Mini Exterior 1.0 Parking Sensor

Mini Exterior 1.0 Parking Sensor – Outdoor LoRaWAN vehicle‑presence sensor with triple‑sensing and IP68 weatherproofing

The Mini Exterior 1.0 is a compact, weatherproof spot sensor engineered for curbside and surface parking where low visual impact, long field life and high single‑space detection reliability are required. It combines a magnetometer and a short‑range nanoradar module with an onboard algorithm to report per‑space presence over LoRaWAN. Use cases include driver guidance, dynamic signage, electronic permitting and enforcement workflows.

Why procurement teams choose a Mini Exterior 1.0 variant:

Per‑space, single‑space occupancy for navigation and dynamic signage (driver guidance and space-level APIs). See real‑time occupancy integrations such as real-time parking occupancy.
Low‑touch maintenance: long primary cells and remote telemetry reduce field visits; always verify battery outputs with the battery life calculator.
Secure radio & compliance evidence that simplifies CE/RED and local procurement checks (see the RF and safety test reports in the technical pack).

Key operational value for municipal deployments:

Precise single‑space occupancy for navigation and dynamic signage.
Low‑touch maintenance: long battery cells (3.6 V primary cells) and remote health monitoring reduce unnecessary patrols.
Procurement-friendly test evidence (RF, EMC, safety) reduces tender risk and speeds approvals.

Quick links for procurement & design teams (select when preparing a tender)

(These links map to tactical glossary and procurement pages your team will request from vendors.)

Standards and regulatory context

For outdoor curbside sensor procurement, require explicit evidence of the following in the tender pack (test reports, conditions, annexes):

Standard / Directive	Why it matters	Evidence to request
EN 62368‑1 (product safety)	Safety baseline for electrical devices and batteries.	Full EN 62368 test report and pass/fail tables.
EN 300 220 (SRD) / ETSI radio tests	Radio performance, spurious emissions and duty cycle for EU868 LoRa devices.	Full RF test report (measurement tables & test setup photo annexes).
IP68 & IK10	Weather ingress and impact resistance for curbside exposure.	Datasheet and third‑party verification.
EU Radio Equipment Directive (RED 2014/53/EU)	Market entry & EMC compliance in the EU.	Conformity statement plus EMC annexes.

Procurement note: ask for full lab annexes (test sample identifiers, firmware version, environmental chamber conditions). Short conformity statements are insufficient to validate a device for a public works contract. Typical Fleximodo test packs include RF setups, step‑by‑step verification and safety annexes.

Product family & variants

When specifying hardware, call out the exact variant and part number (surface vs flush, LoRaWAN vs cellular module, battery size). Representative variants:

Model	Use	Connectivity	Typical dim.	Typical weight	Typical install time
Mini Interior 1.0	Indoor single‑space	LoRaWAN	Φ 93 × 21 mm	~100 g	~60 s
Mini Exterior 1.0 (surface / flush)	Outdoor curbside/surface	LoRaWAN	Manufacturer lists exterior form factors	~230 g (variant)	~2 min (surface kit)
Standard On‑surface 2.0	Heavy‑duty surface	LoRaWAN / NB‑IoT	~300 × 60 mm	~1 kg	~5 min
Standard In‑ground 2.0	Flush / in‑road	LoRaWAN / NB‑IoT	~115 × 64 mm	~390 g	~8 min

*All dimensions and times marked "typical" — verify final order spec with the vendor datasheet and part numbers. See the Mini datasheet for baseline values. *

Why choose Mini Exterior 1.0 for curbside/surface projects:

Lower visual impact than full on‑surface units, good for heritage or central‑business districts.
Optimised LoRaWAN antenna and casing for curbside mounting.
Fast installs and low OPEX where per‑space granularity and low install cost are the primary drivers.

