Monitoring system for detecting motor vehicles in parking BAYS and method thereof

Abstract

Described herein is a monitoring system (100) for detecting motor vehicles in a plurality of parking bays, said system comprising at least one inductive type sensor device (130) comprising an electronic circuit suitable for detecting an inductance value associated with the presence or absence of a motor vehicle (110) in a parking bay (120) of said plurality of parking bays, said sensor device (130) being coupled to a paving of said parking bay (120); a gateway (150) suitable for managing an occupation state of said plurality of parking bays and an operating state of said at least one sensor device (130), and for storing them into a database, said gateway (150) being connected to said at least one sensor device (130) via a first data exchange network; wherein said at least one sensor device (130) is configured for: - transmitting a first status message representative of said state of occupation, comprising at least one binary piece of information representative of said presence or absence of said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (120); - transmitting to said gateway (150), at predetermined time intervals, a second status message representative of said operating state of said at least one sensor device (130); - receiving a configuration message from said gateway (150), and transmitting a confirmation message in reply to said configuration message, said configuration message comprising at least one operating parameter for said at least one sensor device (130); and wherein said gateway (150) is configured for: - receiving a plurality of messages from said at least one sensor device (130), comprising said first status messages and said second status messages, and storing them into a database; - transmitting at least one configuration message to said at least one sensor device (130); and wherein, if one of said messages received by said gateway (150) is corrupted, then said gateway (150) being further configured for: - determining, in accordance with a first verification, if said corrupted message was transmitted by said at least one sensor device (130) at a time instant coinciding with said predetermined time interval for the transmission of said second status message; - determining, in accordance with a second verification, if said corrupted message was transmitted by said at least one sensor device (130) as a confirmation message in reply to a previously received configuration message; - when both verifications provide a negative outcome, updating in said database the at least one binary piece of information representative of the occupation state of said parking bay (130) by means of a binary flip operation, said operation being representative of a change of occupation state.

Description

[0001] MONITORING SYSTEM FOR DETECTING MOTOR VEHICLES IN PARKING BAYS AND METHOD THEREOF

[0002] DESCRIPTION

[0003] The present invention relates to the technical field of parking area monitoring. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for monitoring parking bays in a parking area, as well as to an associated monitoring method.

[0004] With increased urbanization, the number of circulating motor vehicles has increased considerably, while the number of available parking bays has become insufficient to meet real-life needs. Every driver has experienced situations in which, in a parking area divided into a plurality of parking bays, whether an outdoor, underground, or multistorey parking space, equipped with assistance systems intended to indicate if there are any available parking bays, no parking bays are available when the assistance system indicates, on the contrary, that some are available, or vice versa. One of the problems causing this misalignment between the information provided by such assistance systems and the actual presence of available parking bays relates to how information is managed within a parking bay monitoring system. Based on such information it is possible to, for example, update an occupation state of a plurality of parking bays in a parking area by providing a user looking for a clear parking bay with accurate indications about the actual situation. More particularly, information misalignment occurs when problems arise which are related to the transmission of information among different devices connected over a data exchange network, which devices make up the monitoring system. Such information is generally contained in a data packet, also referred to as message.

[0005] Here, a message is, therefore, a distinct and finite sequence of pieces of information transmitted within a data exchange network, the purpose of which is to define an occupation state of a specific parking bay. A message may also contain further information, such as, for example, information identifying a user or a user category, and information about an authorization for parking in specific parking bays reserved for specific vehicle and / or user categories.

[0006] The above-mentioned transmission problems cause the message to become corrupted, so that the information contained therein can no longer be read and used by a recipient device.

[0007] A corrupted message is a message whose content is altered or damaged, so that the message is useless, due to disturbances such as, for example, interference caused by devices external to the monitoring system and operating at frequencies which are similar to those of the data exchange network implemented in the monitoring system, by defective hardware, and / or by configuration problems in software installed in a device comprised in the system, etc.

