Parking management system

Abstract

We provide a parking management system that enables improved operational efficiency for the entire parking lot. [Solution] The system obtains the predicted stay time of a vehicle that will be using the parking lot, determines a parking position for the vehicle within the parking lot based on the predicted stay time, and guides the vehicle to the determined parking position. The system is configured such that vehicles with longer predicted stay times are assigned parking positions further away from the entrance or exit of the parking lot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a parking lot management system for managing a parking lot.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in a system for managing a parking lot, a parking position to be parked is guided to a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a user vehicle) that will use the parking lot. In addition, as a parking position to be guided to the user vehicle, not simply the position of an empty parking space is guided, but an appropriate parking position for the user vehicle is selected and guided based on the usage content of the parking lot of the user vehicle. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-182263, an empty parking space is searched considering the user's facility tour route, planned stay time, parking allowable range, etc., and the searched parking space is guided.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Here, although Japanese Patent Document 1 discloses consideration of the tour route and planned stay time, basically, an empty parking space near the current position of the user is preferentially selected as the parking position. That is, if a user who will park is near the entrance of the parking lot, an empty parking space near the entrance is preferentially selected as the parking position.

[0005] However, when considering the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot rather than individual users, if, for example, many vehicles try to park near the entrance, the flow of vehicles will be stagnant due to the concentration of vehicles near the entrance, while there will be almost no vehicles in areas far from the entrance, resulting in poor overall operational efficiency of the parking lot. Patent Document 1 described above is a technology for improving the parking efficiency of individual users, and it could not improve the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot.

[0006] This invention was made to solve the aforementioned problems of the conventional method, and aims to provide a parking management system that enables improved operational efficiency of the entire parking lot. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the above objective, the parking management system according to the present invention includes: a stay time acquisition means for acquiring a predicted stay time, which is the predicted stay time of a vehicle that will be using the parking lot; a parking position determination means for determining a parking position in the parking lot where the vehicle will be parked based on the predicted stay time; and a parking position guidance means for guiding the vehicle to the parking position determined by the parking position determination means, wherein the parking position determination means determines a parking position further away from the entrance or exit of the parking lot for vehicles with longer predicted stay times. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the parking management system of the present invention having the above configuration, vehicles that stay for longer periods of time are guided to parking positions further away from the entrance or exit of the parking lot, thereby reducing the expected and total values ​​of travel time and distance within the parking lot for each vehicle. As a result, the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot can be improved. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing the parking management system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2]This is a block diagram showing the configuration of the parking management system according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] This diagram shows an example of the information stored in the visit history database. [Figure 4] This diagram shows an example of the information stored in the parking reservation database. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart of the parking lot management processing program according to this embodiment. [Figure 6] This diagram shows an example of a parking lot that will be subject to management. [Figure 7] This figure shows the results of statistical analysis of the history of time spent in a location. [Figure 8] This figure shows the probability of a vehicle being present (probability of appearance) for each period of stay, calculated from statistical results of the history of stay duration, and the expected value of the number of parking spaces required per unit of time. [Figure 9] This diagram shows an example of a parking lot that will be subject to management after its design has been completed. [Figure 10] This is a flowchart of the parking guidance processing program according to this embodiment. [Figure 11] This diagram shows the parking location guidance screen displayed on an LCD display. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The following will describe in detail, with reference to the drawings, a concrete embodiment of the parking management system according to the present invention. First, the schematic configuration of the parking management system 1 according to this embodiment will be described using Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the parking management system 1 according to this embodiment. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the parking management system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0011] As shown in Figure 1, the parking management system 1 according to this embodiment basically comprises a parking management server (parking management device) 3 that manages the parking lot 2, and a communication terminal 5 that is carried by the occupant (user) of the vehicle 4. Furthermore, the parking management server 3 and the communication terminal 5 are configured to send and receive electronic data to and from each other via a communication network 6. Note that the communication terminal 5 may be a mobile device such as a mobile phone, smartphone, or tablet, or it may be an in-vehicle device such as a navigation system equipped with communication functions. In the following explanation, the case in which the communication terminal 5 is a smartphone will be used as an example.

