BK, a.s. is a Slovak facility management and building technology company based in Piešťany, part of the ZSE Energia group. In 2023 it put every layer of the Fleximodo system into one small car park: sensors, permit cards, guidance signs, a gateway and the managed backend.
How the project developed
2023: defining the system. BK wanted a parking setup that answers three questions at once for each bay: is it taken, is the vehicle allowed to be there, and can drivers see that before they arrive? That called for three device types working together, plus the network and software to link them.
November 2023: installation. Fleximodo delivered and set up a turnkey installation for five bays:
- 5 × IoT Parking Sensor Standard, in-ground, LoRaWAN, one per bay (magnetometer plus radar, 99.96% accuracy)
- 5 × IoT Permit Card, BLE, carried by authorised vehicles so each sensor can tell who is parked
- 5 × flip-dot guidance signage displays showing availability, solar-powered with no cabling
- 1 × LoRa gateway on site, so the sensors do not depend on a public network
- IoT Hub backend, accessed through CityPortal
Since 2023: operation. Occupancy and permit status flow from the sensors, through the gateway, into IoT Hub. Staff see the bays in CityPortal, and the signs update from the same data.
Lessons for similar sites
- Small sites can run the full stack. Five bays are enough to run detection, identification and guidance together. The components are the same as in a city-wide rollout, just fewer of them.
- Permit cards make enforcement simple. When the sensor knows which card is present, staff can see an unauthorised vehicle without patrolling. Our parking enforcement page explains the workflow.
- A private gateway gives control. With its own LoRa gateway, the site does not rely on third-party coverage and keeps its data path short.
- Off-grid signs cut installation work. Solar flip-dot displays avoid trenching for power, which matters on an existing car park surface.
For a permit-zone deployment at city scale, see Slovanet in Bratislava.
Takeaway: a five-bay site in Piešťany shows that sensors, permit cards, signs and a private network can run as one system at any size.