Parking space availability detection from the air

Much fuel and time is wasted by drivers zigzagging through a parking lot looking for an empty spot. Some parking garages have automated systems for detecting which spaces are empty and directing drivers to these using electronic displays or coloured lights on the ceiling. Drivers of course prefer to spend less time looking for a space and to find places closer to the exit, so providing availability information gives a commercial parking building a competitive advantage and reduces traffic and pollution inside it. The same availability information would be helpful for outdoor parking lots, including the tops of garages that are open to the sky.

A business opportunity is to develop an app that uses either satellite images or cameras on drones or surrounding structures (highrises or streetlights) to detect empty parking spaces and direct the drivers to these. The cheapest black and white security camera is sufficient to distinguish a car from an empty rectangle of asphalt. Even at the busiest times, such as the peak shopping hours on Saturday afternoon, the parking availability info only needs to be updated about once every 30 seconds to be maximally useful. The only hurdle for this system is the placement of the cameras, because buying two satellite photos per minute for every parking lot may be expensive for the app provider. Drones may not be permitted over urban areas. The owners of the structures surrounding the parking lot may ask for payment to allow camera installation on their property. Of course, permissions should not be a problem if the surrounding buildings are retail establishments who profit from more customers parking closer to them, but the upper floors of tall buildings are typically offices or residential spaces.

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