Checklist before deploying a plate recognition car park

A plate recognition car park project covers lane devices, network and power infrastructure, the station application, the central application and registered vehicle data. These items depend on each other, so leaving one out during preparation forces changes to the rest.

The checklist below follows the three Sol26 Parking deployment steps: survey and design, installation and configuration, trial and handover.

Scope and scale of the car park

Scale determines the number of software licences, the number of devices and how alerts are configured. The gate access software is licensed per gate, and the central application is licensed per server.

• Number of car parks and stations to manage
• Number of lanes at each gate, with car and motorbike lanes separated
• Capacity of each car park, to configure the overcapacity alert
• User groups: staff, residents, contractors, visitors
• Whether the car park charges fees, to configure fee display and revenue statistics

Gate layout drawings

Before construction there should be a floor plan showing the device layout at the entry and exit gate. It marks the positions of the plate recognition camera, overview camera, barrier, lane divider post, guard house and monitoring screen for each lane.

Beyond the floor plan, a section and a 3D perspective help the owner picture device positions before approval. The drawings move through preliminary, for approval, construction and as-built issues.

Devices and identification methods

• Plate recognition camera or standard camera for each lane
• Short-range reader for cards used by residents, staff and visitors
• Long-range reader for UHF tags on cars
• Automatic barrier
• Face ID device if the gate also controls pedestrian access
• Station computer and screen in the guard house

For third-party equipment, the hardware supplier must provide standard API or SDK documentation, for example for the barrier controller, before Sol26 carries out the integration. Owners should work with the equipment supplier to obtain it early.

Network, power and server

In Sol26 equipment quotations, infrastructure is listed as a separate item. The distance from the lanes to the guard house and network cabinet determines the cable quantity, so it should be measured during the survey.

• Server for the central application
• Managed switch for the device network
• CAT6 network cable and conduit
• Power cable for lane devices
• Online UPS
• Accessories: trunking, mounting bases, cable ties, wall plugs and fittings

Vehicle data and accounts

• Registered vehicle list: plate, owner name, card and unit or department
• Source for syncing resident data with building management, for apartment buildings
• Administrator account for the person in charge of the car park
• An account for each security guard, by station

Trial run, training and handover

The trial run uses real vehicles, tunes recognition and trains guards before go-live. The trial script should cover unusual cases as well as normal entries and exits.

1. 1Registered vehicle enters and exits, check automatic matching
2. 2Vehicle with mismatched entry and exit plates, check manual handling
3. 3Vehicle with a plate duplicating one already inside
4. 4Car park over its allowed capacity
5. 5Camera disconnected, check the fault alert
6. 6Visitor car exits, check the total fee display

Frequently asked questions

How is the Sol26 Parking software licensed?

Licences are perpetual and limited by the number of workstations and hardware devices handed over. They grant the right of use and do not include intellectual property or source code.

Who provides the API for the barrier and cameras?

The hardware supplier provides the device API or SDK documentation. Sol26 uses it to connect the devices to the software.

How long is the software warranty?

Core software bugs are fixed free of charge for 12 months from the date the technical acceptance record is signed.

When are guards trained?

Training takes place before go-live, during the trial and handover step.