Parking support apparatus and parking support method

Abstract

To provide a parking support apparatus and a parking support method which allow a user to execute memory-based automatic parking even in a vehicle which has not undergone teacher traveling.SOLUTION: A parking support apparatus according to the present disclosure comprises a reception unit, a position estimation unit and a control unit. The reception unit receives travel information obtained when a driver parks another vehicle in a parking space. The position estimation unit estimates current position information about a self vehicle. The control unit executes parking control to automatically park the self vehicle in the parking space on the basis of the travel information and the current position information. The travel information includes: a teacher route when another vehicle parks in the parking space; and first feature point information based on a first circumference image captured when another vehicle is traveling on the teacher route. The position estimation unit estimates the current position information of the self vehicle on the basis of the first feature point information based on the first circumference image captured by another vehicle during the teacher traveling and second feature point information based on a second circumference image captured by the self vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a parking assistance device and a parking assistance method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, parking assistance technologies that move a vehicle by automatic driving when parking the vehicle are known. One example of parking assistance is a technology that memorizes a driving route based on a teacher driving by the driver and performs parking assistance using the memorized driving route (hereinafter referred to as memory-type automatic parking). This technology is used when parking in a fixed parking position repeatedly, such as a parking lot at the driver's home or workplace. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6022447 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, there is a problem with memory-type automatic parking in that memory-type automatic parking cannot be performed on vehicles whose drivers have not yet performed supervised driving.

[0005] The present disclosure provides a parking assistance device and a parking assistance method that enable memory-type automatic parking to be performed even in a vehicle on which the user has not yet performed supervised driving. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The parking assistance device according to the present disclosure includes a receiving unit, a position estimating unit, and a control unit. The receiving unit receives driving information obtained when another vehicle is parked in a parking space by a driver. The position estimating unit estimates current position information of the vehicle. The control unit performs parking control to automatically park the vehicle in the parking space based on the driving information and the current position information. The driving information includes a teacher route when the other vehicle is parked in the parking space, and first feature point information based on a first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle during teacher driving on the teacher route. The position estimating unit estimates the current position information of the vehicle based on the first feature point information based on the first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle during teacher driving on the teacher route and second feature point information based on a second surrounding image captured by the vehicle.

[0007] The parking assistance method of the present disclosure receives driving information obtained when another vehicle is parked in a parking space by a driver, estimates current position information of the host vehicle, and performs parking control to automatically park the host vehicle in the parking space based on the driving information and the current position information, wherein the driving information includes a teacher route when the other vehicle was parked in the parking space and first feature point information based on a first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle during teacher driving on the teacher route, and estimates the current position information of the host vehicle based on the first feature point information based on the first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle during the teacher driving and second feature point information based on a second surrounding image captured by the host vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the parking assistance device and parking assistance method disclosed herein, memory-type automatic parking can be performed even in a vehicle on which the user has not yet performed teacher driving. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a vehicle. [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of parking assistance executed by the parking assistance device according to this embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer included in the parking assistance device according to this embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanation of already well-known matters or duplicate explanation of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid the following explanation becoming unnecessarily redundant and to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art. Note that the attached drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

[0011] (How the embodiments of the present disclosure were achieved) The parking assistance device of Patent Document 1 will be described in detail. The parking assistance device uses a sensor device to store reference data (e.g., data on the driving route) regarding the surroundings of the parking space while the driver is driving the vehicle to park it in the parking space. Furthermore, the parking assistance device stores the parking position the vehicle reaches and stores data on the parking position. When performing memory-type automatic parking, the parking assistance device generates a parking path based on the reference data and the current position of the vehicle relative to the parking position. In other words, the parking assistance device obtains information such as the driving route during manual parking, and assists the driver in parking by imitating the manual parking during subsequent automatic parking.

