Parking lot information server

Abstract

To provide information on whether an EV vehicle room in a parking lot is occupied or unoccupied.SOLUTION: A parking lot information provision server 1 includes an EV vehicle room storage unit 10, EV vehicle room determination unit 20, and EV occupied / unoccupied signal production unit 41. EV vehicle room information which identifies an EV vehicle room where an electric vehicle can be charged is stored in the EV vehicle room storage unit 10. The EV vehicle room determination unit 20 determines whether the EV vehicle room identified based on the EV vehicle room information is occupied or unoccupied. The EV occupied / unoccupied signal production unit 41 produces an EV vehicle room occupied / unoccupied signal on the basis of a result of the determination made by the EV vehicle room determination unit 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a server that provides information on the availability of EV spaces in parking lots where charging is possible to users of electric vehicles. [Background technology]

[0002] As electric vehicles (EVs) become more common, hourly and daily parking lots are beginning to provide spaces where EVs can be charged. From the perspective of electric vehicle drivers, whether or not a parking space where electric vehicles can be charged (referred to as an "EV parking space" in this specification) is available can be one indicator for choosing a parking space. A server that provides drivers with information on whether a parking space is full or empty has been proposed in Patent Document 1, for example. For other documents disclosing techniques related to the present invention, see Patent Documents 2 to 7. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2008-242555 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2015-036884 A [Patent Document 3] Special Publication No. 2014-533836 [Patent Document 4] JP 2012-221412 A [Patent Document 5] JP 2012-058964 A [Patent Document 6] JP 2009-267679 A [Patent Document 7] JP 2001-266296 A DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Nowadays, it is rare to find a parking lot where all the parking spaces are designated as EV spaces, so drivers of electric vehicles who want to charge their cars will feel a lack of space if they are unable to use the EV spaces in a parking lot that shows available spaces. However, there is no conventional parking lot information server that provides information on whether EV spaces in parking lots are available or not. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the first aspect thereof is defined as follows. A parking lot information providing server including an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit, the server providing an EV space vacancy status of a parking lot to a navigation device, storing EV compartment information that identifies an EV compartment in which an electric vehicle can be charged in the EV compartment storage unit; causing the EV compartment determination unit to determine an occupancy state of the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information; a parking lot information providing server that causes the EV space availability signal generating unit to generate an EV space availability signal based on a determination result from the EV space determining unit.

[0006] According to the parking lot information providing server of the first aspect defined as above, it is possible to provide information on whether EV spaces in parking lots are full or empty, which meets the purpose of use of the server, which is in accordance with the driver of an electric vehicle who wishes to charge the vehicle.

[0007] The second aspect of the present invention is defined as follows: A parking lot vacancy determination unit, which is a server according to the first aspect, for determining whether the parking lot itself is vacant or not; and The parking lot vacant / occupied signal generating unit generates a parking lot vacant / occupied signal based on the result of the determination by the parking lot vacant / occupied state determining unit. If it is equipped with the functionality of a conventional parking lot information server, that is, the functionality of being able to provide information on the vacancy status of the parking lot itself, it will be possible to obtain parking lot vacancy information that is particularly useful for drivers of electric vehicles who do not wish to charge their vehicles.

[0008] In the case of the conventional server that provides the vacancy status of each parking lot, even if there is an empty parking space in the parking lot itself, if the EV space in that parking lot is full, it is not in line with the purpose of use for drivers who wish to charge. Providing the vacancy status of the EV space in the parking lot together with the vacancy status of the parking lot itself, as in the server defined in the second aspect, will be useful for drivers of electric vehicles.

[0009] The third aspect of the present invention is defined as follows: In the server according to the first or second aspect, the EV cabin determination unit A camera for photographing the EV cabin; and The vehicle is equipped with an image determination unit that processes the image captured by the camera and determines whether or not a vehicle is parked in the EV compartment. Parking lots are generally equipped with cameras. When the position of the EV compartment is determined, the area in which the EV compartment is captured can be identified in an image captured by the camera. Whether or not a car is parked in the compartment (i.e., the EV compartment) that exists in such an identified area is determined by image processing, for example, image processing using AI. In this way, according to the server defined in the third aspect, it is possible to configure an EV compartment determination unit using existing facilities in the parking lot, and this can be provided at low cost. If the position of the EV compartment is variable, i.e., if the power source is movable in the parking lot, the position of the power supply unit can be extracted from the captured image, and then image processing can be used to determine whether the cord from the power supply unit is connected to the vehicle, thereby making it possible to determine whether the EV compartment is occupied or not.

