Project Introduction:
In parking facility equipment implementation, other than the infrastructure of gate control, facility monitoring, and safety alarm monitoring, there's one other important segment which helps to generate revenue that requires the same rugged and weather resistant industrial automation needs: Parking Facility Kiosk. The use of these kiosks reduces the need to have multiple attendants as well as security guards, if needed. These kiosks can do things as simple as taking payment and lifting the gate or more complex needs such as storing credit card information. There are so many different possibilities by automating these parking facility kiosks.

System Requirements:
Due to the demand for an automated payment system, Advantech has developed a concept that uses the industrial computer as the user interface. This industrial computer is ideal due to its wide operating temperature range and the capability to handle XP embedded or better for easier application development. There are plenty of USB ports to connect to a RFID reader or a swipe type card reader, bill validator, and thermal printer. For different varieties of relay and digital input/output control, this computer can expand to include a compact size I/O card such as PC/104 or PCI-104.

As for the display, since the system may be installed in an outdoor or semi-outdoor environment, Advantech recommends using a 1000 NIT high-bright display.

System Diagram:

System Description:
Each kiosk has an Advantech embedded automation computer along with a high-bright display. The customer touches the screen to select different options. All the different options are analyzed and forwarded to the proper locations such as a control room, a gate lift, security camera, etc.

Conclusion:
The system has delivered reliable performance. The total maintenance cost has been significantly reduced due to the rugged design of the Advantech products. The ease of use and the hours saved by customers has provided a system that is well-received and easy to use. The overall savings and the flexibility and functionality of the kiosk are the future of managing parking facilities.