Automatic parking support device and automatic parking support system

Abstract

To provide an automatic parking support device capable of uniquely deciding a parking direction with a user's intension reflected.SOLUTION: An automatic parking support device 10 is equipped in a vehicle 100 and causes the vehicle 100 to autonomously move to and park in a parking space. The automatic parking support device 10 includes an own vehicle position determination part, a parking direction determination part, and a control part. The own vehicle position determination part determines whether center lines L_1, L_2, L_3 are located on an advance side or a retreat side with respect to a reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100 for each of parking spaces S_1, S_2, S_3. When the center line of a target parking space is determined to be located on the advance side with respect to the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100, the parking direction determination part decides the parking direction as forward. When the center line is determined to be located on the retreat side, the parking direction determination part decides the parking direction as rearward. The control part causes the vehicle to autonomously park at the parking space according to the parking direction decided by the parking direction determination part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic parking assistance device and an automatic parking assistance system. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a parking assistance device that can automatically determine the parking posture for a parking space. This parking assistance device uses a perimeter monitoring sensor to obtain the parking orientations of surrounding vehicles that are already parked, and adopts the most common parking orientation as the parking posture for the vehicle itself. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-111180 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above parking assistance device cannot uniquely determine the parking orientation that reflects the user's intention, and also cannot determine the parking orientation if there are no vehicles parked nearby. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The means for solving the above problems and their effects will be described below. To solve the above problem, an automatic parking assistance device is mounted on a vehicle and autonomously moves the vehicle to a parking space and parks it. The automatic parking assistance device includes a vehicle position determination unit, a parking orientation determination unit, and a control unit. In response to a user's instruction to switch to automatic parking mode, the vehicle position determination unit recognizes parking spaces and acquires parking frame lines defining each recognized parking space and a center line parallel to the longitudinal direction of the parking frame lines and indicating the center of the parking space. The vehicle position determination unit determines, for each recognized parking space, whether the center line is located on the forward or backward side relative to the vehicle's reference point, using the position of the driver's seat of the vehicle as the vehicle's reference point. When the user selects one parking space from the recognized parking spaces as a target parking space, the parking orientation determination unit determines the parking orientation to be forward if the vehicle position determination unit determines that the center line of the target parking space is located on the forward side relative to the vehicle's reference point. On the other hand, if the vehicle position determination unit determines that the center line of the target parking space is located on the backward side of the vehicle's reference point, the parking orientation determination unit determines the parking orientation to be backward. The control unit calculates a driving route according to the parking orientation determined by the parking orientation determination unit, and autonomously moves the vehicle to and parks it in the parking space selected as the target parking space.

[0006] An automatic parking assistance system for solving the above problem includes the automatic parking assistance device and a mobile terminal. The mobile terminal is associated with the vehicle in advance so that it can communicate with the vehicle from outside the vehicle. The mobile terminal acquires information about the parking orientation determined by the parking orientation determination unit from the vehicle. When the mobile terminal acquires the information about the parking orientation, it notifies a control unit of an instruction to start automatic parking, which causes the vehicle to autonomously move to and park in a parking space selected as a target parking space, based on operation of the mobile terminal by a user. The control unit starts automatic parking in response to the instruction from the mobile terminal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The automatic parking assistance device can uniquely determine the parking orientation, reflecting the user's intention. It can also determine the parking orientation even if there are no vehicles parked nearby.

[0008] According to the above-described automatic parking assistance system, the user can remotely operate the vehicle to perform automatic parking, thereby improving convenience. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle equipped with an automatic parking assistance device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of automatic parking assistance according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the automatic parking assistance device according to the first embodiment automatically determines the parking orientation. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of displaying the parking orientation of each parking space. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of an automatic parking assistance system including an automatic parking assistance device and a mobile terminal according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] (First embodiment) An automatic parking assistance device 10 according to a first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0011] <Configurations for automatic parking assistance using the automatic parking assistance device 10> Fig. 1 shows the configuration of a vehicle 100 equipped with an automatic parking assistance device 10 according to the first embodiment. Fig. 1 particularly shows each component for automatic parking assistance in the vehicle 100.

[0012] The vehicle 100 includes an automatic parking assistance device 10, a periphery monitoring sensor 20, a vehicle state sensor 30, and various ECUs 40. The automatic parking assistance device 10, the periphery monitoring sensor 20, the vehicle state sensor 30, and various ECUs 40 constitute various components for automatic parking assistance of the vehicle 100.