[0012] However, in the memory-type automatic parking of Patent Document 1, memory-type automatic parking cannot be performed on a vehicle in which the driver has not yet performed supervised driving. For example, in a scene in which a user goes to a friend's house for the first time and parks the vehicle in the friend's parking lot for the first time, the user cannot perform memory-type automatic parking because supervised driving has not been performed in the friend's parking lot. In the following embodiment, a parking assistance device and a parking assistance method that can perform memory-type automatic parking even on a vehicle in which the user has not performed supervised driving will be described.

[0013] (First embodiment) <Configuration of the parking assistance device 160> 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 includes an on-board camera 110, an on-board sensor 120, a steering actuator 130, an engine actuator 140, a brake actuator 150, and a parking assistance device 160.

[0014] The vehicle-mounted camera 110 includes a visible light camera. The vehicle 100 includes a first vehicle-mounted camera that captures an image in front of the vehicle 100, a second vehicle-mounted camera that captures an image behind the vehicle 100, a third vehicle-mounted camera that captures an image on the left side of the vehicle 100, and a fourth vehicle-mounted camera that captures an image on the right side of the vehicle 100. Hereinafter, when the first vehicle-mounted camera, the second vehicle-mounted camera, the third vehicle-mounted camera, and the fourth vehicle-mounted camera are not particularly distinguished from each other, they are simply referred to as the vehicle-mounted camera 110. In addition, although details will be described later, the vehicle-mounted camera 110 is applied to, for example, detecting feature points of objects present around the vehicle 100 and estimating the current position of the vehicle 100 from the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the feature points. The vehicle-mounted camera 110 outputs a captured image signal to the parking assistance device 160. Note that the vehicle-mounted camera 110 is not limited to a visible light camera, and may be, for example, a CCD camera or a CMOS camera. The captured image may be a still image or a video image. The in-vehicle camera 110 may be a camera built into the vehicle 100, or may be a camera of a drive recorder that is later attached to the vehicle 100. Instead of the in-vehicle camera 110, a LiDAR, a radar, an ultrasonic sensor, or the like may be used as a sensor for estimating the current position of the vehicle 100.

[0015] The on-vehicle sensor 120 includes, for example, a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle, a yaw rate sensor that detects a turning angular velocity of the vehicle 100, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration acting in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 100, and a wheel speed sensor that measures the rotation speed of the wheels. The on-vehicle sensor 120 outputs sensor information obtained by detection to the parking assistance device 160.

[0016] The steering actuator 130 adjusts the steering angle of the vehicle 100 based on the output of the parking assistance device 160. The parking assistance device 160 controls the steering angle by transmitting a target steering angle to the steering actuator 130. The parking assistance device 160 controls the turning curvature while the vehicle 100 is traveling by controlling the steering actuator 130. The engine actuator 140 adjusts the amount of fuel and air supplied to the engine based on the output of the parking assistance device 160. The brake actuator 150 adjusts the braking force of the wheels based on the output of the parking assistance device 160.

[0017] Next, the functions of the parking assistance device 160 of this embodiment will be described. The parking assistance device 160 of this embodiment receives driving information obtained when the driver parks another vehicle in a parking space, and performs parking assistance using the received driving information. This type of parking assistance is effective in reducing the driver's parking troubles when repeatedly parking in a fixed parking position, such as the garage of the driver's home, a contracted parking position in an apartment building, or a specified parking position in a parking lot at the driver's workplace.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, a parking assistance device 160 of this embodiment includes a vehicle information unit 161, a receiving unit 162, an extracting unit 163, a position estimating unit 164, a determining unit 165, a route generating unit 166, and a vehicle control unit 167.

[0019] The vehicle information unit 161 registers vehicle size information such as the vehicle length, height, and width of the vehicle, and vehicle model information including the manufacturer and model of the vehicle. Furthermore, the vehicle information unit 161 registers performance information indicating vehicle performance including the minimum turning radius of the vehicle (for example, the radius of the path drawn when driving slowly with the maximum steering angle). The vehicle information unit 161 outputs the vehicle size information, vehicle model information, and performance information to the determination unit 165 described later.

