or irregular parking while less accurate, still provided useful
patterns. However, traditional methods, results in simpler environments, though they
while less accurate, still provided useful struggled in low-contrast settings or under
results in simpler environments, though they complex conditions.
struggled in low-contrast settings or under
complex conditions. Regarding processing
speed, the deep learning-based models were
RESULT AND SCREENSHOTS monitoring of parking lot occupancy. By
combining traditional image processing
methods with advanced deep learning models
like YOLO and SSD, the system
demonstrated a high level of accuracy (90-
95%) in detecting vehicles and determining
parking space availability under varying
conditions. The system also showed
promising real-time performance, with frame
processing times suitable for practical
deployment, especially when using
optimized deep learning models. Despite its
strong performance, the system faced
challenges in extreme weather conditions,
such as heavy rain and fog, where vehicle
visibility was reduced, causing a slight dip in
detection accuracy. The implementation of
[1] this system offers significant potential for
enhancing parking management, particularly
in urban areas where efficient parking
solutions are increasingly needed. It enables
real-time monitoring, provides insights into
parking space utilization, and can help reduce
the time spent searching for available spots,
thus improving the overall parking
experience for users. Looking forward,
several areas of improvement and future
work can enhance the system's robustness
and scalability. One of the key areas for
improvement is addressing the system's
performance in adverse weather conditions,
such as by integrating additional sensors like
[2] infrared or radar to complement the visual
data from cameras. Furthermore, expanding
the system to handle larger parking lots or
VII. CONCLUSION AND FEATURE multi-level parking structures would require
WORK optimizing the model for scalability and
In conclusion, the car parking space faster processing times. Additionally,
detection and counting system successfully exploring hybrid models that combine deep
leverages computer vision and deep learning learning with sensor fusion techniques could
techniques to provide accurate, real-time
further increase detection accuracy and [5]. Redmon, J., Divvala, S., Girshick, R.,
reduce reliance on environmental conditions. & Farhadi, A. (2016). You Only Look
Finally, incorporating predictive analytics Once: Unified, Real-Time Object
could allow the system to forecast parking Detection. Proceedings of the IEEE
space availability based on historical data, Conference on Computer Vision and
offering users and parking lot operators better Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 779-
planning tools and enhancing the overall 788.
efficiency of parking systems in smart cities. URL:
https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.02640
[6]. Zhang, Y., & Song, Z. (2020). Smart
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