[0008] Although methods are generally known for detecting and / or correcting corrupted messages in data transmission networks, such methods are not applied to parking area monitoring systems due to implementation difficulties and high implementation costs, and / or because such information exchanged within parking area monitoring systems are not considered to be so important as to justify the implementation of such detection and correction methods.

[0009] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for monitoring parking bays in a parking area which can overcome the drawbacks suffered by the prior art.

[0010] In particular, it is one object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for monitoring parking bays which can ensure a more reliable management of the state of occupation of said parking bays through an architecture wherein devices connected to a data exchange network are so configured as to be able to recover the information contained in messages which have become corrupted because of transmission problems and which are responsible for information loss or misalignment, for the purpose of restoring proper control over the state of occupation of the parking bays in a parking area.

[0011] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and a method for monitoring parking bays in a parking area, so configured as to be able to recover the information contained in messages which have been corrupted because of transmission problems that may occur during a transmission phase within a data exchange network among a plurality of devices belonging to the monitoring system.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the presence of a motor vehicle in a parking bay is detected by means of an inductive type sensor device configured to generate an occupation state message whenever an inductance value, measured with the motor vehicle parked in the parking bay, falls below a predetermined threshold value.

[0013] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined threshold value comprises a plurality of progressive threshold values for different categories of motor vehicles as a function of the area of a floor pan comprising metal parts, depending on different categories of motor vehicles, and of the distance of the floor, for the various categories of motor vehicles, from said sensor device.

[0014] According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a parking bay can only be occupied subject to an authorization phase.

[0015] Further advantageous features of the present invention are set out in the appended claims, which are an integral part of the present description.

[0016] The above objects are achieved by the present invention through a system and a method suitable for recovering information that, because of transmission errors, cause misalignment with an actual parking bay occupation situation, having the features set out in the appended claims, which are an integral part of the present description.

[0017] Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in light of the following detailed description and the annexed drawings, which are provided herein merely by way of non-limiting example, wherein:

[0018] Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a monitoring system for detecting vehicles in parking bays according to the present invention;

[0019] Fig. 2 is a graph showing predetermined threshold values implemented in inductive type sensor devices for detecting the presence of a motor vehicle in a parking bay;

[0020] Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of steps of the method according to the present invention, suitable for allowing the retrieval of information about a state of occupation of a parking bay when a corrupted message event occurs;

[0021] Fig. 4 shows in detail a part of the method of Fig. 3 through a block diagram of substeps implementing an algorithm suitable for retrieving information about a state of occupation of a parking bay;

[0022] Fig. 5 shows a block diagram of steps of a process for verifying and authorizing parking in a specific parking bay.

[0023] The references below are used only for simplicity’s sake, and shall not, therefore, limit the protection scope or extension of the various embodiments.

[0024] A monitoring system 100 for detecting motor vehicles 110 in at least one parking bay 120 within a parking area according to the present invention can be implemented in accordance with different embodiments thereof, some of which will now be described in more detail for illustrative purposes.

[0025] Fig. 1 shows the monitoring system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The monitoring system 100 comprises at least one inductive type sensor device 130 arranged on a surface, or paving, of the parking bay 120 belonging to a plurality of parking bays in a parking area.

[0026] The parking bay 120, which is typically rectangular in shape, delimits a parking space for a motor vehicle 110 by means of suitable horizontal markings 140 or other measures adopted for the same purpose.

[0027] The sensor device 130 is coupled, e.g. glued by means of asphalt glue, to the paving of the parking bay 120 anywhere within the area delimited by the horizontal markings 140.

[0028] The sensor device 130 comprises an inductive coil arranged inside a casing (not shown in the drawings), which coil may have different geometries and / or numbers of windings as known in the art. The inductive coil, which represents a primary core, can generate a primary magnetic field. When a motor vehicle 110, the floor pan of which is characterized by a specific area in which there are metal parts that may vary according to the type of motor vehicle 110, is placed in proximity to the sensor device 130, the metal parts of the floor pan of the motor vehicle 110 induce parasite currents associated with the primary magnetic field. Such parasite currents generate, in turn, a secondary magnetic field in opposition to the primary magnetic field generated by the inductive coil. This perturbation of the primary magnetic field causes a variation in the inductance value of the inductive coil from a normal value observed in the absence of any metal elements capable of generating such perturbation. The inductance variation is detected by an electronic circuit arranged inside the casing of the sensor device 130. The parasite currents, and hence the perturbation capable of causing an inductance variation, depend on both the area of the floor pan of the motor vehicle 110, which contains metal parts, and the distance between the floor pan and the sensor device 130.