[0020] The receiving unit 162 receives driving information obtained when the driver of the other vehicle parks the other vehicle in a parking space. Note that driving in which the driver manually drives the vehicle from the parking start position to the target parking position of the parking space is also referred to as teacher driving. The driving information during teacher driving is also referred to as teacher data. The teacher data includes the target parking position during teacher driving, the size of the parking space at the target parking position during teacher driving, the speed of the other vehicle during teacher driving, the steering angle of the other vehicle during teacher driving, the braking operation of the other vehicle during teacher driving, information on the driving route during teacher driving (hereinafter also referred to as the teacher route), and feature point information extracted from the peripheral image of the parking space captured during teacher driving. Here, the information on the driving route during teacher driving includes information such as position coordinates on the route, route length, minimum turning radius, and turning position. Note that the receiving unit 162 and the other vehicle may be configured to communicate via a network such as the Internet. Also, communication between the vehicle and the other vehicle may be performed via a server, or may be configured to use wired communication or wireless communication.

[0021] Furthermore, the receiving unit 162 receives vehicle size information of the other vehicle, such as vehicle length, height, and width, vehicle model information including the manufacturer and model of the other vehicle, and performance information indicating vehicle performance including the minimum turning radius of the other vehicle.

[0022] The storage unit of the other vehicle stores, as teacher data, the target parking position during teacher driving, the size of the parking space at the target parking location during teacher driving, the speed of the other vehicle during teacher driving, the steering angle of the other vehicle during teacher driving, the braking operation of the other vehicle during teacher driving, the driving route during teacher driving, and feature point information extracted from the surrounding image of the parking space captured during teacher driving. Furthermore, the transmission unit of the other vehicle transmits the teacher data via a network such as the Internet. The teacher data may include, for example, information on the presence or absence of obstacles around the parking space, and information on the distance between the other vehicle and the obstacles. Furthermore, the transmission unit transmits vehicle size information such as the vehicle length, vehicle height, and vehicle width of the other vehicle, vehicle model information including the manufacturer and model of the other vehicle, and performance information indicating vehicle performance including the minimum turning radius of the other vehicle.

[0023] The extraction unit 163 receives an image signal captured by the in-vehicle camera 110. Furthermore, the extraction unit 163 extracts feature points from a surrounding image when the vehicle 100 is traveling autonomously. The method of extracting feature points by the extraction unit 163 is not particularly limited, and a known method may be applied. For example, the extraction unit 163 extracts feature points by a method such as FAST (Features from Accelerated Segment Test) or ORB (Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF).

[0024] The position estimation unit 164 receives the feature points extracted by the extraction unit 163 and the feature points stored in the teacher data of the other vehicle received by the receiving unit 162. The position estimation unit 164 compares the feature points extracted from the camera image of the in-vehicle camera 110 with the feature points stored in the teacher data using pattern matching, feature amount search, etc. Then, the position estimation unit 164 randomly selects several feature points from the feature points extracted from the camera image of the in-vehicle camera 110 that can be compared with the feature points stored in the teacher data, and estimates the current position of the vehicle 100 based on the positions of these several feature points in the camera image and the three-dimensional positions of the several feature points in real space.

[0025] The determination unit 165 compares the vehicle type information of the host vehicle obtained from the vehicle information unit 161 with the vehicle type information of the other vehicle obtained from the receiving unit 162, and determines whether the vehicle type of the host vehicle and the other vehicle are the same. Specifically, the determination unit 165 determines whether the manufacturers and models of the vehicles are the same. If the vehicle types of the host vehicle and the other vehicle are the same, the determination unit 165 determines that parking in the parking space is possible, and outputs a signal to the vehicle control unit 167 indicating that parking is possible.