[0010] The fourth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows: In the server according to the first or second aspect, the EV cabin determination unit an EV cabin coordinate storage unit for storing the coordinates of the EV cabin; A travel data storage unit that stores travel data of the vehicle; and The vehicle is equipped with a coordinate determination unit that compares the vehicle's driving data with the coordinates of the EV compartment to determine whether or not a vehicle is parked in the EV compartment. Since the vehicle's driving data includes coordinates (x, y) and time (t), it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle is present at the current time at the coordinates of the EV cabin stored in the EV cabin coordinate storage unit.

[0011] The fifth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows: A power source number storage unit that stores a number X of power sources for charging the electric vehicle, the power source number storage unit being a server according to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention; A power supply usage number storage unit that stores the number Y of the power supplies in use; and The device further includes an occupancy / occupancy signal correction unit that compares the number X of power sources with the number Y of power sources in use and corrects the EV compartment occupancy / occupancy signal.

[0012] Depending on the type of parking lot, it may be possible to charge electric vehicles within reach of a power source. In this case, if charging is possible in two parking spaces, for example, with a power source in the middle, if charging is being performed in one parking space (if the cord is in use), charging cannot be performed in the other parking spaces. For example, even if two spaces are registered as EV spaces (EV Space A, EV Space B), if EV Space A is being charged (EV Space A: Full), EV Space B cannot be charged, so EV Space B will also be treated as "full." On the other hand, if a car is parked in EV Space A but not being charged, EV Space B will be treated as "empty."

[0013] In this way, the number of available EV spaces changes depending on the relationship between the number of power sources X for charging electric vehicles and the number of power sources Y in use. Therefore, as specified in the fifth aspect, by comparing the number of power sources X with the number of power sources Y in use and making it possible to correct the EV space availability signal, an accurate EV space availability signal can be transmitted regardless of the usage of the power sources in the parking lot.

[0014] The sixth aspect of the present invention is defined as follows: A receiving unit that receives the EV compartment occupancy signal transmitted from a server defined in any one of the first to fifth aspects; and A navigation device comprising a display unit that displays the occupancy status of the EV compartment in the parking lot based on the received EV compartment occupancy signal. According to the navigation device of the sixth aspect defined in this way, it is possible to provide useful information to drivers of electric vehicles who wish to charge their electric vehicles.

[0015] The seventh aspect of the present invention is defined as follows: In a navigation device defined in a sixth aspect, the receiving unit further receives the parking lot vacancy signal transmitted from the server defined in a second aspect, The display unit displays the vacancy status of the parking lot itself based on the received parking lot vacancy / occupancy signal. According to the navigation device of the seventh aspect thus defined, information on whether the parking lot itself is full or empty can also be obtained, making the device convenient for drivers of electric vehicles who do not wish to charge their vehicles.

[0016] The first aspect of the present invention is a method of using the parking lot information providing server as defined in the following eighth aspect. A parking lot information providing method using a parking lot information providing server that includes an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit and provides an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, comprising: storing EV compartment information that identifies an EV compartment in which an electric vehicle can be charged in the EV compartment storage unit; causing the EV compartment determination unit to determine an occupancy state of the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information; The parking lot information providing method causes the EV vacancy / occupancy signal generating unit to generate an EV vacancy / occupancy signal based on a determination result from the EV vacancy determination unit.

