Driverless Parking Control System Condition Verification

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current systems for autonomous parking of motor vehicles in parking lots lack efficient and safe mechanisms to ensure that vehicles can be driven from a starting position to a target position without a driver, while maintaining safety for bystanders and preventing collisions.

Innovation Solution

A method and device that check for minimum conditions such as an order for driverless driving, responsibility transfer from the driver, maintenance of a safe distance from people, and system readiness before initiating driverless driving, ensuring the vehicle is only started when these conditions are met, thereby preventing unintended movement and enhancing safety.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If driverless driving is initiated without comprehensive condition checks, then the efficiency of vehicle guiding is improved, but safety for bystanders deteriorates due to increased collision risk

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveefficiency of vehicle guidingVSAvoidsafety for bystanders
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary checks of multiple minimum conditions before initiating driverless driving. These conditions include verifying driver responsibility transfer, checking for nearby pedestrians, confirming system readiness, and validating the driving order. By completing these preparatory verification steps beforehand, the system ensures safety is established prior to autonomous operation, resolving the contradiction between efficient vehicle guiding and bystander safety.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If multiple minimum conditions are checked before driverless driving, then safety for bystanders is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional verification steps

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesafety for bystandersVSAvoidcomplexity of verification system
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The verification system is segmented into distinct modular condition checks: driver responsibility verification, pedestrian detection, system readiness check, and driving order validation. Each condition is evaluated as an independent module, making the complex verification process manageable and maintainable. This segmentation allows the system to implement comprehensive safety checks without creating unmanageable system complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The control unit acts as an intermediary that coordinates and manages multiple verification steps between the various sensors, systems, and the driverless driving execution. It centralizes the condition checking logic, receiving inputs from different sources (pedestrian detection sensors, system status monitors, driver interface) and making the unified decision to initiate or prevent driverless driving. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall system architecture despite the multiple conditions being checked.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Ease of operation

If driverless driving is started without verifying driver responsibility transfer, then the ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to potential unintended movement

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of activating driverless drivingVSAvoidprevention of unintended movement
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback through the driver responsibility verification process. The driver must actively confirm responsibility transfer through the user interface, providing explicit feedback that intentional activation is desired. The system monitors and responds to driver actions, only proceeding with driverless driving when positive confirmation is received. This feedback mechanism maintains ease of operation by providing a simple confirmation step while ensuring reliability through verified driver intent.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3347783B1Method and device for driverlessly guiding a motor vehicle parked at a starting position of a parking space
Publication Date: 2022.01.26 ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
  • EP3347783B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2

AI summary

The invention relates to a method for driverlessly guiding a motor vehicle parked at a starting position of a parking space from the starting position to a target position of the parking space, having the following steps: - checking whether one or more of the following minimum conditions has been met: - a request is present for the driverless guiding process - responsibility for the parked motor vehicle has been released by the driver of the parked motor vehicle, and - a minimum distance from one or more persons to the parked motor vehicle is being maintained; and - starting the driverless guiding process of the motor vehicle only when one or more of the minimum conditions has been met. The invention further relates to a corresponding device and to a computer program.