[0012] Here, the parking management server 3 is a server device that manages parking lot 2. For example, it accepts reservations from vehicles 4 that use the parking lot and manages the entry and exit of vehicles 4 to parking lot 2 (parking lot usage status). The parking management server 3 may exist for each parking lot 2 to be managed, or it may be a server device that manages multiple parking lots 2.

[0013] Furthermore, the parking management server 3 of this embodiment also determines the parking location for a vehicle 4 that will be using the parking lot 2, and guides the vehicle 4 to the determined parking location via the communication terminal 5. In addition, as described later, the parking management server 3 performs a parking lot design in advance for the parking lot 2 to be managed using a parking lot analysis method based on information encoding technology. By determining the parking location for the vehicle 4 based on the pre-designed parking lot, it is possible to improve the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot. Details will be described later.

[0014] On the one hand, the communication terminal 5 is an information terminal possessed by a user who is a vehicle occupant and has communication functions, navigation functions, etc. In particular, when the communication terminal 5 is a terminal capable of executing applications such as a smartphone, an application program with functions such as a function for making a reservation for using a parking lot and a function for guiding a parking position when using a parking lot is installed as one of the applications. Incidentally, these various functions related to the use of the parking lot may be a part of the navigation function for guiding the movement to the destination, or may be executed by an application program different from the navigation function.

[0015] Also, the communication network 6 includes a large number of base stations arranged throughout the country and a communication company that manages and controls each base station, and is configured by connecting the base stations and the communication company to each other by wire (optical fiber, ISDN, etc.) or wirelessly. Here, the base station has a transceiver (transmitter / receiver) and an antenna for communicating with the communication terminal 5. And while the base station performs wireless communication between communication companies, it becomes the end of the communication network 6 and has the role of relaying the communication of the communication terminal 5 within the range (cell) where the radio wave of the base station reaches with the parking lot management server 3.

[0016] Subsequently, the configuration of the parking lot management server 3 in the parking lot management system 1 will be described in more detail using FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the parking lot management server 3 includes a server control unit 11, a stay history DB 12 as information recording means connected to the server control unit 11, a parking reservation DB 13, a parking lot DB 14, and a server-side communication device 15.

[0017] The server control unit 11 is a control unit (such as MCU or MPU) that controls the entire parking lot management server 3, and includes a CPU 21 as an arithmetic unit and a control unit, a RAM 22 used as a working memory when the CPU 21 performs various arithmetic processes, a control program, and in addition, an internal storage device such as a ROM 23 in which a parking lot management processing program (FIG. 5), a parking guidance processing program (FIG. 10), etc., which will be described later, are recorded, and a flash memory 24 that stores the program read from the ROM 23. Note that the server control unit 11 has various means as a processing algorithm. For example, the stay time acquisition means acquires a predicted stay time, which is the predicted stay time of the parking lot for a vehicle that will use the parking lot. The parking position determination means determines a parking position in the parking lot for the vehicle to be parked based on the predicted stay time. The parking position guidance means guides the vehicle to the parking position determined by the parking position determination means. The history information acquisition means acquires the history of the stay time of the parking lot for each vehicle that has used the parking lot in the past. The area classification means classifies the inside of the parking lot into a plurality of areas with different distances from the entrance or exit of the parking lot, and determines the allocation of the number of parking spaces for each area based on the statistical result of the history of the stay time.

[0018] Also, the stay history DB 12 is a storage means that stores the history of the stay time of vehicles that have used the parking lot 2 to be managed in the past.

[0019] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the information stored in the stay history DB 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the stay history DB 12 stores the entry time to the parking lot, the exit time from the parking lot, and the stay time between them for each vehicle that has used the parking lot 2 to be managed in the past, classified by vehicle. However, it is also possible to store only the stay time or only the entry time and the exit time. Then, based on the history of the stay time stored in the stay history DB 12 as described later, the parking lot management server 3 performs parking lot design using an analysis method of the parking lot by an information amount encoding technique for the parking lot 2 to be managed. More specifically, area classification of the parking lot, allocation of the number of parking spaces for each area, etc. are performed. Details will be described later.