[0029] It follows that, for different types of motor vehicles, different perturbation contributions will oppose the primary magnetic field, thereby inducing different inductance variations. Let us consider, for example, the different contribution to said secondary magnetic field given by a car characterized by a first ground clearance in comparison with the contribution given by a sport utility vehicle (SUV) characterized by a second ground clearance value, greater than the first value.

[0030] Even though this is not comprised in the protection scope of the present invention, it must be underlined that the sensor devices 130 are subject to high temperatures that, depending on the season and geographical location in which they are being used, may reach values capable of jeopardizing the proper operation of the sensor devices 130. For this reason, the casings of the sensor devices 130 used in the present invention may be made from materials having a low thermal conductivity value of less than 1 W / (m K), so as to thermally insulate the internal components. The casings may be additionally coated with heat-reflective materials which can reflect thermal radiation. The monitoring system 100 further comprises a gateway device 150 configured to manage, in a centralized manner, an occupation state of the plurality of parking bays and an operating state of the at least one sensor device 130, storing them into a database to describe, as accurately as possible, the current situation in a parking area.

[0031] For this purpose, the at least one sensor device 130 and the gateway 150 are connected via a first data exchange network in order to transmit and receive messages on the basis of events concerning the occupation state of the plurality of parking bays, the operating state of the at least one sensor device 130, and any variations in the configuration of one or more sensor devices 130.

[0032] A sensor device 130 is configured for, due to the presence of an electronic circuit, managing different types of messages transmissible to the gateway 150. A first status message is representative of a state of occupation of the parking bay 120 depending on the presence or absence of the motor vehicle 110. When it is transmitted to the gateway 150, the first status message comprises at least one binary piece of information representative of the presence or absence of the motor vehicle 110 in the parking bay 120, i.e. of the occupation state of the parking bay 120. The purpose of this message is to monitor if and which parking bays 120 of the plurality of the parking bays are being occupied by a motor vehicle 110 at a given instant.

[0033] As will be explained in more detail below, the first status message may comprise further information related to the presence of the motor vehicle 110.

[0034] A second status message representative of the operating state of the at least one sensor device 130 is transmitted to the gateway 150 at predetermined regular intervals. The purpose of this message is to monitor the proper operation of the plurality of sensor devices 130, in order to determine whether the first status messages received from a given sensor device 130 are reliable or not.

[0035] A third type of message transmitted by a sensor device 130 is a confirmation message which is transmitted to the gateway 150 in reply to a configuration message received from the gateway 150.

[0036] The configuration message comprises at least one operating parameter for the at least one sensor device 130, e.g. a change in the predetermined frequency at which the sensor device 130 must transmit the second status messages to the gateway 150.

[0037] On the other hand, the gateway 150 is configured for transmitting said configuration messages to the at least one sensor device 130 for the purpose of restoring and / or optimizing the operation of the sensor device 130.

[0038] Fig. 1 shows a gateway physically arranged in proximity to a plurality of parking bays 120. However, according to other embodiments of the present invention, the gateway 150 may be arranged inside a building near the parking area or may be a remote device. As will be further described below, the gateway 150 is configured to intervene whenever an event occurs in which the transmission of a message from the at least one sensor device 130 results in the gateway 150 receiving a corrupted message 150. The corrupted message is due to the presence of a disturbance during a message transmission phase. A dedicated algorithm, implemented within the gateway 150, allows retrieving a piece of information about a state of occupation of a specific parking bay 120 belonging to the plurality of parking bays and associated with the at least one sensor device 130, so that, although corrupted, the message received by the gateway 150 will still make it possible to update the status of the parking bay 120 in the database and to keep the actual state of occupation of the plurality of parking bays 120 consistent with the information stored in the gateway 150.