[0017] The parking lot information providing server according to the first aspect of the present invention is operated by a computer device. The program applied to such a computer is defined as the following ninth aspect. That is, A computer program applied to a parking lot information providing server that includes an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit and provides an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, storing EV compartment information that identifies an EV compartment in which an electric vehicle can be charged in the EV compartment storage unit; causing the EV compartment determination unit to determine an occupancy state of the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information; A program that causes the EV occupancy / occupancy signal generating unit to generate an EV occupancy / occupancy signal based on a determination result from the EV occupancy / occupancy determination unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a parking lot information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the navigation device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the configuration of the EV compartment determination unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an EV compartment determination unit according to another embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the EV compartment determination unit in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the occupancy / occupancy signal correction unit. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a computer system applied to a server. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a parking lot information providing server 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The server 1 comprises an EV compartment storage unit 10, an EV compartment determination unit 20, a parking lot vacancy determination unit 30, a vacancy / occupancy signal generation unit 40, and a vacancy / occupancy signal transmission unit 50. The EV compartment storage unit 10 stores EV compartment information for identifying the EV compartment for each parking lot. The EV compartment information can be a compartment number assigned to each parking lot. In addition, the coordinates for identifying the position of the compartment (for example, the center coordinates of the compartment) can also be used as the EV compartment information.

[0020] In this specification, an electric vehicle refers to a vehicle that can be charged from an external power source. In addition to so-called EVs, plug-in HVs are also included in the electric vehicle category. The charging method for electric vehicles in the EV compartment is optional, and electric vehicles can be charged from a fixed power source in the parking lot or a mobile power source via a cord. In addition, contactless charging is also possible by burying a coil-type power source in the EV compartment. The power supply is turned on / off by the parking lot controller, and its status is monitored.

[0021] The EV compartment determination unit 20 determines whether the specified EV compartment is full or empty based on the EV compartment information in the EV compartment storage unit 10. The specific configuration of this EV compartment determination unit 20 will be described later. The EV compartment determination unit 20 can make the determination using a device provided in the parking lot itself. For example, image processing technology using a camera as shown in FIG. 3 described later can be used. Also, a vehicle detection sensor can be provided in the EV compartment, and the occupancy status of the EV compartment can be determined using the detection results of this sensor. In these cases, the detection results are provided from the parking lot controller to this server using a communication means such as the Internet, together with an ID that identifies the parking lot.

[0022] On the other hand, the system in Figure 4, which will be described later, judges whether the EV space is full or empty by comparing the coordinates of the EV space registered in advance with the current position obtained from the vehicle's driving data. This makes it possible to determine whether the EV space is full or empty without adding any equipment to the parking lot.

[0023] The parking lot vacancy determination unit 30 determines whether the parking lot itself is vacant or not. Since the parking lot vacancy determination unit 30 is a general-purpose unit, details will be omitted, but for example, the parking lot vacancy determination unit 30 can determine whether the parking lot itself is vacant or not by counting the number of vehicles entering / exiting the parking lot based on the maximum number of parked vehicles in the parking lot.

[0024] The vacant / unvacant signal generating unit 40 includes an EV vacant / unvacant signal generating unit 41 and a parking lot vacant / unvacant signal generating unit 43. The EV vacant / unvacant signal generating unit 41 generates an EV vacant / unvacant signal for each parking lot based on the judgment result of the EV space judgment unit 20. The EV vacant / unvacant signal is a signal indicating that the EV space is full (EV space: full) or a signal indicating that there is a space in the EV space (EV space: empty), and these are linked to the parking lot. The parking lot vacant / full signal generating unit 43 generates a parking lot vacant / full signal for each parking lot based on the determination result of the parking lot vacant / full determining unit 30. The parking lot vacant / full signal is a signal indicating that the parking lot itself is full (parking lot space: full) or a signal indicating that there is a vacant space in the parking lot (parking lot: empty), and these are linked to the parking lot. The signals relating to the vacancy of the parking lot (EV vacancy signal, parking lot vacancy signal) generated by the vacancy / occupancy signal generation unit 40 are transmitted to the navigation device 100 via the vacancy / occupancy signal transmission unit 50.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation device 100 receives an EV vacancy / vacancy signal and a parking lot vacancy / vacancy signal at an vacancy / vacancy signal receiving unit 101. This navigation device 100 comprises a general-purpose map data storage unit 103 and a route creation unit 105. A navigation display data creation unit 107 creates a road map based on the map data stored in the map data storage unit 103, and displays this on a display unit 109. When a request for creation of a route to a destination is received from the driver, the route creation unit 105 searches for a route and sends the route as a result of the search to the data creation unit 107, which then displays the route superimposed on the road map.

