Methods for monitoring parked vehicles

Abstract

Method for monitoring vehicles (10 to 14) parked in a parking area (P) with each an environment detection device (1) and a communication device (3), wherein - the environmental detection device (1) is set up to detect a hazard in the vicinity of the respective vehicle (10 to 14) and - the communication device (3) is set up for exchanging data with the communication device (3) of another vehicle (10 to 14) and / or with a mobile data network (200), where - a vehicle (10 to 14) in an activated cooperative monitoring mode establishes at least one point-to-point communication link (101) to the communication link (3) of another vehicle (10 to 14) with activated cooperative monitoring mode by means of its communication device (3) such that it is connected via a monitoring network (100) formed from the totality of the point-to-point communication links (101) with every other vehicle (10 to 14) parked in the parking area (P) with activated cooperative monitoring mode, - the vehicles (10 to 14) connected in this way are alternately assigned time slots for monitoring the parking area (P), during which the environment detection device (1) of the respective vehicle (10 to 14) is activated, wherein - a vehicle (10 to 14) notifies other vehicles (10 to 14) via the monitoring network (100) of a hazard detected in its assigned time slot by means of its environment detection device (1), - Time slots for monitoring are continuously assigned to the vehicles (10 to 14), characterized by the fact that Time slots are assigned to a vehicle designed as an electric vehicle (10 to 14) with decreasing duration as the charge level decreases.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for monitoring parked vehicles according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Parked cars are regularly victims of criminal acts, such as vandalism or theft of valuables from inside the vehicle.

[0003] Common alarm systems often react too late to such actions and typically do not record sufficient data or information to solve a crime.

[0004] Furthermore, methods are known from the prior art in which the vehicle's surroundings are at least temporarily recorded by means of at least one vehicle camera, for example, when the vehicle approaches or makes contact. In addition to camera-based recording of the vehicle's surroundings, an alarm can be triggered in a hazardous situation, for example, by sounding alarm tones and / or notifying the vehicle owner via a smartphone. These methods require continuous sensor monitoring of the vehicle's surroundings to detect hazardous situations in a timely manner, which is associated with considerable energy consumption. In typical embodiments, up to five percent of an electric vehicle's total charging capacity can be consumed daily by such methods. This impairs the range and operational readiness of vehicles monitored in this way.

[0005] Document DE 10 2018 222 680 A1 describes a system for monitoring parked vehicles with a detection device formed from sensor devices of the vehicles for detecting at least one moving object in the vicinity of the vehicles, an authentication device for authenticating the moving object in order to determine whether the moving object is authenticatedly located in the vicinity of the vehicles, and a warning device for sending at least one warning message if the moving object is not authenticatedly located in the vicinity of the vehicles.

[0006] Document US10967833B1 discloses systems and methods for monitoring a group of vehicles for suspicious activity. The method involves grouping a large number of vehicles that communicate with a network to collectively monitor and detect indications of theft or unauthorized entry using existing theft detection sensors in the vehicles.

[0007] The invention is based on the objective of providing an improved method for monitoring parked vehicles.

[0008] The problem is solved according to the invention by a method having the features of claim 1.

[0009] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0010] In a method for monitoring vehicles parked in a parking area (for example, in a parking lot or parking garage or in a contiguous sub-area of ​​a parking lot or parking garage), the vehicles each include an environment detection device and a communication device.

[0011] The environmental monitoring system is designed to detect threats in the vicinity of the vehicle. It preferably includes at least one camera for monitoring the vehicle's surroundings. Here and in the following, a threat is defined as a potential attack on the vehicle, which can be detected, for example, by the approach of persons who are not authenticated (e.g., by a vehicle key) or by touching, damaging, or entering the vehicle's interior when it is locked.

[0012] The communication device is designed to exchange data with the communication device of another vehicle (vehicle-to-vehicle or Car2Car / Vehicle2Vehicle communication) and / or to exchange data with a mobile data network.

[0013] According to the invention, when a vehicle is operated in an activated cooperative monitoring mode, it establishes at least one point-to-point communication connection to the communication connection of at least one other vehicle, which is also operated in an activated cooperative monitoring mode, via its communication device. The at least one point-to-point communication connection is established in such a way that the entirety of the point-to-point communication connections of all parked vehicles with an activated cooperative monitoring mode forms an ad-hoc monitoring network, through which every vehicle parked in the parking area with an activated cooperative monitoring mode is connected to every other vehicle parked in the same parking area with an activated cooperative monitoring mode.