[0013] The perimeter monitoring sensor 20 detects objects around the vehicle 100 and outputs the detection results to the automatic parking assistance device 10. The perimeter monitoring sensor 20 is, for example, a camera. The perimeter monitoring sensor 20 may include an ultrasonic sensor, a radar, a laser scanner, etc. The camera captures images of the perimeter of the vehicle. The ultrasonic sensor emits ultrasonic waves and receives the ultrasonic waves reflected by objects. The radar emits laser or millimeter waves and receives the laser or millimeter waves reflected by objects. The laser scanner scans a predetermined area with a laser and receives the laser reflected by objects.

[0014] The periphery monitoring sensor 20 uses a camera to capture images of the periphery of the vehicle 100. The periphery monitoring sensor 20 outputs the captured images to the automatic parking assistance device 10. The vehicle state sensor 30 detects vehicle speed, steering angle, shift lever position, parking brake operation state, etc. as vehicle state information, and outputs the detection results to the automatic parking assistance device 10.

[0015] The automatic parking assistance device 10 includes a host vehicle position determination unit 11, a parking orientation determination unit 12, and a control unit 13. The host vehicle position determination unit 11 can acquire parking frame lines that define parking spaces located around the vehicle 100 from images captured by the perimeter monitoring sensor 20. This allows the host vehicle position determination unit 11 to determine the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the parking space.

[0016] The parking orientation determination unit 12 can determine the parking orientation based on the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the parking space determined by the host vehicle position determination unit 11. The control unit 13 calculates a driving route according to the parking orientation determined by the parking orientation determination unit 12, and can autonomously move the vehicle 100 to and park it in a parking space selected as the target parking space.

[0017] The various ECUs 40 can manage the movement of the vehicle 100 by performing overall control over the vehicle 100. The various ECUs 40 can adjust the traveling speed of the vehicle 100 and the traveling direction of the vehicle 100.

[0018] <Processing by the automatic parking assistance device 10> The flow of processing by the automatic parking assistance device 10 will be specifically described below with reference to FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of automatic parking assistance according to the first embodiment. This series of processes is executed in response to a user's instruction to switch to automatic parking mode. As shown in FIG. 2, when this series of processes starts, the automatic parking assistance device 10 first acquires a parking space in the process of step S100.

[0019] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 3, the host vehicle position determination unit 11 recognizes a plurality of parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 located around the vehicle 100 from an image captured by the periphery monitoring sensor 20, and acquires parking frame lines defining each of the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3. Fig. 3 shows an example in which three parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 exist around the vehicle 100. In the processing of step S100, if the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 are acquired, the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to the processing of step S110.

[0020] In step S110, the vehicle position determination unit 11 calculates center lines L_1, L_2, and L_3 for each of the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3, which are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the parking frame lines and indicate the center of the parking space.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic parking assistance device 10 displays the parking frame lines defining each of the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, S_3 and the center lines L_1, L_2, L_3 of each of the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, S_3 on the display of the vehicle 100.

[0022] Next, the host vehicle position determination unit 11 proceeds to step S120, where it determines the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and each of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the position of the driver's seat of the vehicle 100 is set as a reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100, and a line that is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the parking frame line and passes through the reference point P_0 is set as a reference line L_0. The host vehicle position determination unit 11 determines whether the center lines L_1, L_2, and L_3 of each of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 are located on the forward or backward side of the reference line L_0 that passes through the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100. The host vehicle position determination unit 11 stores the determination results for each of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3.

[0023] Then, the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to step S130, where it requests the user to select a target parking space. Specifically, the automatic parking assistance device 10 displays a message on the display prompting the user to make a selection, or plays the message as audio from the speaker. In this way, the automatic parking assistance device 10 prompts the user to select one parking space from among the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 displayed on the display. If the display also serves as an input device such as a touch panel, the user touches and selects one of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 displayed on the display. The selection method may also be speech recognition, etc.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 4, the automatic parking assistance device 10 may display on the display whether the parking orientation will be forward or backward when selected as a target parking space, corresponding to each of the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3. By displaying in this manner, the user can select a target parking space after recognizing whether the parking orientation will be forward or backward.

[0025] Then, the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to step S140. In step S140, it is determined whether the user has selected one of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 as the target parking space. If the user has selected one parking space as the target parking space (step S140: YES), the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to step S150. On the other hand, if the user has not selected any parking space (step S140: NO), the automatic parking assistance device 10 repeatedly executes step S140.