[0039] As previously described, the presence or absence of the motor vehicle 110 is detected by the sensor device 130 by periodically measuring, at a programmable frequency ranging from 1 to 5 minutes, an inductance value of the magnetic field generated by the coil in the sensor device 130 at different time instants, and by subsequently comparing it with a reference inductance value determined when no metal objects are present in the immediate vicinity of the sensor device 130. The interval of 1 to 5 minutes is aimed to guarantee a good detection rate while at the same time ensuring a long life of the battery of the sensor device 130.

[0040] When, at the detection instant, the inductance value is measured, and no metal objects are present in the immediate vicinity, the measured value will essentially coincide with the reference value, except for any tolerance. Conversely, when metal objects are present in the immediate vicinity of the sensor device 130, the value will be lower than the reference value. Different variations from the reference value will depend on the amount of metal in the object in proximity to the sensor device 130 and on the vertical distance between the sensor device 130 and the object. Reference is intentionally made herein to objects, and not to motor vehicles 110, because any metal objects with a certain mass can disturb the primary magnetic field, resulting in a measured inductance value which will be different from the reference value.

[0041] For example, the presence of a bicycle or an electric scooter in the parking bay 120 with which the sensor device 130 is associated will cause an inductance variation between the reference value and the measured value.

[0042] However, it is not within the scope of the present invention to detect the occupation of parking bays by vehicles other than said motor vehicles 110.

[0043] For this reason, following a data collection campaign aimed at studying inductance variations associated with different vehicle types, and based on the metal percentage that can be found in the vehicles, a threshold value was determined as a reference value for determining the presence of a motor vehicle 110 in a parking bay 120.

[0044] The threshold value is the minimum difference between the reference inductance value and the measured inductance value which allows the sensor device 130 to generate the first status message in order to notify the gateway 150 that its own state of occupation has changed.

[0045] Fig. 2 is an explanatory graph that illustrates the determination of a predetermined threshold value that may be implemented in the at least one sensor device 130 for detecting a motor vehicle 110 in a parking bay 120.

[0046] In the graph, the axis of abscissas indicates time, and the axis of ordinates indicates the inductance values measured by the sensor device 130.

[0047] A dashed horizontal line shows a reference threshold value 200. Note that a first inductance variation 210, e.g. due to the presence of a bicycle in the parking bay 120 associated with the at least one sensor device 130, and a second inductance variation 220, e.g. due to the presence of an electric scooter, are not sufficient to reach the threshold value 200. Therefore, due to a deliberate choice in the configuration of the at least one sensor device 130, such variations, while they are detected by the sensor device 130, are not sufficient to trigger the generation of the first status message notifying the gateway 150 that the state of occupation has changed from available to occupied.

[0048] Vice versa, a third inductance variation 230, e.g. due to the presence of an SUV, and a fourth inductance variation 240, e.g. due to the presence of a sedan, result in an inductance value, and hence an inductance variation from the reference inductance value, which fall below the threshold value 200. In this case, for both the SUV and the sedan the sensor device 130 will generate and transmit to the gateway 150 a plurality of first status messages indicating a variation of the state of occupation of the parking bay 120 associated with the sensor device 130.

[0049] The graph of Fig. 2 can also be read as a time sequence of occupation states for a specific parking bay 120. At a first instant tl, a first motor vehicle 110 is parked in the parking bay 120, so that the sensor device 130 associated with the parking bay 120 will, having detected an inductance value below a predetermined threshold value, generate and transmit a first status message to the gateway 150 in order to communicate such variation of its own state of occupation from available to occupied. Subsequently, at a later instant t2, the first motor vehicle 110 leaves the parking bay 120, so that the sensor device 130 associated with the parking bay 120 will, having detected an inductance value equal to the reference inductance value and an inductance variation above the predetermined threshold value, generate and transmit a first status message again to the gateway 150 in order to communicate a subsequent change in its own state of occupation from occupied to available.

