Prototype of an Assistive Transport Parking System for Hospital
Joshua B. Dela Masa, Ricky Joe P. Ennangen, Joshua C. Gawlik, Lendin F. Manisim,
John Carlo O. Malla, and Luke S. Tejedo
University of the Cordilleras, Senior High School
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to fulfill the capability of an assistive transport parking system for hospital.
Parking system has long been issue in hospital, the development of the electromechanical system in the society
will solve the problem by designing and implementing automated parking system for hospital. The paper
discusses the ciruit diagram of the prototype that consisting of electronic materials divided into two sections
known as input and output circuit, the input circuit consist of Infrared sensor (IR sensor), exit buttons and Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) that is capable enough to quickly respond to arduino. Output circuit is consist of
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Module, LED, Driver cricuit and linear actuator that serves as the indicator of the
prototype and capable enough to operate the mechanism accurately depending to the sensistivity of the IR sensors.
The mechanism of the prototype have the design to accommodate twelve vehicles in the same time.
Keywords: Medical assist, Arduino Mega, Valet parking system, Hospital
INTRODUCTION
Parking spaces are very important in society
especially to the hospital. A hospital must have
enough parking space to accommodate their patients
and their visitors. The common problem is the lack of
parking space in hospital and inconvenient parking
system, It may increase the risk of the patient who
have to rush to hospital wasting their time looking for
parking space while patients condition deteriorates.
The convenience and safety of the patient may be the
problem in parking system of the hospital (Keefe,
n.d. ).
The researchers prompted to resolve the issue
regarding the lack of parking space and medical
facilities in the hospitals. Providing more parking
spaces is one of the solutions for that problem, using
automated mechanism will help the patient to less
their time and effort going to the exact floor of their
respective agenda in the hospital. Through the
increasing rate of private car usage most particular in
urban or in the cities that is mainly caused by fast
growing economy and population, policies,
modernization and subsidies are the main reason that
make the car parking one of the main concern for
transport and traffic management all over the world.
According to Young et al. (1991), car parking is an
issue of significance both at local as well as at
strategic level of planning. It is one of the main
concerns while planning and designing any
infrastructure project. If ignored, it contributes
towards traffic congestion and violations, accidents
and injuries, wastage of time and money as well. One
of the earlier researches on parking shows that the
parking problem arises mainly due to people want to
park exactly in front of the door of their destination.
Parking is beneficial if the parking lot is separated
from the hospital for the convenience of the visitor,
patient and other staff of the hospital. The hospital
produced congestion due to lack of parking space and
busy times of visiting hours (Astarlift,2016).
Parking management system in hospital is
important because it carry the first and last impression
of the patient and visitor that gives impact to their
satisfaction to the hospital. There are cases that there
are many lives that in risk because of the blockage of
the road going to the emergency and hard to find
vacant parking space in the hospital (Harvey, 2015).
Figure 1. Walkway of the patient going to the hospital
In a study by Caluorianti (2017), to run the
hospital efficiently, the patients, staff and visitors
needs to access easily into the hospital. Parking
problems like delayed or missed treatment, time
wasted because of waiting or searching for parking
space, loss of productivity and income of the hospital,
risking the lives of patients, creating anxiety and stress
among patients, staff and visitors, Declining patients
satisfaction and the hospitals reputation may occur.
Lagerlogistik (2016) also stated that hospital parking
leads to major problems for both the hospitals and the
patients. These problems may include the delays of
providing care for the patients, the time being
consumed due to the blockage of the road reduces
productivity.
In the society right now, parking management is
one of the big problems in the hospital it means that
people needs to develop a modernize parking system.
Extreme number of vehicles will be expected to
increase while limited parking space will still remain
that may leads to congestion. The reason why parking
development is still unsolved is because of lack of
knowledge in terms of public demand as a basis for
parking system (Ali & Hassan, 2019).
According to the study of Harvey (2020) In the
Europe country the parking facility of the hospital is
one of the factors that affect profitability, satisfaction
of patients and visitors. In the study of Designa (n.d.)
every hospital is in need to have convenient parking
spaces for sick patient and elderly with compromised
mobility and have accessible spots close to entrance.