[0026] Next, in step S150, the host vehicle position determination unit 11 determines whether the center line of the parking space selected as the target parking space is on the forward side of the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100. If it is determined that the center line is on the forward side (step S150: YES), the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to step S160, and the parking orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation to be forward in step S160. On the other hand, if it is determined that the host vehicle is not on the forward side (step S150: NO), the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to step S170, and the parking orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation to be backward in step S170. Then, the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to step S180.

[0027] In step S180, the automatic parking assistance device 10 displays the parking orientation determined in step S160 or step S170 on a display. The automatic parking assistance device 10 may notify the user of the determined parking orientation by playing it aloud from a speaker.

[0028] Next, the automatic parking assistance device 10 proceeds to step S190. In step S190, the control unit 13 calculates a driving route according to the parking orientation determined in step S160 or step S170. Then, the control unit 13 autonomously moves the vehicle 100 to the target parking space selected by the user and parks the vehicle 100 in accordance with the calculated driving route.

[0029] <Operation of the First Embodiment> An automatic parking assistance device 10 is mounted on a vehicle 100 and autonomously moves the vehicle 100 to a parking space and parks it. The automatic parking assistance device 10 includes a host vehicle position determination unit 11, a parking orientation determination unit 12, and a control unit 13. The host vehicle position determination unit 11 recognizes parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 in response to a user's instruction to switch to automatic parking mode. The host vehicle position determination unit 11 acquires parking frame lines that define the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3, and center lines L_1, L_2, and L_3 that are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the parking frame lines and indicate the centers of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3. The host vehicle position determination unit 11 determines, for each recognized parking space S_1, S_2, S_3, whether the center lines L_1, L_2, L_3 are located on the forward or backward side relative to the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100, with the position of the driver's seat of the vehicle 100 as the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100. When the user selects one parking space from the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, S_3 as a target parking space, the parking orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation. Specifically, if the host vehicle position determination unit 11 determines that the center line of the target parking space is located on the forward side relative to the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100, the parking orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation to be forward. On the other hand, if the host vehicle position determination unit 11 determines that the center line of the target parking space is located on the backward side relative to the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100, the parking orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation to be backward. The control unit 13 calculates a driving route according to the parking orientation determined by the parking orientation determination unit 12, and autonomously moves the vehicle 100 to the parking space selected as the target parking space and parks the vehicle 100 there.

[0030] For example, in the example shown in Fig. 3, the vehicle position determination unit 11 determines that the center line L_1 of the parking space S_1 is located on the forward side of the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100. As a result, when the user selects the parking space S_1 as the target parking space, the parking orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation for the parking space S_1 to be forward. Then, in response to forward parking, the control unit 13 autonomously causes the vehicle 100 to enter the parking space S_1 forward and park it forward.

[0031] Meanwhile, the vehicle position determination unit 11 determines that the center lines L_2, L_3 of the parking spaces S_2, S_3 are located on the backward side of the reference point P_0 of the vehicle 100. As a result, when the user selects the parking spaces S_2, S_3 as the target parking spaces, the parking orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation for the parking space S_2 or S_3 to be backward. In response to the backward parking, the control unit 13 autonomously causes the vehicle 100 to enter the parking space S_2 or S_3 backward and park it backward.

[0032] <Advantages of the First Embodiment> (1) If the user driving vehicle 100 temporarily stops vehicle 100 so that the desired parking space is located to the forward side of the vehicle, the user is attempting forward parking. On the other hand, if the user temporarily stops vehicle 100 so that the desired parking space is located to the backward side of the vehicle, the user is attempting reverse parking. The automatic parking assistance device 10 determines the parking orientation to be forward when the center line of the target parking space selected by the user is located on the forward side of the driver's seat, which is the reference point P_0 of vehicle 100. On the other hand, the automatic parking assistance device 10 determines the parking orientation to be backward when the center line of the target parking space selected by the user is located on the backward side of the driver's seat, which is the reference point P_0 of vehicle 100. In this way, by reflecting the user's intention in the position of vehicle 100 when vehicle 100 is temporarily stopped relative to the target parking space, the parking orientation can be uniquely determined to reflect the user's intention. Furthermore, since only the positional relationship between the target parking space and the position of vehicle 100 is used, the parking orientation can be automatically determined even when there are no parked vehicles nearby.

