Parking Place Detector

User Manual for End Users and System Administrators

Parking Place Detector (PPD) is a dedicated tool developed by Metrici for managing parking lots of any size using IP cameras and software, with specialised features designed to help you run and grow your business more efficiently. Like all Metrici software solutions, PPD is based on analysing the video stream from IP cameras and recognising different objects in the frames.

Dashboard

In the Dashboard menu, you can see all the details of one or more parking lots, if you manage more than one. On the left side, choose a location — or all locations — for which you want to see an instant report of the activity. Click the OK button after making your selection to display the corresponding information.

A general overview is displayed, along with the occupancy rate for each camera at that particular moment in the selected location. The total number of parking places set for each camera is listed, as well as the number of free and busy spots and the occupancy percentage.

On the right side, you will see the data for each group set within a parking lot. A group can differ from a camera grouping — it can be made up of parking places belonging to multiple cameras, or a selection of specific places from several cameras. See the Groups menu to read more about this setting.

The "name" of a parking place is composed of the camera ID and the number assigned to that place when it was created in the Metrici detection engine.

Parking Events

A list of all status changes that have occurred for any parking place will be displayed in this menu. Several filters can be applied from the dedicated bar at the top of the page.

These filters refer to a time interval, the location or locations you want to view information about, and the camera or group you want to monitor.

Exporting Results

Any result, or the results of a filtered search, can be exported as a PDF or XLS file.

A PDF file will contain a list of the selected search results with all the data about where, when, and how the status of a parking place changed, along with a still image from the moment the event occurred. If a companion camera is attached, the photo from that camera will be saved as well. An XLS file will include a list of data events without the photo captures.

Event Details

Each event for a parking place includes the following information: the status change (whether the place became occupied or free), the date and time when the status change occurred, the location and camera where the change took place, as well as the name of the group to which that particular place belongs, if applicable.

On the right side of the screen, additional information about the selected parking place is displayed, along with some available actions.

For a selected parking place, you can see the number of events for that place for the current day, the current week, and the current month. The buttons are interactive — clicking on them will update the list on the left to match the selected filter.

Some additional options are also available: you can add an alarm for that place or export the event as a PDF. See the Alarms menu for details on how to set up alarms. When creating an alarm, remember to add conditions to it for it to work.

Live View

As the name suggests, on this page you can choose which cameras you want to watch live. You can add or remove cameras from this menu, as long as they have been introduced in Global Settings → Locations & Cameras, set as Parking Place Detector cameras, and you have viewing rights for this menu and those cameras.

To add more cameras, choose the one you want from the dropdown menu and click the ADD LIVE VIEW button in the upper left.

On a live view image, click on the monitor icon to maximise the view (full screen) or on the X to close it. When you minimise an image that was made full screen, you will return to the view of all cameras set in live view.

By default, the live view field is automatically filled in by Metrici in the Control Panel with a URL such as http://localhost/io/ppd/live_view.php. If the video is to be sent and viewed at a different address, replace localhost with the appropriate address or IP.

Reports

In the Reports section, you can choose from three different report types, with the usual filters: a time interval, the location for which a report will be generated, the camera or cameras, and the group.

Tip: If you do not want a report from all the cameras in a location but only from a few of them — for example, section C or the fourth floor — you can create a group for the cameras in that section and then choose a report for that particular group.

Note: Depending on the size of the database and the report you want to generate, the display may take a while for the calculation to be completed.

Occupancy Each Hour

This report generates the occupancy percentage of a location, a camera, or a group for each hour within the selected time interval.

Occupancy Each Day

This report generates the occupancy percentage for the current week by default, or for another time interval set in the filter.

Occupancy Each Month

This report generates a chart with a comparative occupancy percentage for the selected input data. By default, the system will generate a report for the current year, from the beginning of the year up to today. These parameters can be changed in the filter menu.

Alarms

Each parking place, group, or camera can have an alarm set to trigger when one or more conditions are met.

Alarm Types

An alarm can be set to active or inactive and can be one of three types: an email alert, an SMS message to a phone number (if a GSM module is attached to the server), or an HTTP request.

Email: Fill in the email address field with the address to which the notification will be sent. You can also personalise the message that will be delivered.

SMS: Click on the Send SMS box, enter the phone number to which the message will be sent, and write the message that will be delivered. Multiple phone numbers can receive SMS alerts, but each number must have its own alarm set up.

HTTP Request: This type of alarm triggers a URL when activated, allowing it to control a barrier or other external hardware system.

Setting Conditions

After an alarm has been created (with a name) and a type has been selected (SMS, email, or HTTP), you need to define the conditions under which the alarm will activate.