[0020] On the other hand, the parking reservation DB13 is a storage means that manages information regarding reservations for use of the parking lot 2 that is under management.

[0021] Figure 4 shows an example of the information stored in the parking reservation DB 13. As shown in Figure 4, the parking reservation DB 13 stores the scheduled time of entry into the parking lot and the parking fee paid for each user who has made a reservation. In this embodiment of the parking management system 1, the parking fee is paid in advance and corresponds to the parking time. For example, 1,000 yen allows parking for up to 30 minutes, 1,500 yen allows parking for up to 1 hour, and 1,800 yen allows parking for up to 2 hours. In other words, the parking management system 1 can predict the length of time a vehicle will stay in the parking lot based on the parking fee paid in advance by the user. However, use is not limited to users who have made a reservation in advance; even users who visit on the day without a reservation can use the service if they pay the parking fee upon entry.

[0022] Furthermore, the parking lot DB14 is a storage means for storing the structure of the parking lot 2 that is to be managed. Specifically, it includes information that identifies the location of the entrance and exit of the parking lot, information that identifies the arrangement of parking spaces within the parking lot, and information that relates to the pathways that vehicles can use. It may also store a map of the parking lot. In addition, as will be described later, in this embodiment, the parking lot design is performed on the parking lot 2 that is to be managed using a parking lot analysis method based on information encoding technology, dividing the parking lot into multiple areas with different distances from the entrance or exit of the parking lot, and allocating the number of parking spaces to each area. Therefore, the parking lot DB14 can also store information related to the division of these areas and the allocation of parking spaces (see Figure 9). Details will be described later.

[0023] Furthermore, the server-side communication device 15 is a communication device for communicating with the communication terminal 5, which is the target of information transmission and reception, via the communication network 6. In addition to the communication terminal 5, it is also possible to receive traffic information consisting of various types of information such as congestion information, regulation information, and traffic accident information transmitted from the Internet network or traffic information centers, such as VICS (registered trademark: Vehicle Information and Communication System) centers, as well as map information and event information.

[0024] Next, the parking management processing program executed by the CPU 21 in the parking management server 3, which constitutes the parking management system 1 according to this embodiment having the above configuration, will be described with reference to Figure 5. Figure 5 is a flowchart of the parking management processing program according to this embodiment. Here, the parking management processing program is executed after a certain period of time (for example, one month) has elapsed since the execution of the previous processing, and is a program that performs parking design for the parking lot 2 to be managed using a parking lot analysis method based on information encoding technology, based on the history of the time spent at the parking lot to be managed. The programs shown in the flowcharts in Figures 5 and 10 below are stored in the RAM 22, ROM 23, etc., provided in the server control unit 11 and are executed by the CPU 21.

[0025] First, in step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as S), the CPU 21 retrieves the history of stay times at the parking lot 2 to be managed from the stay history DB 12. As shown in Figure 3, the stay history DB 12 stores the entry time to the parking lot, the exit time from the parking lot, and the duration of stay in between, categorized for each vehicle that has used the parking lot in the past. For example, the history of stay times for the past month is retrieved, but the period to be retrieved can be changed as appropriate.

[0026] Subsequently, from S2 onward, the CPU 21 performs parking lot design for the parking lot 2 to be managed, using a parking lot analysis method based on information encoding technology, based on the history of dwell time in the parking lot 2 to be managed, which was acquired in S1. More specifically, it performs area division of the parking lot and allocates the number of parking spaces for each area.

[0027] In the following explanation, we will use the example of performing the process on parking lot 2 shown in Figure 6. In parking lot 2 shown in Figure 6, the parking lot entrance 31 and parking lot exit 32 are in the same direction, and the parking spaces 33 are arranged regularly toward the back from the parking lot entrance 31 and parking lot exit 32. The further a parking space is from the parking lot entrance 31, the longer the distance (travel time) to the parking position, and the longer the distance (travel time) to the parking lot exit 32 when leaving the parking lot. In the following explanation, we will use the parking lot shown in Figure 6 as an example for simplicity, but of course the present invention can be applied to parking lots with shapes other than those shown in Figure 6. It is not limited to flat parking lots, but may also be a multi-story self-propelled parking lot consisting of multiple levels.