[0050] Likewise, the arrival and departure of a second motor vehicle 110 at, respectively, time instants t3 and t4, cause the sensor device 130 to generate and transmit two further first status messages in order to communicate the switching of its own state from available to occupied and, respectively, from occupied to available again.

[0051] According to a different embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to define, based on the data collection campaign, a plurality of progressive thresholds for the purpose of recognizing not only a generic presence of a motor vehicle 110 in a given parking bay 120, but also the category to which the motor vehicle 110 belongs.

[0052] This would be useful for, for example, reserving specific parking bays for specific categories of motor vehicles 110, being able to detect their proper use and, if necessary, to signal any unauthorized occupation of such parking bays. Let us think of, for example, parking bays reserved for cars in a parking lot of a service area being occupied by motorhomes or buses.

[0053] According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the system is configured to verify a parking authorization of the motor vehicle 110 in a specific parking bay 120. In such an embodiment, the system 100 further comprises a communication device 160 connectable to the sensor device 130 via a second data exchange network, while the at least one communication device 130 comprises a memory unit storing an authorization code to be used during a validation phase, which will be described in further detail below. The purpose of the validation phase is to prohibit the occupation of specific parking bays in a parking area, which have been reserved for motor vehicles 110 belonging to specific user categories such as, for example, disabled people or pregnant women.

[0054] As shown in the graph of Fig. 2, the third inductance variation 230 and the fourth inductance variation 240 are both below a reference threshold value 200, even though the variation caused by the SUV is greater than that caused by the sedan. Based on the information obtained through the data collection campaign, it is possible to determine sufficiently precise ranges as concerns the distance between the sensor device 130 and the floor pan of the motor vehicle 110, and also as concerns the area of the floor pan comprising metal parts in different percentages depending on the category of the motor vehicle 110.

[0055] For example, a first category of motor vehicles 110, which comprises motor vehicles like sedans, coupes, sports cars, station wagons and economy cars, can be defined by an inductance variation characterized by a distance of the floor pan of such category of motor vehicles 110 from the sensor device 130 ranging between 10 and 15 cm, and by an area of the floor pan comprising metal parts of 4.5 x 1.8 m2.

[0056] A second category of motor vehicles 110, known as SUVs, can be defined by an inductance variation characterized by a distance of the floor pan of such category of motor vehicles 110 from the sensor device 130 ranging between 15 and 25 cm, and by an area of the floor pan comprising metal parts of 4.7 x 1.9 m2.

[0057] Fig. 3 shows a block diagram that illustrates the steps for retrieving information about a management of a state of occupation of a parking bay 120 following the occurrence of a corrupted message event in accordance with the present invention.

[0058] In particular, a first step a) is intended to detect a plurality of inductance values by means of the sensor device 130, coupled to the paving of the at least one parking bay 120 of the plurality of parking bays, until the electronic circuit detects an inductance variation from the reference inductance value.

[0059] The second step b) is intended to determine when the inductance variation is below a predetermined threshold value, representative of the presence of a motor vehicle in the parking bay. When this happens, the electronic circuit of the sensor device 130 generates a first status message representative of the state of occupation of the parking bay 120. The first message comprises at least one binary piece of information set to a first value, e.g. 1, representative of the presence of the motor vehicle in the parking bay. In a subsequent step c), the first status message is transmitted to the gateway 150 via a data exchange network to which all sensor devices 130 and the gateway 150 are connected.

[0060] The sensor devices 130 are susceptible to disturbances that, during a message transmission phase, may result in the transmitted message becoming corrupted, with the consequence that the information contained therein will be useless.

[0061] When such a corrupted message event occurs, in step d) the gateway 150 is configured to retrieve the content of the corrupted message in order to avoid any misalignment between the information stored in a database and the actual state of occupation of the plurality of parking bays.