Click the green View button to add new conditions. Add as many conditions as you need and save them.

Keep in mind that each condition has a comparison operator.

The first condition when setting up an alarm is to establish an alarm item, which can be a Location, a Group, or a Place. Depending on the selected item, different conditions will be available.

For example, if the alarm item is set to Location, the next condition will automatically be the occupancy percentage. When a Group is selected, you will choose which groups the alarm applies to and the percentage. When a Place is selected, the next condition will be the status.

Comparison Operators

Operator	Meaning
=	Is equal to a specific value.
!=	Is different from or not included in the alarm item.
<	Smaller than — usually used for alarms with time units.
<=	Smaller than or equal to.
>	Greater than — usually used for alarms set with timestamps.
>=	Greater than or equal to.

Finally, for an alarm to be saved, you must select a parameter to apply it to.

Examples

Example 1 — Alarm when a place is occupied:
Place = choose the place
AND Status = Busy
AND More than = 1 minute

Example 2 — Alarm when parking lot is almost full:
Create an alarm named "Parking almost full," then add:
IF Location = your location
AND Occupancy >= 90%

Note: If you want an alarm for any change of status on a parking place, you must create two separate alarms — one for when the place becomes occupied and one for when it becomes free.

Settings

Locations and Cameras – Registering Places

Only locations introduced in Global Settings will appear in this menu. For a location to be displayed in the Parking Place Detector, it must have at least one camera assigned to it.

Important: After parking places have been created in Metrici Control Panel, they must be registered in this menu. Without this step, the system will not work properly. Registering is the operation by which you tell the system that a place is available for parking. Later, from the same menu, you can unregister a place if needed.

To register a place — or all parking places assigned to a camera — go to Parking Place Detector → Settings → Locations & Cameras — see Fig.59 Locations & Cameras.

Choose a location from your list and click on its name. From the list of cameras in your location, choose the one for which you want to register parking places. From the list of parking places allocated to that camera, select the ones you want to register, or click the Check All button to activate them all — see Fig.60 Register Parking.

If a place becomes unavailable due to reconfiguration, works underway, or any other reason, it can be unregistered so it is no longer taken into account when calculating the occupancy percentage.

Communication with Display

If you want to display information about available spaces on an LED display, go to Parking Place Detector → Locations & Cameras. From the list of your locations, click the blue EDIT button.

In the Display Text field, you can use codes to command the Metrici LED Display — see Fig.61 Display.

Colour Code	Colour
`#Y`	Yellow
`#R`	Red
`#G`	Green

Data Code	Displays
`#TSPACES`	Total number of parking spaces
`#BSPACES`	Number of occupied parking spaces
`#FSPACES`	Number of free parking spaces

For example: #RBUSY #BSPACES3 / #GFREE #FSPACES3

On your Metrici LED Display, enter a URL such as: http://METRICI_IP_ADDRESS_OF_SERVER/io/ppd/location_display.php?id=1

Remember: It is mandatory to specify a colour code — without one, nothing will be displayed. You can use any number of characters from 1 to 9. If you set more characters than the display can fit, the information will scroll.

For a better understanding, see also the Metrici LED Display user guide.

Groups

A group is a collection of multiple parking places that correspond to a specific category, defined by the administrator.

A group can include as many parking places as needed, from any number of cameras. Click on a location's name to view or add a group. Click the green Add Group button in the upper right — see Fig.62 Groups (1).

Choose a name for the group and enter the codes for communication with the Metrici LED Display (if applicable). After a group has been created, go to the list of groups and click on the group name or the green View button to add or remove places — see Fig.62 Groups (2).

Events registered by a group can be exported from the Parking Events menu by selecting the group name from the filters.

Cloning Group Settings

You can clone the settings of an existing group. After creating a group and assigning places to it, click the yellow Clone button and all the data will be copied to the new group — see Fig.62 Groups (3).

Tip: You can register or unregister more than one place at a time. Click on the first one, press and hold Shift, and click the last one. All places between the two points will be selected.

Location Plan

For easier management, a plan or map of a location can be uploaded to the Metrici Interface. Go to Parking Place Detector → Settings → Locations & Cameras. Click the Edit button for the location, and in the Emplacement Schematic section, upload a .jpeg or .png file.

After uploading, manually place the parking spaces on the map for each camera. Click on each parking place and draw where it is located on the plan, then click Save. Repeat for all cameras and places.

When you access the Dashboard menu in Parking Place Detector, you will see an instant view of the location with all the detection data from each camera.