[0033] (2) The automatic parking assistance device 10 displays on a display the parking frame lines defining the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, S_3 and the center lines L_1, L_2, L_3 of the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, S_3.

[0034] As a result, even if the user has difficulty visually recognizing the position of the vehicle 100 relative to the center lines L_1, L_2, and L_3, the display allows the user to correctly grasp the center lines L_1, L_2, and L_3 and the position of the vehicle 100. Therefore, the user can more easily reflect his or her own intention in determining the parking direction by manipulating the position of the vehicle 100.

[0035] (3) The automatic parking assistance device 10 displays on the display provided on the vehicle 100 whether the parking orientation will be forward or backward when selected as the target parking space for each of the recognized parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3, and allows the user to select the target parking space.

[0036] This allows the user to select a target parking space after understanding whether it will be forward parking or backward parking. (Second embodiment) An automatic parking assistance system according to the second embodiment, which includes an automatic parking assistance device 10 and a mobile terminal 50, will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0037] <Configuration of automatic parking assistance system> 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of an automatic parking assistance system according to the second embodiment, which includes an automatic parking assistance device 10 and a mobile terminal 50. The automatic parking assistance device 10 is the automatic parking assistance device according to the first embodiment. That is, the second embodiment has the same configuration as the first embodiment, except that it further includes a mobile terminal 50.

[0038] The mobile terminal 50 is, for example, a smartphone or tablet, and has a display device that also serves as an input device such as a touch panel. The mobile terminal 50 establishes a wireless communication connection with the vehicle 100 in advance, and is able to communicate with the vehicle 100 from outside the vehicle 100. In the second embodiment, the user activates an automatic parking app installed on the mobile terminal 50, causing the mobile terminal 50 to communicate with the automatic parking assistance device 10.

[0039] Specifically, when a user launches an automatic parking app installed on the mobile terminal 50, the mobile terminal 50 starts communicating with the automatic parking assistance device 10. As the automatic parking app is launched, as shown in FIG. 5 , the mobile terminal 50 acquires information regarding the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 from the host vehicle position determination unit 11. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 50 acquires information regarding the parking orientation from the parking orientation determination unit 12. Then, when the mobile terminal 50 acquires the information regarding the parking orientation, the user operates the mobile terminal 50 to select a target parking space. The mobile terminal 50 transmits information regarding the user's selection to the automatic parking assistance device 10 and notifies the control unit 13 of an instruction to start automatic parking, which autonomously moves the vehicle 100 to the parking space selected as the target parking space and parks it there.

[0040] Then, in response to an instruction from the mobile terminal 50 to start automatic parking, the control unit 13 autonomously moves the vehicle 100 to the parking space selected as the target parking space and parks the vehicle 100 there.

[0041] In the case of this automatic parking assistance system, the user can temporarily park the vehicle 100 near a parking space, get out of the vehicle 100, and select a target parking space using the mobile terminal 50 from outside the vehicle.

[0042] The following two changes have been made to the processing flow shown in Figure 2. In step S130, the automatic parking assistance device 10 causes the mobile terminal 50 to execute a display requesting the user to select a target parking space.

[0043] In step S140, the automatic parking assistance device 10 receives the user's selection from the mobile terminal 50. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state in which the parking orientation of each of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 is displayed on the mobile terminal 50 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile terminal 50 displays parking frame lines defining the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3, the position of the vehicle 100, and information on the parking orientation when the parking space is selected as the target parking space. As shown in FIG. 4, the mobile terminal 50 displays "forward parking" as information on the parking orientation when the parking space S_1 is selected as the target parking space. The mobile terminal 50 displays "reverse parking" as information on the parking orientation when either the parking space S_2 or S_3 is selected as the target parking space.

[0044] The user touches and selects one of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 displayed on the mobile terminal 50. This operation notifies the control unit 13 of an instruction to start automatic parking, which causes the vehicle 100 to autonomously move to and park in the parking space selected as the target parking space.

[0045] <Operation of the Second Embodiment> In the above-described automatic parking assistance system, the mobile terminal 50 acquires information about the parking orientation determined by the parking orientation determination unit 12 from the vehicle 100. When the mobile terminal 50 acquires the information about the parking orientation, it notifies the control unit 13 of an instruction to start automatic parking, which causes the vehicle 100 to autonomously move to and park in a parking space selected as a target parking space, based on the user's operation of the mobile terminal 50. In response to the instruction from the mobile terminal 50, the control unit 13 causes the vehicle 100 to move to and park in the parking space selected as the target parking space.