[0026] When the driver inputs a command to the navigation device 100 requesting the display of a parking lot, the data creation unit 107 displays the occupancy status of the displayed parking lot (the occupancy status of the EV compartment and the occupancy status of the parking lot itself) based on the EV occupancy / vacancy signal and the parking lot occupancy / vacancy signal received by the occupancy / vacancy signal receiving unit 101. When the vehicle the driver is driving is not an electric vehicle, the EV full status display can be omitted. Parking lots with available EV spaces can also be displayed only to drivers who have input a command requesting charging.

[0027] Next, the EV compartment determination unit 20 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. The EV cabin determination unit 20 includes a camera 201 and an image processing unit 202 . The field of view of the camera 201 is set so that an empty EV compartment and a vehicle parked therein are captured in the captured image. The image processing unit 202 includes an EV compartment extraction unit 2021 and an occupancy determination unit 2023 .

[0028] Since the position of the EV compartment is fixed in advance, the area that the EV compartment occupies in the image captured by the camera is also determined in advance. Based on the EV compartment information in the EV compartment storage unit 10, the EV compartment extraction unit 2021 extracts the area corresponding to the EV compartment in the image captured by the camera and sends it to the vacancy / occupancy determination unit 2023. The vacancy / occupancy determination unit 2023 processes the image of the area and determines whether the EV compartment is empty or full (the vehicle is parked). It is preferable to prepare a large number of images of the former state and the latter state as teacher data in advance, input this to a general-purpose AI device to learn, and make an AI determination of the vacancy / occupancy state based on the learning results. The determination result is sent to the EV vacancy / occupancy signal generation unit 41. This EV compartment determination unit 20 centrally determines whether or not there is an empty EV compartment in the parking lot (in other words, whether or not the EV compartment is full) by image processing. It is preferable that the interior of the EV is illuminated so that images can be captured even at night.

[0029] Another embodiment of the EV compartment determination unit 21 is shown (see FIG. 4). The EV compartment determination unit 21 includes an EV compartment coordinate storage unit 211 , a driving data extraction unit 214 , a driving data storage unit 215 , and a coordinate determination unit 216 . The operation of the EV compartment determination unit 21 will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. In step 1, the EV compartment coordinate storage unit 211 stores the EV compartment coordinates that identify the EV compartment n by referring to the EV compartment information in the EV compartment storage unit 10. It is assumed that there are EV compartments 1 to K in this parking lot.

[0030] In step 3, the driving data extraction unit 214 extracts driving data of vehicles that have visited the parking lot from the vehicle driving data (probe data) stored in the vehicle driving data storage unit 213 (external server), and stores the driving data within the parking lot (including driving trajectory and parking status) in the driving data storage unit 215.

[0031] The coordinate determination unit 216 determines that the EV compartment n is full when there is travel data that overlaps with the coordinates of the EV compartment n among the travel data stored in the travel data storage unit 215 (step 5: Y, step 7). On the other hand, when there is no travel data that matches the coordinates of the EV compartment n, it determines that the EV compartment n is empty (step 5: N, step 9). This determination is performed for all EV compartments 1 to K (step 13), and the number of vacant EV compartments is stored (step 15). When the number of vacant EV compartments is 1 or more, the EV compartments are vacant as a parking lot. When the EV compartments 1 to K are sequentially checked, if at least one of the EV compartments is empty, the subsequent processing can be skipped.

[0032] FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the occupancy / occupancy signal correction unit 60. The vacancy / occupancy signal correction unit 60 includes a power source number storage unit 61 , a power source usage number storage unit 63 , a comparison unit 65 and a correction unit 67 . The number of power sources X provided in parking lot P1 is stored in power source number storage unit 61. The number of power sources Y currently being used by the controller in parking lot P1 is identified and stored in power source usage number storage unit 63.

