In-Vehicle Parking Route Control for Head-In Empty Stall Parking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated valet parking systems face challenges in efficiently identifying and utilizing empty parking stalls without disturbing surrounding traffic, particularly during the K-turn operation for parking.
Innovation Solution
An in-vehicle device equipped with sensors and a control system that determines empty parking stalls, stores their locations, and generates a travel route for head-in parking, avoiding K-turn operations to minimize traffic disruption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a K-turn operation is performed to adjust wheel angle during automatic parking, then the vehicle can be parked in the empty stall, but subsequent vehicles may be blocked or traffic may be disturbed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of empty parking stalls and plans the parking trajectory in advance. By identifying the target stall before the vehicle arrives and calculating the optimal path beforehand, the vehicle can execute a direct head-in parking maneuver without requiring K-turn operations that would block traffic or prevent subsequent vehicles from parking.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of approaching the parking stall from the rear and performing K-turns to position the vehicle, the system inverts the approach by directly navigating the vehicle into the stall in a head-in manner. This reverses the traditional parking sequence and eliminates the need for disruptive intermediate maneuvers.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle performs K-turn operations to adjust position during parking, then parking in the empty stall is achieved, but parking speed is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system calculates and determines the optimal parking trajectory in advance before the vehicle begins its final approach. By pre-computing the precise path that leads directly into the parking stall, the vehicle can execute a single smooth maneuver without repeated adjustments or K-turns, thereby maintaining both accuracy and speed.
3Productivity
If the vehicle travels to an empty stall during automatic travel, then parking opportunity is captured, but the vehicle may disturb nearby traffic
Solution Approach 1:
The system inverts the traditional parking approach by navigating the vehicle directly into the parking stall head-first in a single continuous motion. This eliminates the need for intermediate K-turn operations that would require the vehicle to move back and forth, thereby capturing parking opportunities efficiently while minimizing disruption to surrounding traffic flow.
Data Source
AI summary
An in-vehicle device includes: an empty stall determiner that determines, based on sensing of surroundings by a sensor section provided in a vehicle, whether or not a parking stall present in surroundings of the vehicle is an empty stall; an empty stall storing section that stores information regarding a location of the empty stall determined by the empty stall determiner in association with a passing route of the vehicle; and an automatic travel controller that generates a travel route from a current location to the empty stall based on the sensing of the surroundings by the sensor section, the automatic travel controller performing control to cause the vehicle to travel along the travel route and be parked in the empty stall in a head-in manner.