Parking Traffic Control via Tile Occupancy Prediction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems for controlling traffic within parking lots, especially those with both driverless and manually driven vehicles, lack efficient methods to manage the movement of vehicles and objects, leading to potential inefficiencies and safety risks.

Innovation Solution

Divide the parking lot into tiles, using sensors like light barriers, radar, or ultrasonic sensors to monitor occupancy status, and predict future occupancy states to inform traffic control decisions, allowing for efficient management of vehicle movement and space allocation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If the entire parking lot is monitored continuously with detailed object information, then traffic control precision is improved, but computational complexity and system resource consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetraffic control precisionVSAvoidcomputational complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The parking lot is divided into multiple tiles, each monitored independently. This segmentation allows the system to track occupancy status of individual tiles without processing detailed information about all objects in the entire parking lot, reducing computational complexity while maintaining traffic control precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts only the essential occupancy status information from sensor data, discarding unnecessary detailed object information. This extraction approach maintains the precision needed for traffic control decisions while significantly reducing the computational burden of processing and storing comprehensive object data.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Productivity

If prediction of future occupancy states is implemented, then traffic control efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetraffic control efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary prediction of future occupancy states based on current tile status and historical patterns. This preliminary action enables proactive traffic control decisions, such as guiding vehicles to tiles that will soon be free, improving traffic control efficiency without requiring complex real-time processing of all possible scenarios.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If detailed object information is processed, then traffic control accuracy is improved, but response time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetraffic control accuracyVSAvoidresponse time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the critical occupancy status from sensor data, ignoring unnecessary detailed object information. This extraction maintains traffic control accuracy by focusing on whether tiles are occupied or free, while dramatically reducing response time by eliminating processing of irrelevant data such as object types, sizes, and other detailed attributes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This approach enables precise and efficient traffic control by predicting when tiles will be occupied or free, reducing computational complexity and enhancing safety by focusing solely on occupancy status without requiring detailed object information, thus improving response times and reducing collision risks.

Implementation Method 1

monitor the edges of the tiles, for example using light barriers, to detect whether an object leaves or touches/traverses a tile

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectLight barrier detection: Absorption (EM radiation)

Implementation Method 2

For example, it may be sufficient to monitor only the boundaries of the tiles, perhaps using light barriers, instead of the entire tile. In addition to distance-measuring sensors, such as radar or ultrasonic sensors

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectRadar: Radar

Implementation Method 3

In addition to distance-measuring sensors, such as radar or ultrasonic sensors, further sensors, such as light barriers, can be used to monitor the tiles

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectUltrasonic detection: Ultrasound

Data Source

PatentEP3472818B1Concept for controlling traffic in a car park
Publication Date: 2023.12.27 ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
  • EP3472818B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3472818B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The invention relates to a method for controlling traffic in a car park, comprising the following steps: – dividing the car park into multiple tiles, – sensing the multiple tiles by means of one or more ambient sensors in order to ascertain ambient sensor data corresponding to the sensing, – ascertaining a respective occupancy state of the multiple tiles based on the ambient sensor data, – controlling traffic in the car park based on the ascertained occupancy states. The invention further relates to an apparatus for controlling traffic in a car park, to a car park for motor vehicles and to a computer program.