System components (what you must include in tender documents)

Sensor head: magnetometer + nanoradar detection module, autocalibration algorithm and onboard data logger.
Battery cell: 3.6 V primary cell variants (specify chemistry and part numbers). Use the battery life calculator to model city loads.
Radio & antenna: LoRaWAN modem configured for EU868 (duty‑cycle compliant). Ask for full RF test tables.
Encapsulation: IP68, IK10 housings and surface/flush mounting kits; request sealing instructions and maintenance procedures.
Gateways / backhaul: operator or private LoRaWAN connectivity gateways (e.g., Kerlink type) or NB‑IoT operator SIM for cellular variants.
Device & fleet management: DOTA / ClientZone for device telemetry, battery SOC, FOTA and fleet health reporting (request demo access).
City integrations: CityPortal or other back‑end modules for navigation, enforcement and reservations.

How Mini Exterior 1.0 is installed, measured and commissioned (step‑by‑step)

Planning & RF survey — map the parking area, record coordinates, and confirm LoRaWAN coverage or NB‑IoT operator availability; adjust gateway positions if needed.
Asset numbering & provisioning — assign device IDs and configure entries in the device management console (CityPortal / DOTA).
Surface preparation — clean, mark the installation point (recommend ~2/3 from curb for perpendicular slots) and use the drilling template. Follow the installation manual templates precisely.
Mounting — fit surface or flush kit, hand‑torque bolts to avoid casing damage; ensure correct sealing to maintain IP68.
Network join & registration — activate OTAA/ABP and register the device in the network server and management console.
Calibration — allow autocalibration or run manual park/unpark cycles as per the quick guide. Autocalibration
Validation — run a 24–72 h validation with occasional vehicle audits or an ANPR integration check to confirm detection thresholds.
Monitoring — enable daily battery telemetry, RSSI alarms and schedule FOTA windows during low traffic.
Handover & training — provide operations staff with enforcement and maintenance routines in CityPortal.

(See the installation manual for detailed torque specs and the printed drilling template.)

Maintenance and performance considerations

Operational lifetime and maintenance depend primarily on three levers: reporting cadence (message volume), radio technology choice (LoRaWAN vs NB‑IoT) and daily slot turnover. Operational best practices:

Battery strategy: run the vendor battery calculator with three sample scenarios (low/medium/high turnover), monitor coulomb counts and cell temperature from DOTA/ClientZone and replace proactively before SOC impacts data continuity.
Firmware & security: schedule FOTA during low‑traffic windows; require device‑level encryption for cellular variants (DTLS/IPsec or vendor equivalent).
Cold‑weather planning: lab thermal cycling has shown multi‑year hardware durability; request pilot telemetry from comparable climates before full roll‑out.
False‑detection mitigation: rely on autocalibration, remote threshold tuning and a short validation audit (24‑72 h) post‑install.
Physical maintenance: plan periodic visual inspections after major incidents despite IP/IK ratings — confirm procedure in service contract.

Key KPIs to track weekly:

Sensor uptime (reported vs expected)
Battery SOC & estimated remaining years
Detection accuracy (% true positives from random audit)
Re‑join/retransmission rate after connectivity loss

Current trends and procurement guidance

Connectivity: LoRaWAN remains the lowest cost‑per‑message option for dense, per‑space detection projects; NB‑IoT is attractive where operator SIMs and guaranteed cellular coverage are required. Recent industry reporting continues to show LoRaWAN expanding its market leadership in Massive IoT deployments.
Smart city strategy: look to the EU Smart Cities stocktake for pilot patterns, scaling recommendations and financing approaches when planning city‑wide rollouts.
Software & lifecycle: device management (DOTA / ClientZone) plus battery telemetry and scheduled FOTA are essential items to require in municipal tenders and materially reduce OPEX.

Edge analytics (sensor‑side filtering), improved magnetometer + nanoradar fusion algorithms, and permit authentication pairing (IoT Permit Card) are incremental improvements that reduce false positives in busy urban use.

Practical callouts (operator experience / lessons learned)

Key takeaway — Pardubice 2021 pilot

Deployment: 3,676 SPOTXL NB‑IoT sensors (deployed 2020‑09‑28). Data from fleet logs used in RFP validation. Pilot telemetry and battery‑life models are invaluable to set replacement cycles and warranty terms.

