Detection Range
Detection Range – parking sensor detection range / dosah detekcie
Detection Range is the measured distance and angular envelope within which a parking sensor reliably reports vehicle presence. For municipal deployments the Detection Range determines sensor spacing, mounting depth, field-of-view and the probability of false positives — and therefore directly impacts navigation, enforcement and the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Key Takeaway — Graz Q1 2025 pilot (internal)
Early internal pilot work in Graz (Q1 2025) showed strong cold-weather resilience and simplified health telemetry that reduced acceptance time. The full pilot dossier is internal; procurement teams should request raw logs when evaluating similar claims.
Field highlight — Pardubice 2021
Large-scale NB-IoT rollouts such as Pardubice 2021 (3,676 sensors) provide valuable long-term telemetry for battery and TCO modelling.
Why Detection Range Matters in Smart Parking
Detection Range affects:
- Siting and spacing: shorter Detection Range requires more sensors per bay or curb; longer Detection Range can reduce hardware counts but increases overlap and interference risk. See the Installation guide.
- Enforcement accuracy: slot-level enforcement requires a tight, repeatable Detection Range envelope to avoid neighbouring-slot bleed (important for Real-time parking occupancy and permit-based enforcement).
- Power & reporting trade-offs: a wider effective Detection Range may increase event count and uplink reporting, changing Battery life and gateway capacity planning.
- Multi-modality planning: combine Geomagnetic sensor + Nano-radar technology for robust slot-level detection while reducing false positives.
Standards and Regulatory Context
Standards do not usually prescribe a single 'detection distance' but they set constraints (radio emissions, safety, ingress/impact protection) that shape practical Detection Range.
| Standard / Directive | Why it matters for Detection Range | Practical constraint for procurement |
|---|---|---|
| ETSI EN 300 220 (SRD) | Radio transmit power, duty cycle and channelization affect uplink reliability and the effective event density. | Constrains radio power in EU bands (example: LoRa EU868 max EIRP ~ 14 dBm). |
| IEC / EN 62368-1 (Product safety) | Electrical & mechanical safety across operating temperatures — extreme temp limits change antenna and battery behaviour and can alter field Detection Range. | Require a safety certificate (test reports). |
| IP / IK ingress & impact ratings | Protects sensors from water, dust and impacts; water or snow covering the radar lens reduces Detection Range and increases false positives. | Specify IP68 ingress protection and IK10 impact resistance for on-street use. |
| National EMC / conformity | RF noise in urban environments reduces reliable Detection Range; certified receiver performance helps. | Ask for EMC & test reports during procurement. |
Notes for RFPs: require vendor-supplied test conditions (target size, reflectivity, mounting geometry, temperature and report interval) and the raw test logs that produced any declared Detection Range. Lock Autocalibration, FOTA and health telemetry into the SLA so you can measure drift and battery degradation over time.
Industry Benchmarks and Practical Applications
Representative, conservative benchmarks (model-to-model variation is large).
| Technology | Representative Detection Range (practical) | Typical latency / reporting | Best-fit use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geomagnetic (in-ground) | 0 – 0.5 m (slot-level occupancy) | < 1 s event detection | On-street slot occupancy; long Battery life deployments |
| Short-range mmWave / nano-radar (on-ground) | 0.06 – 6 m (near-field parking) | tens → hundreds ms; processed locally | Detect low-height objects, complement magnetometer; use Nano-radar technology |
| Ultrasonic (vehicle-mounted / parking assist) | 0.15 – 2.0 m | sub-100 ms | Automotive parking assist; not ideal for municipal slot-level enforcement |
| Camera (BEV / edge AI) | 1 – 25 m (scene & optics dependent) | 50–500 ms | Wide-area coverage, guidance and analytics; privacy & light/weather caveats (AI video BEV, Parking occupancy analytics) |
Practical takeaway: choose sensor technology by required Detection Range (slot-level vs area-level) and environmental constraints (snow, low vehicles, occlusions). For slot-level enforcement combine a Geomagnetic sensor with short-range radar or camera confirmation using Multi-sensor fusion.
How Detection Range is Installed, Measured and Accepted (HowTo)
- Define metrics: Dmin, Dmax, angular Field of View, detection probability (Pd) by distance bins and false-alarm rate (FAR). Record acceptance Pd thresholds (e.g., Pd ≥ 0.95).
- Prepare controlled targets (steel vehicle corner, low-profile dummy, reflective plates) to emulate different radar RCS and magnetic signatures.
- Fix mounting geometry: verify mounting height, depth below surface (for in-ground) and orientation. Record GPS and installation sketches in the log (see Installation guide).