According to the Department of Health (2004) A
hospital and other health establishment must Have a
parking space for every twenty-five beds. One of the
goal of the researchers is to solve the problem of the
hospital in terms of parking. According to Calouri
(2016), hospitals and other medical centers are
struggling to manage the increasing demands of the
service. Automated parking system is more efficient
for the hospitals and medical centers to fully use the
land available. This can also double-up the parking
spaces by making a multi-story car park facility. With
the help of the automated parking system, this will
help to secure the vehicles and will be easier for
people to access the parking spaces.
The System will help people with disabilities
(PWD) or any who needs medical care such as those
in a stretcher to lessen their time and effort going to
the specific floor of the hospital. It may further
improve the safety and provide better convenience for
the patients. The structural and functional design of
the prototype can improve the convenience and
comfort of the patients to further accommodate all
types of facilities and usage of the hospital itself.
Research Objectives/Statement of the Problem
This study aims to test the capability of an assistive
transport parking system for hospital and specifically
aims to determine the following:
1. How capable is the sensor of actuator in terms of
determining the distance of the vehicle to the sensor
installed unto the elevator?
2. Once the power of the prototype was interupted,
will the data in the system be erase?
3. How efficient will the RFID be in terms of
detecting the vehicle?
MATERIALS AND METHODS
I. Method and design
This study used experimental method to test the
capability of the prototype and to test its efficiency
during the process. The design was fully equipped
with sensors that are capable of determining the
vehicles chosen floor. It is composed of a new
structural and architectural design with innovative
mechanism that will lift the vehicle in their desired
floor. Every single part of the prototype was
manipulated by a microcontroller present in the
arduino. The functionality of the entire building and
some components was automatically controlled by the
arduino programmed in the computer.
II. Preparation of materials
The prototype was designed to accommodate ten
cars per floor and ply wood was used to build the
multilevel floors. In the design prototype the area of
the parking area is:
Parking lot
Length
Width
Height
16.51 cm
8.90 cm
9.90 cm
Vehicle
10.15 cm
6. 35cm
4 cm
The floor of the prototype is designed to
accommodate ten different kinds of vehicle except the
massive one. The runway of the vehicle is located in
the middle of the two blocks to manage the traffic
flow of the vehicle going up and down. The arrow will
be the guideline of the driver to move to the parking
slot. The right lane on the runway is for` the vehicle
that is entering the parking slot and the vehicle who
wants to exit for the left lane. To count the vehicle
that is occupied per level, it is sensed by the infrared
sensor to determine if there is available parking slot in
that floor. Figure 2 shows the proposed parking layout
design that demonstrates the flow of the parking
system. The dimension of the length of the whole
parking system per level is 17. 5 inch and 15 inch for
its width.
Figure 4. Implementation of the system and overall
diagram.
Figure 2. Layout of parking system
In the parking lot, there are cases that the car is not
parked properly. The researchers used Infrared sensor
(IR sensor) to detect the vehicle if it is park properly
or not and the IR sensor will detect the presence of the
vehicle automatically. The program of the prototye is
when the IR sensor detects the vehicle it will
automatically turn the lights on, it means the vehicle is
already parked properly in the specific parking lot.
Based on the study of Natarajan (2018) There are
three different types of parked vehicle which consist
of correctly parked, illegally parked and properly
parked vehicle which can disturb the mechanism.
In the overall circuit diagram showed in figure 5 ,
all the electronic materials is powered by two power
supply with a 12v. The circuit is divided into two
sections known as input and output circuit. The input
circuit is consist of IR sensor, exit buttons and Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID). The vehicle can go
down by using the exit button located at the right side
of the exit way. When the driver scan the RFID card
to the RFID reader it will automatically lift up the
actuator to its desired floor, It will work if the IR
sensor detects the vehicle in the actuator. This three
input circuit is connected to the microcontroller going
to the output circuit. Output circuit is consist of
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Module, LED, Driver
cricuit and linear actuator. The LCD module will
display the exact number of all vacant parking slot in
the prototype. The LED will serve as a guide for the
driver to know where is the available parking slot.