[0028] First, in S2, the CPU 21 statistically analyzes the history of stay times acquired in S1. Then, it calculates the number of vehicles using the vehicle per unit time, divided by stay time. In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, stay times of 30 minutes or less are considered as 30 minutes, stay times of 30 minutes or more but 60 minutes or less are considered as 60 minutes, and stay times exceeding 60 minutes are considered as 120 minutes. In other words, stay times are divided into three types: 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 120 minutes. However, it is also possible to divide stay times into more detailed intervals (for example, 10-minute intervals). For example, Figure 7 is an example of the results of statistically analyzing the history of stay times, showing that there are 20 vehicles per hour with a stay time of 30 minutes, 5 vehicles per hour with a stay time of 60 minutes, and 2 vehicles per hour with a stay time of 120 minutes.

[0029] Next, in S3, the CPU 21 calculates the probability of vehicle presence (probability of appearance) and the expected value of the number of parking spaces required per unit time, based on the statistical results of the history of stay time in S2. The probability of vehicle appearance P(ti) (where ti is the stay time category) is calculated, for example, by the following formula (1).

number

[0030] Furthermore, the number of vehicles used per unit time for each stay duration calculated in S2 above is denoted as C(ti) (where ti is the stay duration category). For example, if the statistical results of the stay duration history shown in Figure 7 are obtained, the stay duration for each vehicle is divided into three types: 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 120 minutes. The probability of a vehicle staying for 30 minutes is P(t1)=20 / (20+5+2)=0.74, the probability of a vehicle staying for 60 minutes is P(t2)=5 / (20+5+2)=0.19, and the probability of a vehicle staying for 120 minutes is P(t3)=2 / (20+5+2)=0.07.

[0031] On the other hand, the expected number of parking spaces required per unit time is calculated by multiplying the number of vehicles using the facility per unit time for each stay duration, C(ti) (where ti is the stay duration category), calculated in S2 above, by the stay duration. For example, if the statistical results of the stay duration history shown in Figure 7 are available, the stay duration for each vehicle is divided into three categories: 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 120 minutes. For a vehicle with a stay duration of 30 minutes, the expected number of parking spaces required per unit time is 20 (vehicles / h) × 0.5 (h) = 10 (spaces for vehicles). For a vehicle with a stay duration of 60 minutes, the expected number of parking spaces required per unit time is 5 (vehicles / h) × 1.0 (h) = 5 (spaces for vehicles). For a vehicle with a stay duration of 120 minutes, the expected number of parking spaces required per unit time is 2 (vehicles / h) × 2.0 (h) = 4 (spaces for vehicles). Figure 8 shows the probability of a vehicle being present (probability of appearance) for each stay duration, calculated from the statistical results of the stay duration history shown in Figure 7, and the expected value of the number of parking spaces required per unit time.

[0032] Furthermore, when calculating the number of parking spaces required per unit of time, it is desirable to include a small margin, anticipating that the actual number of vehicles using the parking spaces may be higher than expected. For example, in the example shown in Figure 8, a margin of 2 (spaces) is included in the expected number of parking spaces required per unit of time for vehicles staying for 30 minutes, and a margin of 1 (space) is included in the expected number of parking spaces required per unit of time for vehicles staying for 60 minutes.

[0033] Subsequently, in S4, the CPU 21 divides the area of ​​the parking lot 2 to be managed based on the number of parking spaces required per unit time calculated in S3. First, it divides the area for parking vehicles into larger sections according to the length of stay, and then sets the area for vehicles with shorter stays in order to be closest to the parking lot entrance 31. As shown in Figure 9, if the parking lot entrance 31 and parking lot exit 32 are in the same direction, the area for vehicles with shorter stays will also be set to be closest to the parking lot exit 32.