- Set environmental conditions and record them: temperature, humidity, precipitation and ground cover. Test in representative seasonal states.
- Configure reporting & radio parameters (TX power, spreading factor, reporting interval). Minimize time-on-air where possible to preserve battery life.
- Run camera-verified head-to-head field trials for 7–14 days (or longer in extreme climates). Log per-event timestamp, sensor readout and ground truth.
- Compute Pd by distance bin and derive Dmax at the acceptance Pd threshold. Produce ROC / precision-recall curves for the dossier.
- Verify autocalibration and health telemetry (battery coulombmeter logs, firmware update timestamps). Vendors who provide comprehensive Sensor health monitoring and FOTA ease long-term maintenance.
- Lock acceptance criteria and TCO triggers (battery replacement thresholds, recalibration intervals) into the contract and CityPortal acceptance workflow.
Common Misconceptions
- 'Longer Detection Range is always better.' Debunked: longer range can increase overlap, RF collisions and false positives; a controlled short range with high repeatability often serves enforcement better.
- 'Manufacturer datasheet range equals field range.' Debunked: datasheet conditions differ. Always require raw test logs under your geometry.
- 'Magnetic sensors cannot detect EVs.' Debunked: many EVs have measurable magnetic signatures; variability in vehicle types and misalignment are the real issues.
- 'A camera removes Detection Range limitations.' Debunked: cameras add range but bring occlusion, privacy and light issues.
- 'Battery life is independent of Detection Range.' Debunked: reporting frequency and event density (driven by Detection Range and modality) affects transmissions and battery consumption.
- 'One sensor and one setting fits all bays.' Debunked: curb width, vehicle mix and snow mean you must tune thresholds per zone.
Summary
Detection Range is operational metric — not just a datasheet number. Require vendor test logs, camera-verified field trials and battery-health telemetry in procurement to ensure delivered Detection Range matches contract requirements. Combine magnetometer + radar and logging in acceptance trials for robust enforcement and guidance; aim to integrate results into your Parking guidance system and analytics stack.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Detection Range?
Detection Range is the measured maximum and minimum distances (and angular envelope) within which a sensor reliably detects a vehicle with a specified Pd and FAR.
- How is Detection Range measured and validated in smart parking?
Use a reproducible protocol: define Pd and FAR, run controlled lab and field tests with camera ground truth, compute Pd by distance bins and lock Dmax at the acceptance Pd. Include radio/reporting configuration and raw logs.
- How do environment and vehicle type affect Detection Range?
Temperature, precipitation, snow and vehicle height change radar returns and magnetic signatures; require tests in representative seasonal conditions.
- What test protocol should a city require to validate Detection Range claims?
A 7–14 day camera-verified pilot (longer if extreme climate), raw per-event logs, battery traces and autocalibration reports; acceptance at Pd ≥ 0.95 @ required Dmax.
- How does Detection Range affect battery life and reporting?
Wider Detection Range increases event counts and uplink transmissions; reporting interval, TX power and spreading factor (LoRa) are factors in battery calculations.
- Can Detection Range be adjusted remotely or via OTA?
Yes — modern sensors support threshold tuning and firmware updates over the air; require FOTA capabilities and post-update verification in the SLA.
References
Below are selected in-field Fleximodo deployments and their public/internal metadata (for project-level lessons and procurement references):
- Pardubice 2021 — Pardubice, Czech Republic. 3,676 SPOTXL NB-IoT sensors deployed on 2020-09-28; dataset shows long-term telemetry and lifecycle metrics used in municipal acceptance.
- Chiesi HQ White — Parma, Italy. 297 sensors (SPOT MINI + SPOTXL LoRa) deployed 2024-03-05; useful for underground / indoor lessons.
- Skypark 4 Residential Underground Parking — Bratislava, Slovakia. 221 SPOT MINI deployed 2023-10-03; example of underground performance and health telemetry.
- Peristeri (debug) — Peristeri, Greece. 200 SPOTXL NB-IoT (flashed sensors) deployed 2025-06-03; example of field debugging and re-flashing cycles.
- Vic-en-Bigorre (2025) — Vic-en-Bigorre, France. 220 SPOTXL NB-IoT sensors deployed 2025-08-11; early seasonal behaviour notes available in project logs.
Author Bio
Ing. Peter Kovács, Technical Freelance writer
Ing. Peter Kovács is a senior technical writer specialising in smart-city infrastructure, field test protocols and procurement best practices. He writes for municipal parking engineers and IoT integrators and produces vendor evaluation templates and acceptance workflows.