Lastly, The actuator will carry the vehicle going to its
desired floor safely.
A. List of minor parts for the prototype mechanism:
Figure 3. Operational parking of vehicles
III. Electronic Components
Minor parts for prototype mechanism are 6A
power Switch 510 ohm it is used to interrupt or cut the
flow of electron or to simply stop the electricity. 1/4w
resistor used to reduce current flow, adjust signal level,
bias active element and divide voltage. 5V Buzzer
used as alarm device, timer, and confirmation 15x9
Matrix PCB Male Pin Header used to take current or
signal transmission. Female Pin Header is where male
pin inserted that is mainly used for extension. Speaker
wire by meter is basically used for electrical
connection. 3-wire cable usually used as a ground
wire and typically not a conductor. Male-Female
Connectors is a connector attached to a wire cable
having one or more recessed holes Wires for PCB
connections used to join subsections of circuits
together.
A. List of major parts for the prototype
mechanism
Microcontroller is one of the main parts of the
arduino, located in the side of the system or most
particularly found inside the Arduino that serve as the
main controller of the main device. Arduino mega
serves as the main brain of the system and mechanism
that can be programmed using a computer. This type
of Arduino can accommodate the mechanism of the
parking system. DC-to-DC converter is an electronic
circuit or electromechanical device that converts
voltages whether from lower to higher or vice versa.
Light Emitting Diode (LED) driver circuit is an
electrical circuit used to rectify or to correct higher
voltages, alternating to low voltage and used to protect
LED from fluctuations. LED is an electric light used
in the prototype that serves as the signal whether the
parking area is available or occupied. Liquid crystal
display is an electronic display module which uses
liquid crystal to produce an image about the
functionality and used as indicator of the device.
linear actuator is an actuator that creates motion in a
straight line, in contrast to the circular motion of a
conventional electric motor. In the same way, its
function is to lift the car and locate it in its designated
area. Infrared sensor is used to sense the car whether it
is in proper position before proceeding to its area. Exit
buttons is used to request an elevator to the exact floor
of the button. Radio frequency identification (RFID)
reader and card is use to identify, locate and track an
object or vehicle using radio frequency signal.
Data Gathering
The prototype is tested in full operation to know if it is
work properly and accordingly.
Figure 5. Operational circuit
Testing the IR sensors in determining the distance of
the vehicle to the sensor
In determining the capability of the sensor to the
specific distance, the researchers test the sensor three
times to get the average distance of the vehicle to the
sensor. IR sensor are capable enough to detect the heat
being emitted by the vehicle and detecting bright
object. In the figure 5, It shows that there are sixteen
IR sensor that are connected to the microcontroller.
The researchers get the highest distance of the sensor
to the vehicle resulting to 5.5 cm represent by the
lifter or linear actuator and for the lowest distance, the
researchers got 3.1 cm located in the third slot of the
second floor of the prototype. All IR sensor are
capable to send and receive data from the arduino.
Testing the LCD display when the power of the
prototype was interupted
The LCD show the available parking slot at the
second, third and fourth floor. The display show all
the vacant lots in the building. The researchers test to
interrupt the LCD by plugging out the power source
and out of ten trial there is one percent of error that
interrupt the LCD. The researchers test two 12V
power supply to simultaneously plug out the device
resulting to completely lockdown of the system and
when the power is return the actuator was go back to
its original position.
Testing the mechanism to move upward and the
efficiency of the RFID
The system is tested to lift up the elevator/actuator
by scanning the card of the RFID located at the first
floor of the prototype and the system will wait until
the vehicle enters the elevator. Then, the elevator
moves up according to the floor number that
correspond to the card scanned and after the elevator
reach it’s floor destination the vehicle was manually
moved to its desired parking slot and the green LED
light will served as indication that there are available
parking space. After the vehicle parked, the sensor
detects the vehicle and the process was delayed 1.20
seconds because the data will transmit to the arduino
going to the LCD screen to indicate the data presented
in the sensors. The researchers test the efficiency of
the RFID by calculating its time detecting the RFID
card that is programmed in different floors. There are
also a card that represent the error card. The
researchers gathered three trials for the RFID
efficiency to get the average speed of the RFID in
terms of detecting the card.
