In a busy city, we commute a lot. And if we choose a car as our mode of transport, finding a parking spot become quite a challenge. This is a prototype for a parking spot status indicator. This would make a good science project for the tech and skills required is nothing more than to program an obstacle detector.

Contributors:

Pranavchendur T K ( https://tkpc.in )

Step 1: Materials Required

1) Arduino UNO

2) Ultrasonic sensor - HC-SR04

3) Breadboard

4) Jumper wires

5) LEDs optional

You will also need the open source arduino software. You can download it using this link : https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

Step 2: Putting the Things Together

1) Connect VCC and GND slots from the arduino board to the breadboard using jumper wires

2)The ultrasonic sensor has four pins denoted by VCC, Trig, Echo and GND

3) Connect VCC and GND to 5V supply and ground respectively

4) Connect the trig pin to pin 6 and echo to pin 7 in the arduino board

5) Do the same with another sensor with its trig connected to 3 and echo connected to 4 in the arduino board.

6) Connect two leds with their positive to 13 and 10 and their negatives to the ground.

Step 3: Coding

Compile the following code in the file attached below (usonic.ino) into the arduino

usonic.ino
Download

Step 4: Testing

Now if no object is placed before your sensors, both leds will glow, denoting that spot is available to be parked. If you place an object, for instance, a toy car before any one of your sensor that corresponding led will switch off, showing that it is occupied. This project would take less than an hour to build and execute with all the components, and could be a good small scale project for kids.