[0014] The connected vehicles are alternately assigned time slots for monitoring the parking area. During such an assigned time slot, the respective vehicle activates its environmental sensing device to detect hazards and transmits any detected hazard to other vehicles via the monitoring network.

[0015] The transmission does not have to be direct (along a point-to-point communication link) from the vehicle currently assigned the monitoring time slot to every other vehicle. The monitoring network can also be configured for the indirect transmission of messages between vehicles that are not directly connected to each other (via a point-to-point communication link), but are connected to the monitoring network. In other words, the monitoring network forms a connected, but not necessarily fully interconnected, graph.

[0016] By alternately transferring the monitoring of the parking area to different vehicles, the energy consumption of the individual environmental sensing devices can be reduced according to the number of vehicles connected to the monitoring network. At the same time, by avoiding redundant parallel monitoring, the overall energy consumption of all vehicles participating in the monitoring network is reduced.

[0017] Furthermore, the reliability of the monitoring can be improved by including areas that cannot be detected by a vehicle's environmental sensing device (e.g., due to shading by other vehicles or buildings).

[0018] According to the invention, the time slots during which the monitoring of the parking area by means of its environmental sensing device is transferred to a vehicle are assigned sequentially in a round-robin manner. Such a round-robin procedure is easy to implement and can be easily adapted to a varying number of participating vehicles (that are newly parking in or leaving the parking area).

[0019] According to the invention, the duration of an assigned time slice is determined depending on the state of charge of a vehicle designed as an electric vehicle, such that a decreasing duration is assigned as the state of charge decreases. For example, a relative state of charge L can be determined as a value between L = 0 (fully discharged) and L = 1 (fully charged). A vehicle is then assigned a time slice with a duration T, which, starting from a maximum duration T, max, proportional to the decreasing state of charge L according to the formula T=L⋅Tmax decreases.

[0020] This avoids a reduction in vehicle range, which is particularly sensitive for electric vehicles with a partially depleted drive battery.

[0021] In one embodiment of the method, a vehicle activates its environmental sensing device for a predetermined period of time when it has detected a hazard itself and / or when it is notified of a hazard via the monitoring network, and records at least some of the data captured by the environmental sensing device during this predetermined period of time.

[0022] Preferably, a vehicle activates one or more cameras to monitor its surroundings and records their images or videos.

[0023] This embodiment has the advantage that a threat event can be recorded and evaluated over a longer period and from different spatial perspectives. For example, an attacker who obscures or destroys a vehicle's environmental sensing device or operates in its blind spot can be observed by the environmental sensing devices of other vehicles and subsequently identified by evaluating the recordings.

[0024] In one embodiment of the method, a vehicle transmits data recorded in response to the detection of or notification of a threat to at least one other vehicle connected to the monitoring network or, for example via a mobile data connection, to a vehicle-independent server. This improves access to such data, which facilitates the identification of attackers and law enforcement.

[0025] In one embodiment, at least one vehicle issues a warning by means of a warning device when it detects a hazard and / or is notified of a hazard via the monitoring network. The warning device can, for example, be installed directly on the vehicle to emit acoustic signals (horn, siren) and / or visual signals (turn signals, headlights).

[0026] By having vehicles that are not the direct target of an attack also send out warning messages, their deterrent effect can be improved.

[0027] In a further development of this embodiment, at least one vehicle issues a warning message, which is transmitted via a mobile data network to an end device assigned to that vehicle. This allows a driver and / or vehicle owner to be notified and take measures to prevent or prosecute attacks not only on their own vehicle, but potentially also on other vehicles in the monitoring network. This improves the security of all participating vehicles.

[0028] In an unclaimed embodiment, time slices of equal duration are assigned, similar to an unweighted round-robin method. This ensures an (approximately) equal energy load for all vehicles participating in the monitoring network, and thus a fair distribution of costs. Furthermore, this results in particularly uniform coverage of the parking area.

[0029] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to a drawing.

[0030] This shows: Fig. 1 schematically a surveillance network formed from several vehicles.

[0031] Fig. Figure 1 schematically shows a parking lot P on which several (in this case purely exemplary five) interconnected monitoring vehicles 10 to 14 and undifferentiated non-monitoring foreign vehicles 20 are parked.