[0062] To this end, the next step e) is intended to keep the binary information representative of the state of occupation of the parking bay 120 aligned in the database even when the message gets corrupted, thanks to step d) in which any corrupted information is recovered. The next step f) is intended to detect a plurality of inductance values by means of the sensor device 130, coupled to the paving of the at least one parking bay 120 of the plurality of parking bays, until the electronic circuit detects a new inductance variation and the detected value coincides with, except for any tolerance, the reference inductance value.

[0063] The next step g) is intended to determine when the inductance variation is above the predetermined threshold value, representative of the presence of the motor vehicle 110 in the parking bay. When this happens, the electronic circuit of the sensor device 130 generates again a first status message representative of the state of occupation of the parking bay 120. The first message comprises at least one binary piece of information set to a second value, e.g. 0, representative of the absence of the motor vehicle 110 in the parking bay 120.

[0064] As described with reference to the steps of detecting the presence of the motor vehicle 110 in the parking bay 120, also the step of transmitting the new first status message may be subject to corruption. In the next step h) of the method, therefore, steps c) to e) are repeated in order to store the next change of occupation state, possibly also by retrieving the binary piece of information.

[0065] In more detail, step d) allows retrieving any corrupted first status messages as shown in Fig. 4, and comprises a plurality of steps which, by successive exclusion, lead to recovering the corrupted information.

[0066] A first step dl) is intended to verify if the corrupted message received was transmitted by the at least one sensor device 130 at a time instant coinciding with the predetermined time interval for the transmission of a second status message. The purpose of the second status message is to notify the gateway 150 that the sensor device 130 is active and operating properly even in the absence of any further transmissions of messages of a different nature that would allow the gateway 150 to ascertain its proper operation. Therefore, if the corrupted message is received by the gateway 150 at one of such time instants, the corrupted message will be classified as an expected message containing no binary information about the state of occupation of the parking bay 120 associated with the sensor device 130.

[0067] A second step d2) is intended to verify if the corrupted message received was transmitted by the at least one sensor device 130 as a confirmation message in reply to a configuration message previously received from the gateway 150. Therefore, if the corrupted message is received at a time following the transmission of a configuration message from the gateway 150, then the corrupted message will be classified as an expected message containing no binary information about the state of occupation of a parking bay 120 associated with the sensor device 130.

[0068] In a third step d3), it is verified if at least one of the two previous checks had a positive outcome, i.e. if the corrupted message was classified either as a confirmation message or as a second status message indicating the proper operation of the at least one sensor device 130.

[0069] When both checks have a negative outcome, the gateway 150 will assume that the corrupted message is not a message belonging to any category of expected messages, but a message containing information about a change of occupation state.

[0070] In this condition, therefore, step d3) comprises a first substep intended to retrieve from the database the last stored value of the at least one binary piece of information representative of the state of occupation of the parking bay 120 associated with the at least one sensor device 130.

[0071] During the next substep, since the corrupted message contained information about a change in the occupation state of the parking bay 120 from a previous state, the gateway 150 updates, in the database, the at least one piece of binary information representative of the state of occupation of the parking bay 120 by means of a binary flip operation, such operation being representative of the change of occupation state contained in the corrupted message.

[0072] The binary flip operation allows inverting the binary value of a piece of information to its opposite value.

[0073] Lastly, Fig. 5 shows a block diagram of steps of a process for verifying and authorizing a specific motor vehicle 110 to park in a specific parking bay 120.

[0074] This verification and authorization process occurs when a motor vehicle 110 occupies a parking bay 120 reserved for specific categories of people. A communication device 160 associated with the motor vehicle 110 and identified by an identification code connects to the sensor device 130 via a second data exchange network. The verification and authorization process comprises a first step bl) intended to request an identification code representative of an authorization for parking in the parking bay 120 of the plurality of parking bays.

[0075] Once the identification code has been obtained, during a second step b2) the electronic circuit compares said identification code received from the communication device 160 with the authorization code stored in the memory unit.