[0046] <Effects of the second embodiment> (1) In the above-described automatic parking assistance system, when the mobile terminal 50 acquires information about the parking orientation, the mobile terminal 50 notifies the control unit 13 of an instruction to start automatic parking based on the user's operation of the mobile terminal 50, and the control unit 13 performs automatic parking in accordance with the instruction from the mobile terminal 50. In this way, the user can perform automatic parking by remotely operating the vehicle 100, improving convenience.

[0047] (2) In the above-described automatic parking assistance system, the mobile terminal 50 acquires and displays, from the vehicle 100, information on parking frame lines, the position of the vehicle 100, and the parking orientation when selected, and allows the user to select a target parking space by operating the mobile terminal 50. This allows the user to select a target parking orientation after understanding, from outside the vehicle 100, the parking orientation when each of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 is selected as a target parking space, using the mobile terminal 50. Therefore, the user can accurately reflect his or her intention.

[0048] The second embodiment can be modified as follows: This embodiment and the following modifications can be combined and implemented within the scope of technical compatibility. In the second embodiment described above, the mobile terminal 50 displays information about the parking orientation when each of the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 is selected. However, when the user selects one parking space as a target parking space from among the parking spaces S_1, S_2, and S_3 recognized by the vehicle 100, the mobile terminal 50 may display the parking orientation determined for only the selected parking space. Even in this embodiment, the user can understand the parking orientation for the parking space selected as the target parking space before parking. When the target parking space is selected, the mobile terminal 50 may display the parking orientation and display a message asking whether automatic parking should be performed. Automatic parking may begin when the user performs an operation to confirm execution in response to the message. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 10...Automatic parking assistance device 11... Vehicle position determination unit 12...Parking direction determination unit 13...Control unit 20...Perimeter monitoring sensor 30...Vehicle condition sensor 40...Various ECUs 50...Mobile device S_1, S_2, S_3...Parking spaces L_1, L_2, L_3...Center lines of each parking space P_0…Reference point L_0...reference line 100...Vehicle

Claims

1. An automatic parking assistance device that is mounted on a vehicle and autonomously moves the vehicle to a parking space and parks it, a host vehicle position determination unit that, in response to a user's instruction to switch to the automatic parking mode, recognizes parking spaces, acquires parking frame lines defining each recognized parking space, and a center line that is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the parking frame lines and indicates the center of the parking space, and determines, for each recognized parking space, whether the center line is located on the forward or backward side relative to the reference point of the vehicle, using the position of the driver's seat of the vehicle as a reference point of the vehicle; a parking orientation determination unit that determines the parking orientation to be forward when the user selects one of the recognized parking spaces as a target parking space and determines by the vehicle position determination unit that the center line of the target parking space is located on the forward side of the reference point of the vehicle, and determines the parking orientation to be backward when the center line of the target parking space is located on the backward side of the reference point of the vehicle; a control unit that calculates a driving route in accordance with the parking orientation determined by the parking orientation determination unit, and autonomously moves the vehicle to the parking space selected as the target parking space and parks the vehicle therein; An automatic parking assistance device comprising:

2. The parking frame lines defining each of the recognized parking spaces and the center lines of each of the recognized parking spaces are displayed on a display provided in the vehicle.

2. The automatic parking assistance system according to claim 1.

3. The display indicates whether the parking orientation when the parking space is selected as the target parking space will be forward or backward, corresponding to each of the recognized parking spaces, and allows the user to select the target parking space.

3. The automatic parking assistance system according to claim 2.

4. An automatic parking assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 3; a mobile terminal that is associated with the vehicle in advance and is capable of communicating with the vehicle from outside the vehicle; The mobile terminal acquires information about the parking orientation determined by the parking orientation determination unit from the vehicle, When the mobile device acquires the information regarding the parking orientation, the mobile device notifies the control unit of an instruction to start automatic parking, which causes the vehicle to autonomously move to and park in the parking space selected as the target parking space, based on an operation of the mobile device by the user; The control unit starts the automatic parking in response to the instruction from the mobile terminal. Automatic parking assistance system.

5. The mobile terminal acquires and displays from the vehicle the parking frame lines that define the recognized parking space, the position of the vehicle, and information on the parking orientation when the parking space is selected as the target parking space; The user is prompted to select the target parking space from among the recognized parking spaces by operating the mobile terminal.

5. The automatic parking assistance system according to claim 4.

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