[0034] For example, in this embodiment, vehicle stay times are divided into three categories: 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 120 minutes. As shown in Figure 9, the parking area is divided into three areas: Area 41 for vehicles with a 30-minute stay, Area 42 for vehicles with a 60-minute stay, and Area 43 for vehicles with a 120-minute stay. Area 41, for vehicles with the shortest stay, is set closest to the parking entrance 31, Area 43, for vehicles with the longest stay, is set furthest from the entrance 31, and Area 42 is set in between. Area 41 is for vehicles expected to stay for 30 minutes and will be selected as the parking location for vehicles expected to stay for 30 minutes, as will be described later. Area 42 is for vehicles expected to stay for 60 minutes and will be selected as the parking location for vehicles expected to stay for 60 minutes, as will be described later. Furthermore, Area 43 is an area for parking vehicles expected to stay for 120 minutes, and as described later, it is selected as the parking location for vehicles expected to stay for 120 minutes. As mentioned above, in this embodiment, parking fees are paid in advance and the parking time is determined by the parking fee, so the parking management system 1 can predict in advance the stay time of vehicles that will use the parking lot based on the parking fee that has been paid.

[0035] Furthermore, the number of parking spaces in each area is calculated by adding a margin to the number of parking spaces required per unit time calculated in S3 above. For example, in the example shown in Figure 8, the number of parking spaces required per unit time for a vehicle staying for 30 minutes is 10, and the margin is 2, so the number of parking spaces required to park a vehicle staying for 30 minutes is 12. Therefore, the number of parking spaces in area 41 is set to 12. Also, the number of parking spaces required per unit time for a vehicle staying for 60 minutes is 5, and the margin is 1, so the number of parking spaces required to park a vehicle staying for 60 minutes is 6. Therefore, the number of parking spaces in area 42 is set to 6. Also, the number of parking spaces required per unit time for a vehicle staying for 120 minutes is 2, and the margin is 0, so the number of parking spaces required to park a vehicle staying for 120 minutes is 2. Therefore, the number of parking spaces in area 43 is set to 2.

[0036] As described above, the parking lot design is completed by dividing the parking lot into areas and allocating the number of parking spaces to each area. Information regarding the areas divided in S4 and the allocation of parking spaces is stored in the parking lot DB14. Figure 9 shows parking lot 2 after the parking lot design has been completed.

[0037] Furthermore, if Parking Lot 2 has more than 22 parking spaces, the above area divisions will generally be applied to the 22 parking spaces closest to Parking Lot Entrance 31 and Parking Lot Exit 32. Parking spaces that are not included in the area divisions will generally not be used (they will not be guided to parking spaces by users). However, this does not apply if the parking spaces designated as areas are full or nearly full.

[0038] Next, we will prove that the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot can be improved by designing the parking lot 2 to be managed according to S1 to S4 above. In the following explanation, we assume that the parking spaces are numbered 1, 2, 3, ...m in order from the parking lot entrance 31. Also, let S(j) (j=1,2,3,...m) be the travel time from the parking lot entrance 31 (parking lot exit 32) to each parking space, and assume that the speed of movement of cars within the parking lot is constant, so S(j) = 0.1 × j. Then, assuming that the parking lot design shown in Figure 9 is implemented and that vehicle parking positions are guided according to the expected stay time, the average code length L related to movement within the parking lot (including both movement from the parking lot entrance to the parking position and movement from the parking position to the parking lot exit) is calculated by the following equation (2). P(ti) is the probability of a vehicle being present (probability of appearance) for each stay time calculated in S3 above.

number

[0039] On the other hand, if we assume that vehicles entering the parking lot park randomly without the parking lot design shown in Figure 9, the average code length Lrandom related to movement within the parking lot can be calculated by the following equation (3).

number

[0040] Furthermore, the average code length is the expected travel time for vehicles using the parking lot to move around within the parking lot, and a smaller average code length indicates higher overall operational efficiency of the parking lot. Comparing equations (2) and (3), it can be seen that the parking lot design shown in Figure 9, combined with guidance to parking positions for vehicles according to their expected stay time, results in a smaller average code length compared to random parking, thus improving overall operational efficiency of the parking lot.

