Parking Assist System with Position Percentage Readout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drivers face difficulties in judging whether their vehicle is optimally placed within a parking spot, especially in crowded areas and with larger vehicles, due to limited visibility of parking stripes from backup cameras.
Innovation Solution
A parking assist system using first and second cameras to collect ground images at opposite edges of the vehicle, a display panel, navigation system, and speed sensor to calculate and display a parking position percentage, providing real-time guidance on vehicle positioning within a parking spot.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a backup camera with dashboard video display is used to assist drivers during parking, then drivers can see the area behind the vehicle, but drivers still cannot accurately judge whether the vehicle is optimally placed within the parking spot boundaries
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously captures images from cameras mounted at opposite edges of the vehicle, processes these images to calculate the proportion of vehicle length within parking spot boundaries, and displays this positioning information in real-time on the dashboard. This closed-loop feedback enables drivers to accurately judge their vehicle's position and make precise adjustments to achieve optimal parking placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary computational layer that processes raw camera images and translates them into meaningful positioning metrics. The image processing unit calculates the proportion of vehicle length within boundaries by analyzing edge boundary positions and vehicle coordinates, serving as a mediator between the visual information from cameras and the driver's decision-making process.
2Area of moving object
If the camera is located well above ground level on a large vehicle to provide a broader field of view, then more area is visible, but the parking stripe corresponding to the back edge of the vehicle may fail to be included in the field of view when the vehicle is very close to it
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying on a single high-mounted camera, the system segments the viewing function by placing cameras at opposite edges of the vehicle closer to ground level. This segmentation allows each camera to capture the parking stripe at its respective location, and the system integrates this distributed information to calculate overall vehicle positioning within the parking spot.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a single-point viewing perspective (one camera at high level) to a distributed multi-point perspective (cameras at opposite edges). By capturing images from multiple spatial locations and processing them together, the system reconstructs comprehensive positioning information that overcomes the limitations of any single camera viewpoint.
Data Source
AI summary
A parking assist system for a vehicle uses cameras to collect ground images at opposite edges of the vehicle. A speed sensor provides a speed signal representing a speed of the vehicle. When speed is less than a threshold, a navigation system compares a geographic location of the vehicle to map data or the camera images are monitored to detect parking zones. A parking controller is coupled to the cameras, a display panel, navigation system, and speed sensor. When the parking controller detects that the geographic location of the vehicle coincides with a parking zone then the parking controller 1) examines the ground images to recognize a pair of edge boundaries of a parking spot, 2) calculates a proportion of an intersection length of the vehicle contained within the boundaries to a full length of the vehicle, and 3) displays the calculated proportion as a percentage on the display panel.