[0026] Furthermore, when the vehicle types of the host vehicle and the other vehicle are different, the determination unit 165 compares the size of the parking space included in the teacher data with the size of the host vehicle, and determines whether the size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space. When the size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space, the determination unit 165 determines that the host vehicle can be parked in the parking space, and outputs a signal indicating that parking is possible to the vehicle control unit 167. Furthermore, when the vehicle types of the host vehicle and the other vehicle are different, the determination unit 165 may compare the size of the other vehicle obtained from the receiving unit 162 with the size of the host vehicle, and determine that the host vehicle can be parked in the parking space, if the size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the other vehicle. When the size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the other vehicle, the determination unit 165 determines that the host vehicle can be parked in the parking space, and outputs a signal indicating that parking is possible to the vehicle control unit 167.

[0027] Furthermore, the judgment unit 165 judges whether or not parking control of the host vehicle is possible along the teacher route. Specifically, the judgment unit 165 compares the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle with the minimum turning radius of a route present in the teacher route. When the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the minimum turning radius of the teacher route, the judgment unit 165 judges that parking is possible, and outputs a signal indicating that parking assistance is possible to the vehicle control unit 167. When the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is larger than the minimum turning radius of the teacher route, the judgment unit 165 judges that parking assistance along the teacher route is not possible, and outputs a signal to the route generation unit 166 for generating a first parking route, which will be described later. Note that the judgment unit 165 may compare the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle with the minimum turning radius of another vehicle, and judge that parking is possible when the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the minimum turning radius of the other vehicle. Furthermore, the determination unit 165 may determine that parking is possible when the size of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space and the minimum turning radius of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than the minimum turning radius of the teacher route.

[0028] Furthermore, the determination unit 165 determines whether or not it is possible to generate a first parking path from the current position of the vehicle 100 to the target parking position. For example, the determination unit 165 determines that it is possible to generate the first parking path when the first parking path is output to the vehicle control unit 167 from the path generation unit 166 that has received a signal for generating the first parking path, which will be described later.

[0029] When the route generating unit 166 receives a signal for generating the first parking path from the determination unit 165, the route generating unit 166 generates the first parking path from the current position of the vehicle 100 to the target parking position. More specifically, the route generating unit 166 generates the first parking path based on information on the target parking position included in the teacher data, information on the current position of the vehicle 100, information on the presence or absence of obstacles around the parking space, vehicle size information, performance information, and the like. Here, when generating the first parking path, the route generating unit 166 does not use information on the driving path during teacher driving, such as position coordinates on the path, route length, minimum turning radius, and turning position, included in the teacher data. The route generating unit 166 transmits the generated first parking path to the vehicle control unit 167. When the route generating unit 166 can generate the first parking path, the route generating unit 166 may output a signal indicating that the first parking path can be generated to the determination unit 165. If the route generating unit 166 is unable to generate the first parking route, the route generating unit 166 may output a signal to the determining unit 165 indicating that the first parking route cannot be generated.

[0030] The vehicle control unit 167 controls the engine actuator 140, the brake actuator 150, and the steering actuator 130. That is, the vehicle control unit 167 controls the vehicle 100 to park by controlling the steering, braking, and acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle 100. When the vehicle control unit 167 receives a signal indicating that parking is possible from the determination unit 165, the vehicle control unit 167 controls the vehicle 100 to park at a target parking position of the parking space based on the teacher data. When the vehicle 100 deviates from the teacher path, the vehicle control unit 167 moves the vehicle 100 by feedback control so as to return to the travel path. For example, the vehicle control unit 167 estimates the difference between the position of the vehicle 100 and the teacher path based on the current position of the vehicle 100 estimated by the estimation unit, and drives the vehicle 100 so as to reduce the difference. The reason for performing feedback control is that the position of the vehicle 100 when automatic parking is started may not match the initial position of the teacher path. The vehicle control unit 167 may also change the teacher path of the vehicle 100 based on the teacher data. For example, if an obstacle is present near the teacher route, the vehicle control unit 167 may temporarily stop the vehicle 100 or modify the travel route to move away from the obstacle. Furthermore, when the vehicle control unit 167 detects an obstacle using the in-vehicle camera 110 or an ultrasonic sensor during parking control, the vehicle control unit 167 may modify the travel route to include an avoidance route for avoiding the detected obstacle. Here, the avoidance route may be, for example, a route that goes around the obstacle from near the obstacle and rejoins the travel route.

