Vehicle detection in parking areas provides the spatial and temporal utilisation of parking spaces. Parking observations are typically performed manually, limiting the temporal resolution due to the high labour cost. This paper uses simulated data and transfer learning to build a robust real-world model for vehicle detection and classification from single-beam LiDAR of a roadside parking scenario. The paper presents a synthetically augmented transfer learning approach for LiDAR-based vehicle detection and the implementation of synthetic LiDAR data. A synthetic augmented transfer learning method was used to supplement the small real-world data set and allow the development of data-handling techniques. In addition, adding the synthetically augmented transfer learning method increases the robustness and overall accuracy of the model. Experiments show that the method can be used for fast deployment of the model for vehicle detection using a LIDAR sensor.