[0033] The comparator 65 compares the number of available power sources X with the number of power sources in use Y. If X=Y, then all power sources are in use, and the EV compartments in parking lot P1 are certainly full. On the other hand, even if X>Y, for example, if one power source can be used by two EV compartments A and B, it may not necessarily be possible to charge. That is, when a power source is being used in one EV compartment A, charging will not be possible in the other EV compartment B. In this case, if the difference between the two is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value T, i.e., when XY≦T, even if the EV full / vacant signal from the EV full / vacant signal generating unit 41 indicates an empty state, this is corrected to a full state and sent to the full / vacant signal transmitting unit 50.

[0034] FIG. 7 shows the hardware configuration of the server 1. The calculation unit 300 includes a CPU 301, a ROM 303, and a RAM 305, and controls the entire system. It also functions as the EV compartment determination units 20 and 21, the parking lot vacancy determination unit 30, the vacancy signal generation unit 40, and the vacancy signal correction unit 60. The ROM 303 is a non-volatile memory that stores a control program for controlling the calculation unit 300. The RAM 305 stores various setting values ​​that are preset by the user via an input device 330 such as a keyboard in a readable manner, and provides a working area for the CPU 301. The control program for controlling the calculation unit 300 may be stored not only in the ROM 303, but also in the RAM 305 or the first and second storage devices 340 and 350. Various data are output via the output device 320. Necessary information about the parking lot to be processed is input via the input device 330.

[0035] The first storage device 340 functions as an EV cabin coordinate storage unit 211 , a driving data storage unit 215 , a power source number storage unit 61 , and a power source usage number storage unit 63 . The second memory device 350 functions as the EV cabin storage unit 10 . It is preferable that the first and second storage devices utilize a partial area of ​​a memory device of the server system, such as a hard memory or a flash memory. A part of the RAM of the calculation unit can be used as a so-called buffer memory, which is a storage unit for temporarily storing data. An external communication network is connected via a communication interface 13. This communication interface 13 functions as an occupancy / occupancy signal transmission unit 50. The devices constituting the computer are connected via a system bus 370 .

[0036] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and examples. Various modifications within the scope of the claims and within the scope that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art are also included in the present invention. Although the above has been explained using a parking lot for electric vehicles as an example, the present invention can also be applied to battery-powered two-wheeled vehicles and battery-powered so-called flying cars. The concept of a parking lot in this invention includes facilities for storing these vehicles on an hourly or daily basis. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1. Parking lot information server 10 EV compartment storage section 20, 21 EV cabin judgment section 41 EV Vacancy Signal Generator 43 Parking lot vacancy signal generator 60 Vacancy / occupancy signal correction unit 100 Navigation equipment

Claims

1. A parking lot information providing server including an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit, the parking lot information providing server providing an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, storing EV vehicle compartment information that identifies an EV vehicle compartment in which charging of an electric vehicle is possible in the EV vehicle compartment storage unit; The EV compartment determination unit determines whether the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information is full or empty; The parking lot information providing server causes the EV parking lot availability signal generating unit to generate an EV parking lot availability signal based on a determination result of the EV parking lot availability determination unit. The EV vehicle compartment determination unit An EV cabin coordinate storage unit that stores the coordinates of the EV cabin; A travel data storage unit that stores travel data of the vehicle; and A parking lot information providing server comprising a coordinate determination unit that compares the vehicle's driving data with the coordinates of the EV compartment to determine whether a vehicle is parked in the EV compartment.

2. A parking lot information providing server including an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit, the parking lot information providing server providing an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, storing EV vehicle compartment information that identifies an EV vehicle compartment in which charging of an electric vehicle is possible in the EV vehicle compartment storage unit; The EV compartment determination unit determines whether the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information is full or empty; The parking lot information providing server causes the EV parking lot availability signal generating unit to generate an EV parking lot availability signal based on a determination result of the EV parking lot availability determination unit. A power source number storage unit that stores the number X of power sources that charge the electric vehicle; A power supply usage number storage unit that stores the number Y of the power supplies in use; and The parking lot information providing server further includes an occupancy / vacancy signal correction unit that compares the number X of power sources with the number Y of power sources in use to correct the EV compartment occupancy / vacancy signal.