Operator tip — small‑fleet trial before citywide buy

Run a 3‑month mixed‑weather pilot (cold + high‑turnover) to validate detection thresholds, message cadence and battery drain. Use the pilot outputs as part of the tender scoring model.

(Selected project details appear in the References section below.)

Summary

The Mini Exterior 1.0 is a compact, weatherproof LoRaWAN spot sensor that combines magnetometer and nanoradar sensing for reliable, per‑space vehicle presence detection. For municipal pilots and tenders require: datasheet verification for IP/IK, full RF and safety test reports, battery calculator outputs for low/medium/high turnover, and read‑only device‑management access (DOTA/ClientZone) to validate telemetry before mass procurement.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mini Exterior 1.0 Parking Sensor?

The Mini Exterior 1.0 is a compact outdoor spot sensor combining a 3‑axis magnetometer and a short‑range nanoradar inside an IP68 housing that reports presence/absence over LoRaWAN. See the datasheet for the baseline specs.
How is the Mini Exterior 1.0 installed and validated?

Installation follows a standard workflow: RF survey, asset numbering, surface prep, mounting (surface or flush kit), network join, autocalibration and a 24–72 h validation (drive tests or ANPR cross‑check). Refer to the installation manual for torque, drilling template and calibration steps.
What battery life can I expect in city use?

Battery life depends on reporting cadence, LoRaWAN spreading factor and slot turnover. Use the vendor battery calculator (ClientZone) for modeled outputs and request three sample scenarios when tendering. Lab thermal cycling shows strong hardware durability but field life needs pilot validation.
Can Mini Exterior 1.0 work over NB‑IoT or only LoRaWAN?

The Mini 1.0 family is optimised for LoRaWAN; Fleximodo's STANDARD 2.0 line supports NB‑IoT / LTE‑M for cellular deployments. Specify connectivity and model number in your tender.
Is the Mini Exterior accurate enough for enforcement?

Accuracy is driven by sensor fusion (magnetometer + nanoradar) and the detection algorithm. Manufacturer tests and field pilots show industry‑class detection reliability; always validate with a short local audit prior to enforcement use.
How does the Mini Exterior integrate with permits & enforcement?

The sensor supports integrations with CityPortal and electronic permitting (IoT Permit Card). Enforcement modules and workflows are typically delivered as part of CityPortal deployments.

Optimize your parking operation with Mini Exterior 1.0

Deploy Mini Exterior 1.0 units where you need per‑space accuracy with minimal visual impact and low install cost. For tenders require:

Datasheet and full lab test reports (RF, safety, ingress/impact),
Three battery‑life calculator outputs (low/medium/high turnover), and
30 days read‑only DOTA/ClientZone access to validate live telemetry.

Fleximodo can supply datasheets, lab reports and a central device‑management suite to support municipal pilots.

References

Below are selected live deployments and project logs (internal dataset). Use these as examples when preparing pilots and RFIs.

Pardubice 2021 — 3,676 sensors (SPOTXL NB‑IoT). Deployed 2020‑09‑28; dataset lifecycle field metric: 1,904 days (use this as a vendor‑reported lifecycle datapoint for modeling replacement windows).
RSM Bus Turistici (Roma) — 606 sensors (SPOTXL NB‑IoT). Deployed 2021‑11‑26; use for tour‑vehicle / curbside pick‑up patterns.
Chiesi HQ White (Parma) — 297 sensors (SPOT MINI + SPOTXL LoRa). Deployed 2024‑03‑05; useful reference for private corporate campus deployment.
Skypark 4 (Bratislava) — 221 SPOT MINI in residential underground parking; good example of underground sensor tuning and validation.
Peristeri debug — flashed sensors — 200 sensors (SPOTXL NB‑IoT), debug deployment 2025‑06‑03; instructive for large‑scale field debugging and remote re‑flashing operations.

(Full internal project table available to procurement teams on request; these entries are pulled from the internal deployment registry.)

Author Bio

Ing. Peter Kovács — Technical freelance writer

Ing. Peter Kovács specialises in smart‑city infrastructure, municipal procurement and IoT sensor evaluation. He authors procurement templates, field test protocols and vendor verification checklists for city parking engineers and integrators.