Testing the mechanism to move downward
After the vehicle exits the parking slot, the vehicle
was manually move to the exit area and the driver was
press the exit button located at the floor where the
vehicle at. Then, the elevator was go to that floor and
the vehicle will enter the elevator until the IR sensor
detects the vehicle. The elevator was automatically
move to the First floor and the system willl wait until
user exits the elevator.
Results and Discussion
Distance of vehicle from sensor
An infrared sensor emits radiation of the infrared
in order to sense its surroundings. This infrared signal
bounces from the surface of an object and the signal is
received at the infrared receiver. In the prototype the
researchers used infrared sensor because of its features
and it is applicable for this application. Table shows
the distance of the vehicle from the sensor.
are a high chance to sense the vehicle in far distance
because of the light emitted in the area.
Figure 6. Time of elevator travelled per floors
The IR sensor can affect the speed of the actuator
in different level. When the IR sensor detects the
vehicle, the lifter was automatically lift up on its
designated floor. The time of the actuator lift to the 2nd
floor is 3.01 seconds and for the 3rd floor is 9.90
seconds and lastly for the 4rth floor is 9.61 seconds. It
means that the sensor and actuator has the ability to
transmit and receive data effectively. The System
could malfunction if any of the wirings on the
Arduino Mega are misplaced and the IR sensor is so
sensitive in terms of detecting a metal that can cause
damage the entire mechanism.
Data in the system when the power is interrupted
Will the LCD Display
vanish?
Does the sensor interact with
the LED light?
Will the actuator
automatically move when it
sense a vehicle or push
button pressed?
1st
NO
2nd
NO
3rd
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
Table 2. Data in the system when the power source is
disconnected
Table 1. Distance of the car from the IR sensor
The sensor can reach the farthest distance of 5.6
cm which represent by the lifter while 3.1 cm is the
nearest, It is located in the slot 1 of second floor. It
has a varied distance due to some factors that affecting
the sensor such as location, position, and brightness in
where some sensor located higher than the others. The
researchers got different result because when the IR
sensor is located at the dark side of the prototype the
capability of the sensor to sense the vehicle is too low
and when the IR sensor is located in the lifter, there
Any of the question from the table proved that the
data in the system will not erased in time the power
source gets interrupted. In addition the whole
mechanism will stop, until the current is fixed. This
interruption may have been caused by electricity loss
or some wiring failures. When the current gets back,
the whole design will reset or go back to its original
state position. It will now work properly as usual like
nothing happen. In all Arduino there’s a mechanism
built that deals for monitoring this kind of real time
event in the power source. Its main job is to make sure
that the processor respond quickly to important event
when certain signal detected, Its interrupts whatever
the processor is doing and execute some code
designed to react to the problem of the Arduino. Once
the code has wrapped up, the processor goes back to
whatever it was originally doing as if nothing
happened (Reilly, 2015).
Once the power source gets interrupted the whole
mechanism was able to stop, until the current is
restored. This interruption maybe caused by current
loss or some wiring failures. When the current is
restored, the whole design was reset or back to its
original position. It was now work properly in its
original transition. If ever the power source of the
building was interrupted, the whole building would be
unusable since the only way for a vehicle to go up is
through the actuator. Actuator is responsible for the
vehicles to go to its designated floor. The power
source can also damage the mechanism because of the
electricity transmitting to the arduino spreading to the
different parts of the mechanism.
Efficiency of RFID
First trial
Second trial Third trial
First trial
.23s
.24s
.28s
Second trial .30s
.29s
.27s
Third trial
.25s
.23s
.26s
AVERAGE .26s
.25s
.27s
Table 3. Time before the RFID reader detects the
RFID card
From table 3, it shows that the average time it take
for the RFID to detect the vehicle is .26s therefore that
given time is too fast. Thus, it is efficient enough. But
sometimes the application will be largely dependent
on the type of tag itself. Conversely some other tag
offer long ranges that can read, other can hold or store
more data or are easier to manufacture thus, it is less
costly. Some factors that can affect the efficiency
were the data obtained from RFID can eliminate
inaccuracies in data due to human error or absence of
data. Data that is usable from the RFID data stream to
ensure appropriate data processing and effective data
mining at an economic storage cost. Sabbaghi &
Vaidyanathan (2008) claimed that RFID is evolving in
application and its impact on effectiveness; one can
see broader efficiency and operational improvements
over traditional processes, methods, and technologies.