[0041] Furthermore, while the above example described the comparison of the expected travel time of vehicles moving within the parking lot using the average code length, the same can be said for the expected travel distance instead of travel time. That is, dividing the area as shown in Figure 9 and guiding vehicles to parking positions according to their expected stay time can reduce the expected travel distance of vehicles using the parking lot compared to random parking. Moreover, reducing the expected value means that the total travel distance and travel time for all vehicles using the parking lot can also be reduced.

[0042] Meanwhile, in S5, the CPU 21 performs a process to identify sparsely populated time periods when the number of vehicles using the managed parking lot 2 falls below a threshold (for example, a parking rate of 50% or less), based on the history of dwell time in the managed parking lot 2 obtained in S1. For example, it is desirable to identify sparsely populated time periods by day of the week. The sparsely populated time periods identified in S5 are used when determining the parking location of vehicles, as described later.

[0043] Next, the parking guidance processing program executed by the parking management server 3, which constitutes the parking management system 1 according to this embodiment, will be described with reference to Figure 10. Figure 10 is a flowchart of the parking guidance processing program according to this embodiment. Here, the parking guidance processing program is executed during the operating hours of the parking lot to be managed and is a program that guides vehicles that will use the parking lot to a parking location.

[0044] First, in S11, the CPU 21 determines whether or not a vehicle has entered the parking lot 2 to be managed. It is assumed that the parking fee has been paid at the time of parking reservation or entry. Alternatively, in S1, instead of determining whether or not a vehicle has entered the parking lot, it may be determined whether or not a parking reservation has been made. In other words, the processes from S2 onwards may be executed when a parking reservation is made.

[0045] If it is determined that a vehicle has entered parking lot 2 (S11: YES), the program proceeds to S12. Conversely, if it is determined that no vehicle has entered parking lot 2 (S11: NO), the parking guidance processing program is terminated.

[0046] In S12, the CPU 21 obtains the predicted stay time, which is the expected stay time of the vehicle that has entered the parking lot, i.e., the vehicle that will use the parking lot to be managed (hereinafter referred to as the "user vehicle"). In this embodiment, as mentioned above, the parking fees for the parking lot are set differently depending on the length of stay (parking time). For example, 1000 yen allows parking for up to 30 minutes, 1500 yen allows parking for up to 1 hour, and 1800 yen allows parking for up to 2 hours. Therefore, the CPU 21 can identify and obtain the predicted stay time of the user vehicle based on the parking fee paid by the user vehicle.

[0047] However, the method for obtaining the predicted stay time is not limited to the above example. For example, the user, who is an occupant of the vehicle, may specify the desired stay time at the time of reservation or entry, and the CPU 21 may obtain the specified stay time as the predicted stay time. Alternatively, the CPU 21 may obtain the characteristics of the user, who is an occupant of the vehicle, and predict the vehicle's stay time based on the user's characteristics. User characteristics include gender, age, presence of passengers, and presence of children. User characteristics can be obtained, for example, via communication from the communication terminal 5 or from images captured by a camera installed at the parking lot entrance 31.

[0048] Next, in S13, the CPU 21 refers to the parking lot DB 14 and obtains information about the parking lot design of the parking lot to be managed. Note that the parking lot 2 to be managed has already had its design performed using the parking lot analysis method based on information encoding technology in the aforementioned parking lot management processing program (Figure 5) (Figure 9). Specifically, the CPU 21 obtains information about the area divisions and parking space allocation of the parking lot 2 to be managed.