[0032] The monitoring vehicles 10 to 14 each have an environment detection device 1, a warning device 2 and a communication device 3.

[0033] The communication device 3 of a monitoring vehicle 10 to 14 is configured to communicate with at least one communication device 3 of another vehicle 10 to 14. Such communication devices 3 and methods for operating them are known as vehicle-to-vehicle (Car2Car, Vehicle2Vehicle) communication.

[0034] Alternatively or additionally, a communication device 3 can be set up for data exchange with a mobile data network 200.

[0035] The environmental detection device 1 and the warning device 2 can be integrated into a single device, as shown in Fig. Figure 1 is shown schematically for simplification. Typically, however, the environmental detection device 1 and the warning device 2 are structurally separate.

[0036] The warning device 2 is equipped to issue a warning message. A warning message can be issued, for example, as an acoustic signal (e.g., by means of a horn or siren) and / or as a visual signal (e.g., by means of turn signals or vehicle headlights) directly at the vehicle 10 to 14. Alternatively or additionally, a warning message 31 can be transmitted as a message to a networked terminal device, preferably a mobile terminal device 30 (e.g., a smartphone or a smartwatch), via the communication device 3, if it is connected to a mobile data network 200.

[0037] The environmental sensing device 1 is designed to detect the surroundings of the vehicle 10 to 14 in order to identify and record potential attacks or threats. Preferably, the environmental sensing device 1 comprises at least one camera that captures at least part of the vehicle's surroundings. Furthermore, the environmental sensing device 1 may include motion and / or distance sensors.

[0038] From all the data collected, the environmental sensing device 1 determines whether a threat exists, for example based on the distance (to vehicle 10 to 14) or the movement profile of a potential attacker X who approaches vehicle 10 to 14 without authorization, leans against it or damages it.

[0039] Known methods from the prior art activate the warning device 2 of a vehicle 10 to 14 when its environmental sensing device 1 detects a hazard. This method requires continuous monitoring by the environmental sensing device 1.

[0040] The invention is based on the finding that vehicles 10 to 14 parked in close proximity detect at least partially overlapping areas of the vehicle environment with their respective environment detection devices 1 and that it is therefore advantageous to divide the monitoring of the environment of a plurality of vehicles 10 to 14 among their environment detection devices 1, in particular to divide it over time.

[0041] Such a division can, on the one hand, reduce the energy required to operate the environmental detection devices 1. On the other hand, it can improve the accuracy of the detection by, for example, having another vehicle 11 detect and monitor areas of the vehicle's surroundings that are not detected by a first vehicle 10.

[0042] According to the invention, vehicles 10 to 14 form a monitoring network 100 for coupling their environment detection devices 1 by means of their respective communication devices 3. For this purpose, the driver of a first vehicle 10 activates a cooperative monitoring mode when driving into parking lot P.

[0043] Subsequently, the communication device 3 of the first vehicle 10 identifies further vehicles 11 to 14 in the immediate vicinity that have also activated a cooperative monitoring mode. The communication device 3 of one vehicle 10 to 14 establishes at least one point-to-point communication link 101 to the communication device 3 of another vehicle 10 to 14.

[0044] In this way, all vehicles 10 to 14 with activated cooperative monitoring mode are linked to the monitoring network 100 and can exchange messages with each other. It is not necessary for every vehicle 10 to 14 to be directly connected to every other vehicle 10 to 14 via a point-to-point communication link 101. The transmission between a first vehicle 10 and a third vehicle 12 can instead be mediated via a second vehicle 11. This allows the number of monitoring vehicles 10 to 14 to be increased and the monitored area to be expanded.

[0045] Non-monitoring foreign vehicles 20 that do not have a communication device 3 or that have not activated the cooperative monitoring mode are not considered for the monitoring network 100.

[0046] Among the monitoring vehicles (that is: the 100 interconnected vehicles via the ad-hoc monitoring network), the monitoring of parking lot P can now be divided over time.

[0047] For example, N individual vehicles can be alternately given time slices of duration T, 10 to 14 times. i , i = 1 ... N are assigned. In a time slice T assigned to it. i The i-te vehicle 10 to 14 monitors parking lot P and reports hazards detected by its respective environment detection device 1 to the other vehicles 10 to 14 connected in the monitoring network 100.