3. A parking lot vacancy determination unit that determines whether the parking lot itself is vacant or not; and 3. The server according to claim 1, further comprising a parking lot vacant / occupied signal generating unit that generates a parking lot vacant / occupied signal based on a result of the determination by the parking lot vacant / occupied state determining unit.

4. The EV vehicle compartment determination unit A camera for photographing the EV cabin; and The server according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an image determination unit that processes the image captured by the camera and determines whether or not a vehicle is parked in the EV compartment.

5. A parking lot information providing method using a parking lot information providing server that includes an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit and provides an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, comprising: storing EV vehicle compartment information that identifies an EV vehicle compartment in which charging of an electric vehicle is possible in the EV vehicle compartment storage unit; The EV compartment determination unit determines whether the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information is full or empty; In the parking lot information providing method, the EV vacancy signal generating unit generates an EV vacancy signal based on a determination result of the EV vacancy determination unit, The EV cabin determination unit includes an EV cabin coordinate storage unit, a driving data storage unit, and a coordinate determination unit, storing the coordinates of the EV cabin in an EV cabin coordinate storage unit; The travel data storage unit stores the travel data of the vehicle; and A parking lot information providing method, comprising causing the coordinate determination unit to compare the vehicle's driving data with the coordinates of the EV compartment to determine whether or not a vehicle is parked in the EV compartment.

6. A parking lot information providing method using a parking lot information providing server that includes an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit and provides an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, comprising: storing EV vehicle compartment information that identifies an EV vehicle compartment in which charging of an electric vehicle is possible in the EV vehicle compartment storage unit; The EV compartment determination unit determines whether the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information is full or empty; In providing parking lot information, the EV parking lot information generating unit generates an EV parking lot information based on a determination result of the EV parking lot information determining unit, The parking lot information providing server further includes a power supply number storage unit, a power supply usage number storage unit, and an occupancy signal correction unit; The power source number storage unit stores a number X of power sources for charging the electric vehicle; The power source usage number storage unit stores the number Y of the power sources in use; and The parking lot information providing method includes causing the occupancy / vacancy signal correction unit to compare the number X of power sources with the number Y of power sources in use and correct the EV parking lot occupancy signal.

7. A computer program for a parking lot information providing server that includes an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit and provides an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, storing EV vehicle compartment information that identifies an EV vehicle compartment in which charging of an electric vehicle is possible in the EV vehicle compartment storage unit; The EV compartment determination unit determines whether the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information is full or empty; A computer program for causing the EV occupancy signal generating unit to generate an EV occupancy signal based on a determination result of the EV occupancy determination unit, The EV cabin determination unit includes an EV cabin coordinate storage unit, a driving data storage unit, and a coordinate determination unit, storing the coordinates of the EV cabin in an EV cabin coordinate storage unit; The travel data storage unit stores the travel data of the vehicle; and A computer program that causes the coordinate determination unit to compare driving data of the vehicle with coordinates of the EV compartment to determine whether or not a vehicle is parked in the EV compartment.

8. A computer program for a parking lot information providing server that includes an EV space storage unit, an EV space determination unit, and an EV space vacancy signal generation unit and provides an EV space vacancy status in a parking lot to a navigation device, storing EV vehicle compartment information that identifies an EV vehicle compartment in which charging of an electric vehicle is possible in the EV vehicle compartment storage unit; The EV compartment determination unit determines whether the EV compartment specified based on the EV compartment information is full or empty; A computer program for causing the EV occupancy signal generating unit to generate an EV occupancy signal based on a determination result of the EV occupancy determination unit, The parking lot information providing server further includes a power supply number storage unit, a power supply usage number storage unit, and an occupancy signal correction unit; The power source number storage unit stores a number X of power sources for charging the electric vehicle; The power source usage number storage unit stores the number Y of the power sources in use; and The computer program causes the occupancy signal correction unit to compare the number X of power sources with the number Y of power sources in use and correct the EV cabin occupancy signal.

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