[0031] Furthermore, when the vehicle control unit 167 receives the first parking route from the route generation unit 166, it performs parking control along the first parking route.

[0032] Next, a description will be given of the flow of parking assistance processing executed by the parking assistance device 160 of this embodiment configured as described above. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of parking assistance executed by the parking assistance device 160 according to this embodiment.

[0033] First, the receiving unit 162 receives driving information obtained when the driver of the other vehicle parks the other vehicle in the parking space (S300). The receiving unit 162 receives vehicle size information, vehicle model information, performance information, and the like together with the driving information.

[0034] Then, the determination unit 165 compares the vehicle type information of the host vehicle with the vehicle type information of the other vehicle, and determines whether the vehicle type of the host vehicle is the same as the vehicle type of the other vehicle. If the vehicle types of the host vehicle and the other vehicle are the same (Yes in S310), the determination unit 165 determines that parking in the parking space is possible, and outputs a signal to the vehicle control unit 167 indicating that parking is possible.

[0035] When the vehicle control unit 167 receives a signal from the determination unit 165 indicating that parking is possible, it controls parking to a target parking position of the parking space based on the teacher data (S370). The parking assistance device 160 may include a notification unit, which may notify the user that memory-type automatic parking will be performed. The notification unit may notify the user by voice, for example, saying "Memory-type automatic parking can be performed." Alternatively, the notification unit may notify the user by displaying the message "Memory-type automatic parking can be performed" and the teacher route on the display unit.

[0036] If the vehicle type of the vehicle and the other vehicle are not the same (No in S310), the judgment unit 165 compares the size of the parking space included in the training data with the size of the vehicle, and judges whether the size of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space.

[0037] If the size of the vehicle is not equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space (No in S320), the determination unit 165 determines that parking in the parking space is impossible and abandons automatic parking (S330). When abandoning automatic parking, the notification unit may notify the user that automatic parking is impossible and the reason why automatic parking is determined to be impossible. When abandoning automatic parking, for example, the notification unit notifies the user by voice such as "Automatic parking cannot be performed because the parking space is smaller than the vehicle 100." Alternatively, the notification unit notifies the user by displaying such a content as "Automatic parking cannot be performed because the parking space is smaller than the vehicle 100." on the display unit. In S310, the determination unit 165 may compare the size of the other vehicle obtained from the receiving unit 162 with the size of the vehicle and determine whether the size of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the other vehicle. In this case, if the size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the other vehicle, the judgment unit 165 judges that the host vehicle can be parked in the parking space (corresponding to processing Yes at S320 described later), and if the size of the host vehicle is not equal to or smaller than the size of the other vehicle, it judges that the host vehicle cannot be parked in the parking space and abandons automatic parking (corresponding to processing No at S320 and S330).

[0038] If the size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space (Yes in S320), the determination unit 165 determines whether it is possible to control the host vehicle to park along the teacher route (S340).

[0039] Specifically, the determination unit 165 compares the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle with the minimum turning radius of a route present in the teacher route. The determination unit 165 determines that parking is possible when the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the minimum turning radius of the teacher route. The determination unit 165 may compare the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle with the minimum turning radius of another vehicle, and determine that parking is possible when the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the minimum turning radius of the other vehicle. The determination unit 165 may also determine that parking is possible when the size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space and the minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than the minimum turning radius of the teacher route.

[0040] When parking control of the host vehicle is possible along the teacher route (Yes in S340), the determination unit 165 outputs a signal indicating that parking is possible to the vehicle control unit 167. When the vehicle control unit 167 receives a signal indicating that parking is possible from the determination unit 165, it controls the host vehicle to park at a target parking position in the parking space based on the teacher data (S370).

