Charging slot monitoring system

Abstract

To provide a system capable of efficiently monitoring a charging slot.SOLUTION: A charging slot monitoring system includes: a camera imaging a periphery of a vehicle; and a controller connected to the camera. The controller is configured to: recognize a charging slot in a charging station in view of the camera and another vehicle parked in the charging slot; recognize a chargeable state where the other vehicle departs from the charging slot and also the charging slot is vacant; and inform a driver that the charging slot is vacant in accordance with recognition of the chargeable state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a charging slot monitoring system.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an electric vehicle charging device having a plurality of charging units for individually charging a plurality of electric vehicles. The management server receives information indicating a request for charging from a user terminal when there is an available charging unit, and when it determines that there is an available charging unit, it transmits an availability notification to the user terminal.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, many charging stations are not yet linked to a reservation system and provide charging services on a first-come, first-served basis. For this reason, the driver is forced to wait in the vehicle or return to a place where the charging slot can be frequently observed in order to observe whether the vehicle being charged has left the charging slot and the charging slot has become available. The present disclosure provides a system that can efficiently monitor charging slots.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] A charging slot monitoring system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a camera that images the periphery of a vehicle, and a controller connected to the camera. The controller recognizes a charging slot at a charging station within the field of view of the camera and another vehicle parked in the charging slot, recognizes a chargeable state in which the other vehicle departs from the charging slot and the charging slot is vacant, and notifies the driver that the charging slot is vacant in response to recognizing the chargeable state.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] According to the present disclosure, a technique for efficiently monitoring a charging slot is provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same elements, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0009] [Configuration of Vehicle] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a charging slot monitoring system 1 is mounted on a vehicle 2 as an example. The vehicle 2 is an electric vehicle that can be charged at a charging station. A charging station is a facility equipped with a parking space and charging equipment. Hereinafter, each parking space is referred to as a slot, and a slot equipped with charging equipment is referred to as a charging slot. The vehicle 2 may be an autonomous driving vehicle having an automatic parking function. The vehicle 2 is not limited to an autonomous driving vehicle, and may be a vehicle that assists in parking operations. The assistance in parking operations includes cases where only information is notified.

[0010] The vehicle 2 includes a camera 10, a controller 11, a notification unit 21, a communication unit 22, an automatic parking ECU 24, and an actuator 25. An ECU (Electronic Control Unit) is an electronic control unit having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication circuit, and the like. The charging slot monitoring system 1 is configured to include the camera 10 and the controller 11.

[0011] The camera 10 images the periphery of the vehicle 2. The camera 10 is connected to the controller 11. Note that the camera connected to the controller 11 is not limited to the camera 10. A plurality of cameras may be connected to the controller 11, or an independent camera (such as an added camera) that is not connected to the system of the vehicle 2 (for example, the automatic parking ECU 24) may be connected to the controller 11.

[0012] The controller 11 is configured by an ECU as an example. The controller 11 recognizes an object based on the video obtained by the camera 10. Details will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a charging station. As shown in FIG. 2, the charging station CS has a plurality of slots which are parking spaces surrounded by partition lines. In FIG. 2, six slots are illustrated. The charging station CS has a standby area 30 and a charging area 40. The first slot SL1 and the second slot SL2 included in the standby area 30 are general slots and no charging equipment is provided therein. Charging equipment is provided in each of the slots included in the charging area 40. For example, a first charger CD1 is provided in the third slot SL3. A second charger CD2 is provided in the fourth slot SL4. A third charger CD3 is provided in the fifth slot SL5. A fourth charger CD4 is provided in the sixth slot SL6. The third slot SL3, the fourth slot SL4, the fifth slot SL5, and the sixth slot SL6 are referred to as charging slots.

[0014] The charging station CS is not subject to a reservation system, and charging services are provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, when the charging slots are full, the vehicle 2 needs to monitor and wait in the slot of the standby area 30 until there is an empty space in the charging slot.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the field of view (detection range) of a camera. As shown in FIG. 3, the camera 10 of the vehicle 2 is provided in front of, on the side of, behind, etc. the vehicle 2. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the camera 10 can capture an image of an object included in the front field of view range DA1, the side field of view range DA2, and the rear field of view range DA3.

[0016] The controller 11 recognizes the charging slots in the charging station CS within the field of view of the camera 10 and other vehicles parked in the charging slots. Based on general image recognition processing, the controller 11 recognizes the third slot SL3, the fourth slot SL4, the fifth slot SL5, and the sixth slot SL6 as charging slots, and also recognizes other vehicles 5A to 5D parked in the charging slots. In the case of the field of view range shown in FIG. 3, the controller 11 recognizes the third slot SL3 and the fourth slot SL4, and other vehicles 5A and 5B parked therein.

[0017] The controller 11 determines whether the other vehicle has departed from the charging slot and the charging slot is in a chargeable state, i.e., empty. Based on the video of the camera 10, when either of the other vehicles 5A or 5B departs from the third slot SL3 or the fourth slot SL4 and the charging slot is empty (for example, empty for a certain period of time), the controller 11 recognizes that the charging slot is in a chargeable state.

[0018] In response to recognizing the chargeable state, the controller 11 notifies the driver that the charging slot is empty. The controller 11 operates the notification unit 21 of the vehicle 2 to notify the driver. The notification unit 21 is, for example, an in-vehicle display, a meter, etc. The controller 11 may also notify the driver by transmitting information to the driver terminal 23 via the communication unit 22. The communication unit 22 is a device capable of communicating with the driver terminal 23. The controller 11 may also notify the driver by using both the notification unit 21 and the communication unit 22.