[0049] Next, in S14, the CPU 21 determines a parking position for the vehicle within the parking lot based on the predicted stay time of the vehicle acquired in S12 and the parking lot design of the parking lot to be managed acquired in S13. Basically, the longer the predicted stay time of the vehicle, the further away it is parked from the parking lot entrance or exit. For example, as shown in Figure 9, consider a case where the parking lot to be managed is divided into area 41 for vehicles with a stay time of 30 minutes, area 42 for vehicles with a stay time of 60 minutes, and area 43 for vehicles with a stay time of 120 minutes. In this case, the CPU 21 determines area 41, which is closest to the parking lot entrance 31, as the parking position for a vehicle with a predicted stay time of 30 minutes. For a vehicle with a predicted stay time of 60 minutes, it determines area 42, which is the next closest to the parking lot entrance 31, as the parking position. And for a vehicle with a predicted stay time of 120 minutes, it determines area 43, which is the furthest from the parking lot entrance 31, as the parking position.

[0050] Furthermore, if CPU21 can determine the current availability of parking spaces within each area, it may not only determine the area as a parking location but also the specific parking space.

[0051] However, as an exception, if the current time is during a sparsely populated period as identified in S5, the CPU 21 may, regardless of the predicted stay time of the vehicles, prioritize selecting an area closer to the parking lot entrance 31 or parking lot exit 32 from among multiple areas and determine the parking location. In the example shown in Figure 9, area 41 is preferentially determined as the parking location, and if area 41 is full, area 42 is preferentially determined as the parking location. This is because, during sparsely populated periods with few vehicles, prioritizing parking all vehicles in areas closer to the parking lot entrance 31 or parking lot exit 32 increases the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot.

[0052] Furthermore, instead of prioritizing areas closer to the parking lot entrance 31 or parking lot exit 32 when the current time falls within the sparsely populated time period specified in S5, the system may instead prioritize areas closer to the parking lot entrance 31 or parking lot exit 32 when the current occupancy rate of the parking lot is below a threshold (for example, 50% or less of the parking area).

[0053] Subsequently, in S15, the CPU 21 transmits the parking location determined in S14 to the communication terminal 5 held by the occupant of the vehicle. The communication terminal 5 then outputs guidance information to guide the occupant to the transmitted parking location. The guidance to the parking location may be provided using the LCD display of the communication terminal 5, or by voice guidance output from the speaker. For example, Figure 11 shows an example of parking location guidance information output by the communication terminal 5, specifically a parking location guidance screen 51 displayed on the LCD display.

[0054] As shown in Figure 11, the parking location guidance screen 51 displays a map of the parking lot 52, a vehicle position marker 53 indicating the vehicle's current location, and an area marker 54 indicating the area where parking is recommended (the parking location determined in S14). As a result, the vehicle's occupants can easily determine the appropriate parking location by looking at the parking location guidance screen 51.

[0055] On the other hand, when using voice guidance, it will output a voice message specifying the parking location, such as "Please park in area A."

[0056] However, guidance to parking locations for vehicles is not limited to the method using the communication terminal 5 described above; for example, it may also be done using a display or speaker located at the parking lot entrance 31. Specifically, when a vehicle enters the parking lot, the parking lot map shown in Figure 11 can be displayed on the display at the parking lot entrance 31, or a voice guidance message to indicate the parking location can be output from the speaker. In this case, the communication terminal 5 is not required in the parking management system 1.

[0057] Furthermore, in addition to providing parking position guidance as described above, vehicle control may also be provided as parking assistance. For example, when applied to a vehicle that performs autonomous driving, where some or all of the vehicle's driving control is performed by the vehicle itself, assistance may be provided by automatically driving to the appropriate parking position using autonomous driving.