[0041] If the host vehicle cannot be controlled to park along the teacher route (No in S340), the determination unit 165 outputs a signal to generate a first parking route to the route generation unit 166. When the route generation unit 166 receives a signal to generate a first parking route from the determination unit 165, it generates a first parking route from the current position of the vehicle 100 to the target parking position. The route generation unit 166 outputs the generated first parking route to the vehicle control unit 167.

[0042] The determination unit 165 determines whether it is possible to generate a first parking route from the current position of the vehicle 100 to the target parking position (S350). For example, when the first parking route is output from the route generation unit 166 to the vehicle control unit 167, the determination unit 165 determines that the first parking route can be generated.

[0043] When the first parking path can be generated (Yes in S350), the vehicle control unit 167 performs parking control to the target parking position of the parking space using the first parking path (S360). That is, when the first parking path is received from the path generation unit 166 (Yes in S350), the vehicle control unit 167 performs parking control to the target parking position of the parking space using the first parking path. The notification unit may notify the user that parking control will be performed using the first parking path. For example, the notification unit notifies the user by voice, such as "Memory-type automatic parking cannot be performed. Do you want to perform parking using the first parking path?". Alternatively, the notification unit notifies the user by displaying the content, such as "Memory-type automatic parking cannot be performed. Do you want to perform parking using the first parking path?" and the first parking path on the display unit.

[0044] If the first parking path cannot be generated (No in S350), the determination unit 165 determines that parking in the parking space is impossible, and gives up automatic parking (S330). After S330, S360, or S370, the flow in FIG. 2 ends.

[0045] (Action and effect) The parking assistance device 160 according to this embodiment provides the following advantages.

[0046] The parking assistance device 160 includes a receiving unit 162 that receives driving information obtained when another vehicle is parked in a parking space by the driver, and a control unit that performs parking control to automatically park the vehicle in the parking space based on the driving information, and the driving information includes a teacher route when the vehicle is parked in the parking space and feature point information around the parking space. This allows the memory-type automatic parking to be performed even for the vehicle 100 for which the user has not performed teacher driving. More specifically, even in a scene where the user goes to a friend's house for the first time and parks the vehicle 100 in the friend's parking lot for the first time, the parking assistance device 160 can obtain teacher data and perform memory-type automatic parking.

[0047] The parking assistance device 160 further includes a determination unit 165, and the receiving unit 162 further receives vehicle type information of other vehicles. The determination unit 165 compares the vehicle type information of the vehicle itself with the vehicle type information of the other vehicles, and if the vehicle type of the vehicle itself and the other vehicles are the same, the control unit performs parking control to automatically park the vehicle itself in a parking space based on the driving information. This makes it possible to appropriately determine whether or not memory-type automatic parking is possible based on the vehicle size and vehicle performance before implementing automatic parking.

[0048] The determination unit 165 determines whether the vehicle can be parked in the parking space when the vehicle model of the vehicle is different from that of the other vehicle. This makes it possible to appropriately determine whether memory-type automatic parking is possible when the vehicle model of the vehicle is different from that of the other vehicle. As an example, when memory-type automatic parking is performed, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the vehicle cannot be parked in the parking space during automatic parking because the size of the vehicle is larger than that of the other vehicle.

[0049] The receiving unit 162 receives the size of the parking space, and the determining unit 165 determines that the vehicle can be parked in the parking space if the size of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space. This prevents a situation in which the vehicle cannot be parked in the parking space during memory-type automatic parking because the size of the vehicle is larger than the parking space.

[0050] The determination unit 165 determines that the vehicle can be parked in the parking space when the size of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the other vehicle. This prevents the vehicle from being unable to be parked in the parking space during memory-type automatic parking because the size of the vehicle is larger than the size of the other vehicle.

[0051] The determination unit 165 determines whether or not parking control of the vehicle is possible along the teacher route. This makes it possible to appropriately determine whether or not memory-type automatic parking is possible before automatic parking is performed.

[0052] The determination unit 165 determines that parking control of the vehicle is possible when the minimum turning radius of the vehicle is smaller than that of the teacher route. This makes it possible to prevent a situation in which parking control cannot be performed along the teacher route during memory-type automatic parking because the minimum turning radius of the vehicle is larger than that of the teacher route.