[0019] The automatic parking ECU 24 has an automatic parking function. The automatic parking ECU 24 recognizes the surroundings of the vehicle 2 based on the video captured by the camera 10 and operates the actuator 25 to park the vehicle 2 in the slot. In response to recognizing the chargeable state, the controller 11 may also activate the automatic parking function. Thereby, a series of actions from monitoring to parking can be automated.

[0020] [Operation of Charging Slot Monitoring System] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the charging slot monitoring system. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is started when the charging slot monitoring system 1 receives a start instruction operation. For example, when the charging slot is full, the driver performs a start instruction operation. Alternatively, it may be automatically started when the vehicle 2 enters the charging standby state.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 4, first, the camera 10 of the charging slot monitoring system 1 acquires an image around the vehicle 2 as step S10. Subsequently, the controller 11 of the charging slot monitoring system 1 determines whether another vehicle has finished charging and departed and whether the charging slot is empty based on the image of the camera 10 as step S12.

[0022] If it is determined that another vehicle has finished charging and departed and the charging slot is empty (step S12: YES), the controller 11 notifies the driver that there is an empty charging slot as step S14. And / or, the controller 11 operates the automatic parking ECU 24 to automatically park the vehicle 2 in the empty charging slot.

[0023] If it is determined that another vehicle has not finished charging or the charging slot is not empty (step S12: NO), the controller 11 determines whether a predetermined waiting time has elapsed as step S16. If the controller 11 determines that the predetermined waiting time has not elapsed (step S16: NO), it returns to step S10 to continue monitoring the charging slot. If the controller 11 determines that the predetermined waiting time has elapsed (step S16: YES), it notifies the driver that there is still no empty slot even after the predetermined waiting time has elapsed as step S18.

[0024] When step S14 or step S18 ends, the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 ends.

[0025] [Summary of Embodiment] According to the charging slot monitoring system 1, when it is recognized that a charging slot is vacant, the driver is notified of the vacancy of the charging slot. Therefore, the charging slot monitoring system 1 can avoid the driver waiting in the vehicle 2 or frequently getting out of and back into the vehicle to observe whether the charging slot is vacant. Also, since the vacant time is shortened, the use of the charging slot is optimized. Furthermore, according to the charging slot monitoring system 1, since the camera 10 and the controller 11 are not limited to dedicated ones, it can also be applied to existing vehicles 2.

[0026] As described above, the exemplary embodiments have been explained, but various omissions, substitutions, and changes may be made without being limited to the above-described exemplary embodiments. [Modification Example]

[0027] For example, upon receiving the notification in step S18, the driver may restart the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, leave the waiting slot, or monitor other charging slots.

[0028] When the recognition degree of at least one of the charging slot and other vehicles within the field of view of the camera 10 is lower than the threshold value, the controller 11 may change the direction of the camera 10 and / or move the vehicle 2 forward and backward. For example, when there is a structure within the field of view of the camera 10 and the charging slot and other vehicles are in the shadow of the structure, the recognition degree of the charging slot and other vehicles decreases. The recognition degree can be calculated by general image processing. When the recognition degree is lower than a predetermined threshold value, the controller 11 changes the direction of the camera 10 to an orientation where the recognition degree is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value. The camera 10 may be supported by a driving device such as a motor. Alternatively, the controller 11 may operate the automatic parking ECU 24 to move the vehicle 2 forward and backward to change the field of view of the camera 10. In this way, the direction of the camera 10 may be changed to an orientation where the recognition degree is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value. The controller 11 may control both the orientation of the camera 10 and the forward and backward movement of the vehicle 2.

[0029] The present disclosure includes the following aspects. [Clause 1] A camera that images the surroundings of a vehicle, a controller connected to the camera, and is provided with, the controller, recognizes a charging slot in a charging station within the field of view of the camera and another vehicle parked in the charging slot, recognizes that the other vehicle departs from the charging slot and that the charging slot is in a chargeable state where it is empty, and is configured to notify the driver that the charging slot is empty in response to recognizing the chargeable state. A charging slot monitoring system. [Clause 2] The vehicle has an automatic parking function, and the controller causes the automatic parking function to be exerted in response to recognizing the chargeable state. The charging slot monitoring system according to Clause 1. [Clause 3] The camera is an independent camera not connected to the vehicle system. The charging slot monitoring system according to Clause 1 or 2. [Clause 4] The controller notifies the driver that the charging slot is empty via the notification unit of the vehicle and / or the driver's terminal. The charging slot monitoring system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3. [Clause 5] When the recognition degree of at least one of the charging slot and the other vehicle within the field of view of the camera by the controller is lower than a threshold value, the controller changes the direction of the camera and / or moves the vehicle forward and backward. The charging slot monitoring system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 4.

Explanation of Signs

[0030] 1... Charging slot monitoring system, 2... Vehicle, 10... Camera, 11... Controller.

Claims

1. A camera that images the surroundings of a vehicle, A controller connected to the camera, Comprising: The controller, Recognizes a charging slot in a charging station within the field of view of the camera and another vehicle parked in the charging slot, Recognizes a chargeable state in which the other vehicle departs from the charging slot and the charging slot is vacant, In response to recognizing the chargeable state, is configured to notify the driver that the charging slot is vacant. A charging slot monitoring system.

2. The vehicle has an automatic parking function, The controller causes the automatic parking function to be exerted in response to recognizing the chargeable state. The charging slot monitoring system according to Claim 1.

3. The camera is an independent camera not connected to the vehicle system. The charging slot monitoring system according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. The controller notifies the driver that the charging slot is vacant via the notification unit of the vehicle and / or the driver's terminal. The charging slot monitoring system according to Claim 1 or 2.

5. When the recognition degree of at least one of the charging slot and the other vehicle within the field of view of the camera is lower than a threshold value, the controller changes the direction of the camera and / or moves the vehicle forward and backward. The charging slot monitoring system according to Claim 1 or 2.

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