[0058] As described in detail above, the parking management system 1 and the computer program executed by the parking management system 1 according to this embodiment acquire the predicted stay time, which is the expected stay time of a vehicle that will use the parking lot (S12), determine a parking position for the vehicle within the parking lot based on the predicted stay time (S14), and guide the vehicle to the determined parking position (S15). Meanwhile, in determining the parking position, vehicles with longer predicted stay times are assigned parking positions further away from the entrance or exit of the parking lot, thereby making it possible to reduce the expected and total values ​​of the travel time and distance traveled within the parking lot for each vehicle. As a result, it is possible to improve the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot. Furthermore, by obtaining a history of the time each vehicle has stayed in the parking lot in the past (S1), dividing the parking lot into multiple areas with different distances from the entrance or exit, and determining the allocation of the number of parking spaces in each area based on the statistical results of the stay history (S3), and determining the parking location by selecting an area from among the multiple areas based on the predicted stay time of the vehicle (S14), the parking lot design is performed in advance using a parking lot analysis method based on information encoding technology for the parking lot to be managed, and the parking lot is divided into areas, making it possible to compress the expected and total values ​​of the travel time and travel distance within the parking lot for each vehicle. Furthermore, by identifying sparsely populated periods when the number of vehicles using the parking lot falls below a threshold (S5), and during these sparsely populated periods, regardless of the predicted length of stay for each vehicle, the system prioritizes selecting an area closer to the entrance or exit of the parking lot from among multiple areas to determine the parking location (S14), it becomes possible to improve the overall operational efficiency of the parking lot by prioritizing the parking of all vehicles in areas closer to the entrance or exit during sparsely populated periods when there are few vehicles. Furthermore, parking fees for the parking lot are set at different rates depending on the length of stay, and users pay the parking fee before using the parking lot. The predicted length of stay is determined and obtained based on the parking fee paid by the user (S12), so it is possible to predict in advance how long a vehicle that will use the parking lot will stay in the parking lot.

[0059] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various improvements and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 6, a parking lot where the entrance 31 and exit 32 are in the same direction was used as an example for explanation, but the parking lot entrance 31 and exit 32 may be in different directions. In that case, the area division of the parking lot shown in Figure 9 may be area 41 with a stay time of 30 minutes, area 42 with a stay time of 60 minutes, and area 43 with a stay time of 120 minutes, in order of proximity to the entrance 31, or area 41 with a stay time of 30 minutes, area 42 with a stay time of 60 minutes, and area 43 with a stay time of 120 minutes, in order of proximity to the exit 32.

[0060] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the main entity executing the parking guidance processing program shown in Figure 10 was the parking management server 3, but it is also possible to configure it so that a communication terminal 5 or an in-vehicle device in the vehicle 4 executes part or all of it. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 1...Parking management system, 2...Parking lot, 3...Parking management server, 4...Vehicle, 5...Communication terminal, 11...Server control unit, 12...Stay history DB, 31...Parking lot entrance, 32...Parking lot exit, 33...Parking space, 41-43...Area

Claims

1. A means for obtaining the predicted stay time, which is the expected stay time of vehicles that will be using the parking lot in the future, A parking position determination means that determines a parking position within the parking lot for the vehicle being used, based on the predicted stay time, It includes a parking position guidance means that guides the vehicle to the parking position determined by the parking position determination means, The parking position determination means is a parking management system that determines parking positions further away from the entrance or exit of the parking lot for vehicles with longer predicted stay times.

2. A means for acquiring historical information to obtain the history of the time spent in the parking lot for each vehicle that has used the parking lot in the past, The system includes an area division means that divides the parking lot into multiple areas with different distances from the entrance or exit of the parking lot, and determines the allocation of the number of parking spaces to each area based on the statistical results of the history of the time spent in the parking lot, The aforementioned parking position determination means is The parking management system according to claim 1, which determines a parking position by selecting an area from among the multiple areas to park the vehicle based on the predicted stay time of the vehicle.

3. The aforementioned parking position determination means is Identify sparsely populated time periods when the number of vehicles using the parking lot falls below a threshold. The parking management system according to claim 2, wherein, in the case of the aforementioned sparsely populated time period, regardless of the predicted stay time of the vehicles using the parking lot, the system prioritizes selecting an area from among the multiple areas that is closer to the entrance or exit of the parking lot and determines the parking position.

4. Parking fees for the parking lot vary depending on the length of stay, and the vehicle using the parking lot pays the parking fee before using the parking lot. The parking management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the means for obtaining the length of stay identifies and obtains the predicted length of stay based on the parking fee paid by the vehicle using the parking.

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