[0048] For example, a potential attacker X can be detected by the environmental sensing devices 1 of the second and third vehicles 11, 12 if he approaches these vehicles 11, 12 within a time slot assigned for monitoring. After such detection, a notification of a potential threat is distributed to the other vehicles 10, 13, 14 of the monitoring network 100.

[0049] Vehicles 10, 13, and 14, notified in this way, can then activate their respective environmental sensing devices 1 and determine whether a threat also exists for their own vehicle's surroundings. Alternatively, the notified vehicles 10, 13, and 14 can directly accept a reported threat and handle it in the same way as a threat detected by their respective environmental sensing device 1, for example, by activating their respective warning devices 2 and / or by transmitting a warning message 31 to an end device 30 assigned to the respective vehicle 10, 13, or 14. This achieves improved deterrence of a potential attacker X compared to the warning device 2 of a single vehicle 10 to 14.

[0050] Preferably, all monitoring vehicles 10 to 14 activate the recording of signals and / or data captured by their respective environmental sensing devices 1 (in particular their cameras) within a certain predetermined period when a threat is detected and / or reported. In one embodiment of the method, such recordings are exchanged among the participating vehicles 10 to 14 and / or stored at a central location, for example, on a server 300 connected to at least one of the vehicles 10 to 14 via the mobile data network 200. This enables more successful subsequent prosecution of attacks or crimes.

[0051] The time slices for monitoring can be implemented in the manner of an unweighted round-robin procedure with equal time duration T. i = T j, i,j = 1... N are assigned. The energy required for the operation of the environmental detection device 1 can thereby be reduced for all monitoring vehicles 10 to 14 to 1 / N of the energy required in continuous individual operation.

[0052] In another embodiment, the time slices can be allocated using a weighted round-robin method. For example, the time duration T can be i a time slice assigned to the i-th vehicle 10 to 14 depending on its current state of charge L (determined at the time of the start of monitoring or the assignment of the time slice). i according to the formula Ti=Li⋅Tmax be determined, where L i = 0 ... 1 the relative state of charge (relative to the full charging capacity) and T max which at full charge (L i= 1) designates the assigned maximum time duration. This prevents a reduction in vehicle range, which is particularly sensitive for vehicles 10 to 14 with a partially depleted vehicle battery.

Claims

[1] Method for monitoring vehicles (10 to 14) parked in a parking area (P) with each an environment detection device (1) and a communication device (3), wherein - the environmental detection device (1) is set up to detect a hazard in the vicinity of the respective vehicle (10 to 14) and - the communication device (3) is set up for exchanging data with the communication device (3) of another vehicle (10 to 14) and / or with a mobile data network (200), where - a vehicle (10 to 14) in an activated cooperative monitoring mode establishes at least one point-to-point communication link (101) to the communication link (3) of another vehicle (10 to 14) with activated cooperative monitoring mode by means of its communication device (3) such that it is connected via a monitoring network (100) formed from the totality of the point-to-point communication links (101) with every other vehicle (10 to 14) parked in the parking area (P) with activated cooperative monitoring mode, - the vehicles (10 to 14) connected in this way are alternately assigned time slots for monitoring the parking area (P), during which the environment detection device (1) of the respective vehicle (10 to 14) is activated, wherein - a vehicle (10 to 14) notifies other vehicles (10 to 14) via the monitoring network (100) of a hazard detected in its assigned time slot by means of its environment detection device (1), - Time slots for monitoring are continuously assigned to the vehicles (10 to 14), characterized by , that Time slots are assigned to a vehicle designed as an electric vehicle (10 to 14) with decreasing duration as the charge level decreases. [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized by, that a vehicle (10 to 14) activates its environment sensing device (1) for a predetermined period of time and thereby records at least some of the data it detects when it detects a hazard and / or is notified of a hazard via the monitoring network (100). [3] Method according to claim 2, characterized by , that a vehicle (10 to 14) transmits recorded data from its environment sensing device (1) to at least one other vehicle (10 to 14) and / or a vehicle-independent server (300). [4] Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by , that at least one vehicle (10 to 14) issues a warning by means of a warning device (2) when it detects a hazard and / or is notified of a hazard via the monitoring network (100). [5] Method according to claim 4, characterized by, that at least one vehicle (10 to 14) sends at least one warning as a warning message (31) via a mobile data network (200) to an end device (30) assigned to the respective vehicle (10 to 14).

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