Figure 7: RFID diagram
A RFID system is made up of two parts: a tag or
label and a reader. In order to function, the two
common parts should be connected to the micro
controller to be able to transmit data. The tag or label
is embedded with a transmitter and a receiver. From
figure 7, it shows how RFID works. After the tag or
label is tapped in the RFID reader it automatically
sense, gather data and send it to the arduino. Once the
parking building is full it cannot accommodate
anymore costumers, The RFID is consist of six access
card and two denied card.
Recommendation
If somebody will create an prototype, make it
more automative and the first thing to secure is the
equipment especially the sensitive ones like the
sensors and RFID. Secondly, is the Arduino Mega, the
reason why the Arduino mega needs to be secured is
because it is the main brain system of the prototype.
Without this equipment, the prototype won’t be
working. Thirdly, programming. Programming is
prominent to this research and to the prototype. Lastly,
more parking space in the prototype should be employ
to accommodate all types of vehicle and have a fixed
power supply to generate the mechanism.
Conclusion
The researcher gathered data in every sensor if it is
working properly and if capable enough to determine
an object or most particularly, the vehicle interacted
with the actuator. When the power of the building is
vanished or is being interrupted, the processor
responds quickly to important event when certain
signal is detected by the interrupt present in the
Arduino, whatever the process is doing, it resumes the
interruption, fixed and started to function if nothing
happen. The main mechanism resets and goes to its
original position. Lastly, the Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) is efficient in terms of receiving
and sending data to the Arduino.
REFERENCES
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Parking
Sensor
Work?
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Ali, A. R., & Hassan, S. A. (2019). Review of
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Sabeth, M. (2017,March 3). How Car Parking
Problems in the Hospitals can be Easily Solved?
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Abdul A. & Sitti H. (2019). Review of Malaysian
current practice in supply/demand of parking in
the hospital.
The High Cost of Hospital Parking (2018, January 20).
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Calouri. (2016). Planning for better hospital parking.
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Caluorianti Spam, L. (2017, January 2). Planning for
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APPENDIX A
The Creation of structural part of the prototype
I. Creating the platforms base and foundation of the
prototype which is made out of ply wood and 2 by 2
wood.
Keefe, J. (n.d.). Information source for professionals
in the parking industry. Retrieved from
https://www.parking-net.com/
Lagerlogistik. (2016). Hospital parking. Retrieved
from:
https://skyline-parking.com/apsapplications/hospital-parking
Measurement Sensor (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/
measurement-sensor.
Nagesh, A. (2017). Some selfish idiot parked in an
ambulance bay outside A&E. Retrieved from:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2017/
01/25/some-selfish-idiot-parked-in-an-ambulancebay-outside-ae-6405143/amp/
Nash, R. ( 2015).Using interupts in arduino Retrieved
from https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technicalarticles/using-interrupts-on-arduino/
II. Creating all the fifteen parts of the prototype that
was connect to the main foundation.
III. Attaching the plywood into the foundation using
pliers and securinng it with a wood screw.
IV. Measuring the height of the first 4 floors to be
precised for the actuator and assemble it.
The researchers explain the purpose of the prototype
and the functionality of the materials to be
programmed to the computer.
II. After the components being programmed, the
researchers test all of the components.
V. Installing all the plywood around the foundation
and for the detachable floors.
The Creation of
prototype
electronic component of the
I. We buy the materials in layad circuit located at
lower session, Baguio City.
III. The researchers learned the input and output
circuit of the system.
IV. The electronic component is place and connected
to the structure of the prototype.
V. Lastly, the researchers gathered all data from the
procedure of the mechanism.