[0076] If such codes match, a first status message will be generated to notify a change of occupation state of parking bay 120 as previously described herein. If, on the contrary, such codes do not match, during a third step b3) a piece of information representative of an alarm state will be generated and inserted into the first status message in order to notify the gateway 150 of the presence of an unauthorized motor vehicle 110 parked in a parking bay 120 reserved for a particular category of users.

[0077] In a further embodiment of the present invention comprising at least one parking bay 120 reserved for a particular category of users, the first status message also comprises the identification code.

[0078] According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the first status message comprises a timestamp generated by the electronic circuit.

[0079] According to a further embodiment of the monitoring system, at least one parking bay of the plurality of parking bays is reserved for a category of users that need to be authorized to park in that parking bay 120 through an identification code associated with the communication device 160. Furthermore, the first status message, which concerns a period of occupation of the parking bay 120 by the motor vehicle 110, comprises also the binary piece of information representative of the presence or absence of the motor vehicle 110, and also further information such as the identification code and the timestamps indicating the parking start and end times. Such a system can be used for determining rates in paid parking areas.

[0080] The present invention makes it possible to overcome the problems which affect the prior art and which cannot be solved by known solutions. In particular, the ability to retrieve, starting from a corrupted message, a piece of information representative of the presence or absence of the motor vehicle 110 in the parking bay 120, i.e. representative of, as far as the parking bay 120 is concerned, a state of occupation of the parking bay 120. This recovery allows the information in the database, concerning the occupation states of the plurality of parking bays in a parking area, to remain aligned with the actual occupation situation in the parking area. A second advantage results from optimized management of the occupation of the plurality of parking bays in a parking area, with the possibility of allowing only specific categories of motor vehicles 110 and / or specific categories of users to park in specific parking bays.

[0081] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, since it may be subject to many modifications, improvements or replacements of equivalent parts and elements without departing from the inventive idea, as clearly specified in the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. Monitoring system (100) for detecting motor vehicles in a plurality of parking bays, said system comprising:- at least one inductive type sensor device (130) comprising an electronic circuit suitable for detecting an inductance value associated with the presence or absence of a motor vehicle (110) in a parking bay (120) of said plurality of parking bays, said sensor device (130) being coupled to a paving of said parking bay (120);- a gateway (150) suitable for managing an occupation state of said plurality of parking bays and an operating state of said at least one sensor device (130), and for storing them into a database, said gateway (150) being connected to said at least one sensor device (130) via a first data exchange network; wherein said at least one sensor device (130) is configured for:- transmitting a first status message representative of said occupation state, comprising at least one binary piece of information representative of said presence or absence of said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (120);- transmitting to said gateway (150), at predetermined time intervals, a second status message representative of said operating state of said at least one sensor device (130);- receiving a configuration message from said gateway (150), and transmitting a confirmation message in reply to said configuration message, said configuration message comprising at least one operating parameter for said at least one sensor device (130); and wherein said gateway (150) is configured for:- receiving a plurality of messages from said at least one sensor device (130), comprising said first status messages and said second status messages, and storing them into a database;- transmitting at least one configuration message to said at least one sensor device (130); and wherein, if one of said messages received by said gateway (150) is corrupted, then said gateway (150) being further configured for:- determining, in accordance with a first verification, if said corrupted message was transmitted by said at least one sensor device (130) at a time instant coinciding with said predetermined time interval for the transmission of said second status message;- determining, in accordance with a second verification, if said corrupted message was transmitted by said at least one sensor device (130) as a confirmation message in reply to a previously received configuration message;- when both verifications provide a negative outcome, updating in said database the at least one binary piece of information representative of the occupation state of said parking bay (130) by means of a binary flip operation, said operation being representative of a change of occupation state.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein when said inductance value is below a predetermined threshold value, it is representative of the presence of said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (120), and wherein when said inductance value is above said predetermined threshold value, it is representative of the absence of said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (120).

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said predetermined threshold value comprises a plurality of progressive threshold values for different categories of motor vehicles as a function of an area of a floor pan of a motor vehicle (110) comprising metal parts and of the distance of said floor pan of one of said categories of motor vehicles (110) from said sensor device (130).

