Swiss company Tinynode detects free parking spaces

Losing time looking for a parking space is a huge nuisance: it represents up to 60% of driving time in cities and causes numerous problems, particularly traffic congestion and pollution. With the widespread use of GPS and the explosion in smartphones, motorists are ready for a smart parking solution that allows them to find a free parking space and even to reserve one. “The only thing missing until now was a reliable outdoor detection system at a competitive price,” said Pierre Castella, CEO of Tinynode. “Today we are offering the last piece of the puzzle.”

The wireless detector can be used for off-street parking (shopping centers, airports, stadiums, etc.) alongside indoor parking solutions that were previously installed, as it is designed to be easily integrated with existing systems. But Tinynode is particularly targeting the huge on-street parking market: in Europe alone, there are several million parking spaces. With Tinynode those spaces can be integrated into traffic management systems.

Tinynode has applied its long-standing experience in truck detection, which presents greater technical difficulties. “Our product integrates a technology developed with the laboratory of audiovisual communications at EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Lausanne, Switzerland) and the Machine Learning Group at the (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology - Zurich, Switzerland), the world’s top experts in the areas of wireless communications and detection algorithms,” said Pierre Castella. This approach allowed Tinynode to achieve a major improvement over existing performance levels on the market.

On the on-street market, budgetary constraints are a significant factor. Aside from competitive and transparent pricing, Tinynode’s product offers substantial financial advantages when it comes to maintenance: easy installation without technical assistance, a lifetime of up to ten years, depending on the version, and batteries that are replaceable without the need for roadwork.

Tinynode was founded in 2012 as a spin-off from the company Shockfish. Tinynode is based in Lausanne. The company is supported by the new innovation platform Innovaud.