[0053] The determination unit 165 determines that parking control of the vehicle is possible when the minimum turning radius of the vehicle is smaller than that of the other vehicle. This prevents a situation in which the vehicle cannot be controlled to park along the teacher route during memory-type automatic parking because the minimum turning radius of the vehicle is larger than that of the other vehicle.

[0054] The vehicle further includes a route generating unit 166, and when the determining unit 165 determines that the vehicle cannot be controlled to park along the teacher route, the route generating unit 166 generates a first parking route based on the position of the parking space. As a result, even when it is determined that it is difficult to implement memory-type automatic parking, the vehicle can be automatically parked in the parking space by generating a new parking route to the parking space.

[0055] (Modification) The determination unit 165 may determine whether it is possible to generate a second parking path for parking control of the vehicle based on the teacher path. Here, the determination unit 165 may make a determination based on information on the driving path during teacher driving, such as position coordinates on the path, path length, minimum turning radius, and turning position, which are included in the teacher data. As an example, when the minimum turning radius of the vehicle is smaller than the minimum turning radius of the teacher path, it is determined that the second parking path can be generated. The path generation unit 166 generates the second parking path based on information on the target parking position, the current position of the vehicle 100, information on the presence or absence of obstacles around the parking space, vehicle size information, performance information, position coordinates on the path, path length, minimum turning radius, and turning position, which are included in the teacher data, and information on the driving path during teacher driving. Here, the second parking path is a path along the teacher path, but a part of the path may differ from the teacher path. For example, if the current position of the vehicle 100 when automatic parking starts does not match the initial position of the teacher route, the difference between the current position of the vehicle 100 and the teacher route is estimated based on the current position of the vehicle 100, and the route generation unit 166 generates a route for merging from the current position of the vehicle 100 to the teacher route. That is, in this case, the second parking route may include the teacher route and a route for merging from the current position of the vehicle 100 to the teacher route.

[0056] In addition, in general, in manual driving, it is easier to make the vehicle 100 leave the garage than to make the vehicle 100 enter the garage. If such a storage method is used, even if the driver is not good at moving the vehicle 100 backwards to enter the garage, a driving route for memory-type automatic parking can be generated by teacher driving in which the driver moves the vehicle 100 forward to leave the garage. Note that, although the present modified example has been described as an example in which the driver moves the vehicle 100 forward in teacher driving, the driver may also move the vehicle 100 backward in teacher driving.

[0057] In the parking assistance device 160 described in this embodiment, each block such as the vehicle information unit 161, the receiving unit 162, the extraction unit 163, the position estimation unit 164, the judgment unit 165, the route generation unit 166, and the vehicle control unit 167 may be individually integrated into one chip using a semiconductor device such as an LSI, or may be integrated into one chip to include some or all of the blocks.

[0058] The processing method executed by the parking assistance device 160, a computer program for causing a computer to execute the processing method, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded are included in the scope of the present disclosure. Here, examples of computer-readable recording media include flexible disks, hard disks, CD-ROMs, MOs, DVDs, DVD-ROMs, DVD-RAMs, BDs (Blu-ray (registered trademark) Discs), and semiconductor memories.

[0059] A part or all of the processing of each functional block of this embodiment may be realized by a computer program. In addition, each processing of this embodiment may be realized by hardware, or by software (including the case where it is realized together with an OS (operating system), middleware, or a predetermined library). Furthermore, it may be realized by a mixed processing of software and hardware.

[0060] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer 1000 included in the parking assistance device 160 according to this embodiment. The computer 1000 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 1001, a read only memory (ROM) 1002, a random access memory (RAM) 1003, a storage device 1004 such as a hard disk device or a solid state drive (SSD), and a reading device 1005 for reading information from a recording medium. The above-mentioned units are connected by a bus 1006. The reading device 1005 reads a program for implementing the functions of the above-mentioned units from a recording medium on which the program is recorded, and stores the program in the storage device 1004. The CPU 1001 copies the program stored in the storage device 1004 to the RAM 1003, and sequentially reads and executes instructions included in the program from the RAM 1003. This realizes the functions of the above-mentioned units. When the program is executed, the RAM 1003 or the storage device 1004 stores information obtained by the various processes described in each embodiment, and uses the information appropriately.