4. The system according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said system further comprises a communication device (160) associated with said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (120) of the plurality of parking bays, said communication device (160) being connectable to said at least one sensor device (130) via a second data exchange network, and wherein said sensor device (130) comprises a memory unit storing an authorization code, said sensor device (130) being further configured for: requesting said communication device (160) to provide an identification code representative of an authorization for parking in said parking bay (130); comparing said identification code with said authorization code; if said identification code differs from said authorization code, generating said first status message further comprising a piece of information representative of unauthorized occupation of said parking bay (130).

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said first status message further comprises said identification code.

6. The system according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said first status message further comprises a timestamp generated by said electronic circuit.

7. Monitoring method for detecting a motor vehicle (110) in a plurality of parking bays, wherein at least one inductive type sensor device (130) comprises an electronic circuit suitable for detecting an inductance value associated with the presence or absence of said motor vehicle (110) in a parking bay (120) of said plurality of parking bays, said sensor device (130) being coupled to the paving of said parking bay (120); a gateway (150) suitable for managing an occupation state of said plurality of parking bays and an operating state of said at least one sensor device (130), and for storing them into a database, said gateway (150) being connected to said at least one sensor device (130) via a first data exchange network, said method comprising the steps of: a) detecting, by means of said sensor device (130), an inductance value until said electronic circuit detects a variation in said inductance value; b) when said electronic circuit determines that an inductance variation between a reference inductance value and said detected inductance value is below a predetermined threshold value representative of the presence of a motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (120), generating, by means of said sensor device (130), a first status message representative of said occupation state, said first status message comprising at least one binary piece of information set to a first value representative of the presence of said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (130); c) transmitting, from said sensor device (130), said first status message to said gateway (150); d) if said message received by said gateway (150) is corrupted, retrieving the at least one binary piece of information contained in said corrupted message; e) updating, in said database of said gateway (150), the at least one binary piece of information representative of the occupation state for said parking bay (130); f) detecting, by means of said sensor device (130), said inductance value until a variation occurs in said inductance value; g) when said variation in the inductance value is above said predetermined threshold value representative of the presence of said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (130), generating, by means of said sensor device (130), said first status message comprising the at least one binary piece of information set to a second valuerepresentative of the absence of said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (120); h) repeating steps c) to e).

8. The monitoring method according to claim 7, wherein said step d) comprises the steps of: dl) determining, in accordance with a first verification, if said corrupted message was transmitted by said at least one sensor device (130) at a time instant coinciding with a predetermined time interval for the transmission of said second status message; d2) determining, in accordance with a second verification, if said corrupted message was transmitted by said at least one sensor device (130) as a confirmation message in reply to a previously received configuration message; d3) when both verifications have a negative outcome: reading from said database the at least one binary piece of information representative of said occupation state of said parking bay (120) associated with said at least one sensor device (130); updating, in said database, the at least one binary piece of information representative of the occupation state of said parking bay (120) by means of a binary flip operation, said operation being representative of a change of occupation state.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein said predetermined threshold value comprises a plurality of progressive threshold values for different categories of motor vehicles as a function of an area of a floor pan of a motor vehicle (110) comprising metal parts and of the distance of said floor pan of said motor vehicle (110) from said sensor device (130).

10. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said step c) is preceded by steps: bl) requesting an identification code representative of an authorization for parking in said parking bay (120) of the plurality of parking bays by means of a communication device (160) associated with said motor vehicle (110) in said parking bay (130) of the plurality of parking bays, said communication device (160) being connectable to said at least one sensor device (130) via a second data exchange network; b2) comparing said identification code with an authorization code stored in a memory unit belonging to said sensor device (130); b3) if said identification code differs from said authorization code, adding a piece ofinformation representative of an alarm state to said first status message.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said first status message further comprises said identification code.

12. The method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said first status message further comprises a timestamp generated by said electronic circuit.

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