Smart parking sensor is probably one of the largest target market for all sorts of range finders and object detectors. But this a a minefield for hardware startups. It’s not too difficult to make a prototype or even MVP that works 90-95% of the time but it’s much harder to get vehicle detection sensor accuracy up to commercial levels of 99%+.
I have been asked to write a [blog about smart parking systems for Avnet / Newark about our experience and lessons learnt so far.
Parking occupancy detection is a tough challenge but the world does need more of real-time parking availability data! So I would appreciate any comments and or questions that may stimulate further discussion!
P.S. And of course you can buy most of mentioned breakout boards here at SparkFun.](https://www.newark.com/smart-parking-solutions-the-iot-sensors-space-race)