[0061] The computer program is not limited to being recorded on the recording medium, but may be transmitted via a telecommunication line, a wireless or wired communication line, a network such as the Internet, etc. The execution order of the processing method according to the present embodiment is not necessarily limited to that described in the above embodiment, and the execution order can be changed without departing from the gist of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 100 vehicles 110 Car Camera 120 Vehicle Sensors 130 Steering actuator 140 Engine Actuator 150 Brake Actuator 160 Parking Assistance Device 161 Vehicle Information Department 162 Receiving section 163 Extraction part 164 Position estimation part 165 Judgment Department 166 Route Generation Unit 167 Vehicle control unit 1000 Computers 1001 CPU 1002 ROM 1003 RAM 1004 Storage device 1005 Reading device 1006 Bus

Claims

1. A receiving unit that receives driving information obtained when another vehicle is parked in a parking space by a driver; a position estimation unit that estimates current position information of the vehicle; A control unit that performs parking control to automatically park the vehicle in the parking space based on the driving information and the current position information, the travel information includes a teacher route when the other vehicle parks in the parking space and first feature point information based on a first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle while the other vehicle is traveling along the teacher route, the position estimation unit estimates the current position information of the host vehicle based on the first feature point information based on the first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle during the teacher running and the second feature point information based on the second surrounding image captured by the host vehicle. Parking assistance device.

2. A determination unit is further provided, The receiving unit further receives vehicle type information of the other vehicle, The determination unit compares vehicle type information of the host vehicle with vehicle type information of the other vehicle, When the vehicle type of the host vehicle and the vehicle type of the other vehicle are the same, the control unit performs parking control to automatically park the host vehicle in the parking space based on the driving information.

2. The parking assistance device according to claim 1.

3. 3. The parking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit determines whether the host vehicle can be parked in the parking space when a vehicle type of the host vehicle is different from a vehicle type of the other vehicle.

4. The receiving unit receives the size of the parking space, The determination unit determines that the vehicle can be parked in the parking space when the size of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than the size of the parking space.

4. The parking assistance device according to claim 3.

5. The parking assistance device according to claim 3 , wherein the determination unit determines that the host vehicle can be parked in the parking space when a size of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than a size of the other vehicle.

6. The parking assistance device according to claim 2 , wherein the determination unit determines whether parking control of the host vehicle is possible along the teacher route.

7. 7. The parking assistance device according to claim 6, wherein the determination unit determines that parking control of the host vehicle is possible when a minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than a minimum turning radius of the teacher route.

8. 7. The parking assistance device according to claim 6, wherein the determination unit determines that parking control of the host vehicle is possible when a minimum turning radius of the host vehicle is equal to or smaller than a minimum turning radius of the other vehicle.

9. A path generating unit is further provided, When the determination unit determines that the host vehicle cannot be controlled to park along the teacher route, the route generation unit generates a first parking route based on a position of the parking space.

7. A parking assistance device according to claim 6.

10. 6. The parking assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit determines whether or not it is possible to generate a second parking path for controlling the parking of the host vehicle based on the teacher path.

11. Receive driving information obtained when a driver parks another vehicle in a parking space, Estimating the current location information of the vehicle; performing parking control to automatically park the vehicle in the parking space based on the driving information and the current position information; the travel information includes a teacher route when the other vehicle parks in the parking space and first feature point information based on a first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle while the other vehicle is traveling along the teacher route, estimating the current position information of the host vehicle based on the first feature point information based on the first surrounding image captured by the other vehicle during the teacher running and the second feature point information based on the second surrounding image captured by the host vehicle; Parking assistance methods.

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