Automated Parking Controller for Autonomous Vehicle Docking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated parking facilities require drivers to manually align and maneuver vehicles, increasing complexity and extending the parking process, which burdens drivers and complicates mechanical and control system design.
Innovation Solution
An automated parking system comprising a parking entrance unit, vehicle transport shuttle, shuttle trail means, and a controller that communicates with vehicles to control their movement, eliminating the need for manual alignment and maneuvering by enabling fully autonomous vehicle handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If drivers manually align and maneuver vehicles in automated parking facilities, then the mechanical and control system design becomes simpler, but the driver burden increases and the parking process is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle's autonomous driving capability is leveraged to perform self-alignment and self-manuevering within the parking facility. The controller communicates with the vehicle's autonomous system to enable the vehicle to autonomously navigate to the parking location and perform docking maneuvers without manual driver intervention, thereby reducing driver burden while avoiding excessive mechanical complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical alignment and maneuvering systems with the vehicle's existing autonomous driving control systems. Instead of equipping the parking facility with sophisticated mechanical devices to align and move vehicles, the system utilizes the vehicle's own autonomous navigation and steering capabilities to achieve the same result
2Productivity
If drivers manually align and maneuver vehicles, then the mechanical and control system design is simplified, but the overall parking handling cycle is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle autonomously performs alignment and maneuvering tasks using its own control systems, eliminating the time required for manual driver operations. The autonomous system can execute parking maneuvers more quickly and efficiently than manual operation, thereby shortening the overall parking handling cycle without requiring additional mechanical infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes communication with the vehicle in advance and receives signals indicating when the vehicle is ready to be controlled. This preliminary coordination allows the autonomous vehicle to begin its self-manuevering process immediately upon entering the facility, reducing waiting time and optimizing the overall parking handling cycle
Data Source
AI summary
An automated parking system has a parking entrance unit, a vehicle transport shuttle, shuttle trail means, plurality of parking locations and a controller. The controller is adapted to establish communication with an autonomous vehicle (AV) to be parked in the parking system, to receive signal from the AV indicating that the AV is ready to be controlled by the controller, to receive signal indicating that the parking system is ready to receive and park the AV, to control the movement of the AV toward the vehicle transport shuttle, to control the movement of the vehicle transport shuttle toward a designated parking location and to control the movement of the AV toward the designated parking location.