S O NAH (SONAH) is a smart parking and smart city company in Aachen, Germany. It combines camera-based detection, in-ground sensors and its own analytics platform for municipalities and property owners. Fleximodo supplies the ground-level sensors, and over two years SONAH changed both the sensor type and the network behind it.
How the project developed
Before Fleximodo: cameras and an own platform
SONAH already ran its own parking platform, including a project covering more than 1,000 spaces in Aachen. Overhead cameras work well where there is a clear line of sight to the bays. On-street parking with trees, awnings and varied street widths is harder to cover from above, which is where a sensor in or on each bay helps.
2023: NB-IoT in-ground sensors
The first phase used the IoT Parking Sensor Standard, an in-ground unit with magnetometer and radar detection, IP68 sealing and an IK10 housing rated for up to 8 tonnes. Connectivity ran over NB-IoT on 1NCE SIM cards, so each sensor connected to the cellular network directly with no gateways to install.
SONAH did not use a Fleximodo backend. The sensor data went into SONAH's own platform, where it sits next to camera feeds and analytics.
2025: LoRaWAN Mini sensors
In 2025 SONAH added the IoT Parking Sensor Mini in its exterior version, on LoRaWAN. Three things changed at once:
- Form factor: a compact surface-mounted sensor instead of a cored in-ground unit.
- Network: LoRaWAN gateways instead of cellular NB-IoT.
- Operation: SONAH manages the connectivity and the data pipeline itself.
The detection method did not change. Both sensor families pair a magnetometer with radar and apply automatic temperature compensation, so accuracy holds from winter frost to summer asphalt heat.
Lessons for similar sites
Keep the data layer yours if you already have one. SONAH connected Fleximodo sensors to its existing platform through standard data outputs. Integrators with their own software can do the same using Fleximodo's integrations and API.
Treat the network as a decision you can revisit. NB-IoT is the quicker start across scattered sites because each sensor connects on its own. LoRaWAN makes sense once gateways are in place and the operator wants control of the network. Buying both from the same sensor supplier means the detection behaviour stays the same when the network changes.
Match the mounting to the street. In-ground sensors suit bays where coring is allowed and the surface is stable. Surface-mounted sensors suit places where road cutting is slow to approve or not permitted.
Use sensors where cameras struggle. A mix of overhead cameras for open areas and bay sensors for obstructed streets gives fuller coverage than either alone.
For another German integrator running Fleximodo on its own platform, see multiGuide in Munich.
Takeaway: the same detection technology can move with an integrator from NB-IoT to LoRaWAN and from in-ground to surface mounting as its sites change.