Parking Clearance Control for Autonomous Vehicles
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Solution Overview
Problem
In mixed parking environments, self-driving vehicles cannot efficiently park close to manually driven vehicles due to human occupant safety concerns, leading to suboptimal space usage and potential collisions.
Innovation Solution
A system that identifies available parking spaces and determines the necessary clearance distance between parked vehicles, instructing self-driving vehicles to park with optimal spacing based on the presence of human occupants, allowing for closer parking without safety hazards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If self-driving vehicles park extremely close to one another to optimize space usage, then parking space efficiency is improved, but safety is worsened when parked next to manually driven vehicles with human occupants
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different clearance distance requirements to different parking scenarios: self-driving vehicles park with minimal clearance (e.g., 0.5 feet) when both adjacent vehicles are self-driving, while maintaining larger clearances (e.g., 5 feet) when parked next to manually driven vehicles. This localized adaptation of spacing requirements optimizes space usage where safe while ensuring safety where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system determines the vehicle types of adjacent parking spaces before assigning a parking space to a self-driving vehicle. By retrieving clearance distance requirements in advance based on the identified vehicle types, the system prevents safety issues before they occur and enables optimal space assignment.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If self-driving vehicles maintain large clearance distances from manually driven vehicles to ensure safety, then safety is improved, but parking space usage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements variable clearance distances based on the specific parking context: minimal clearance (e.g., 0.5 feet) when both vehicles are self-driving, and larger clearance (e.g., 5 feet) when one vehicle is manually driven. This contextual approach maintains safety while maximizing space utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The clearance distance requirement is not fixed but dynamically adjusted based on the vehicle types in adjacent parking spaces. The system retrieves appropriate clearance distances from a database or configuration based on real-time identification of neighboring vehicles, allowing flexible adaptation to different parking scenarios.
3Productivity
If self-driving vehicles park without considering clearance distances to manually driven vehicles, then space efficiency is improved, but the ability to open doors and exit safely deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system identifies the vehicle type in adjacent parking spaces and retrieves the appropriate clearance distance requirement before assigning the parking space. This preliminary check ensures that self-driving vehicles are only assigned spaces that provide adequate clearance for door opening and safe exit when parked next to manually driven vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
Different clearance requirements are applied based on the specific parking configuration: self-driving vehicles can park with minimal clearance next to other self-driving vehicles, but must maintain larger clearances next to manually driven vehicles to allow for door opening and safe passenger exit.
Data Source
AI summary
An approach is disclosed that locates available parking spaces from a set of parking spaces, such as in a parking lot. The approach retrieves a clearance distance that needed between a parked vehicle parked in an adjacent parking space to the identified parking space. After retrieving the needed clearance distance, the system transmit an instruction to a self-driving vehicle to park in the identified parking space and leave the clearance distance between the self-driving vehicle and the parked vehicle.