Camera-Based Parking Guidance for Real-Time Space Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing parking systems fail to provide real-time navigation to available parking spaces, leading to increased traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and safety risks due to driver distraction while searching for parking.
Innovation Solution
An intelligent parking system using computer vision and edge computing with a monocular or multi-camera infrastructure detects parking spaces, updates occupancy status in real-time, and provides graphical directions to the nearest available space via a mobile device, integrating with Google Maps API for navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If users search for parking spaces manually by circling the parking lot, then they can find available parking spaces, but it causes increased traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and driver distraction leading to safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system consisting of cameras, processors, and navigation devices that mediate between the driver and the parking search process. The system automatically detects parking spaces, determines availability, calculates optimal routes, and provides turn-by-turn navigation instructions, eliminating the need for drivers to manually search while reducing harmful effects of congestion and emissions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual search process with an automated electronic system. Instead of drivers physically circling the parking lot, the system uses computer vision algorithms to detect parking spaces, processes images through neural networks to determine occupancy, and electronically computes navigation routes, substituting mechanical search actions with automated digital processing
2Loss of time
If drivers search for parking spaces manually, then they can locate available spaces, but it causes driver distraction and increases the risk of traffic accidents
Solution Approach 1:
The navigation device acts as an intermediary that takes over the parking search task from the driver. It automatically detects parking spaces using cameras, determines availability through image processing, calculates optimal routes, and provides turn-by-turn instructions, allowing drivers to focus on safe driving without the distraction of manually searching for parking spaces
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides self-service parking assistance by automatically performing the parking search function without requiring driver intervention. The camera system continuously monitors parking spaces, the processor automatically determines availability, and the navigation device autonomously calculates routes and provides directions, freeing the driver from the distracting task of manual parking search
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for intelligent parking are disclosed. Exemplary methods include detecting, a plurality of parking spaces contained in a digital image of a parking lot, creating a database containing entries for each of the plurality of parking spaces contained in the digital image, determining which parking spaces in the plurality of parking spaces are unoccupied, receiving, from a mobile device of a user, a request for an unoccupied parking space, calculating which unoccupied parking space in the plurality of parking spaces is located closest to the user, and transmitting to the mobile device of the user, graphical directions for use in navigating a vehicle of the user to the closest unoccupied parking space.