Automated Valet Parking Control With Infrastructure-Guided Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern cities face challenges with vehicle parking, including collisions, long parking times due to congestion, and inconvenience in locating and retrieving parked vehicles, which existing automated valet parking systems do not adequately address.
Innovation Solution
An automated valet parking system that enables vehicles to autonomously travel to and park in vacant slots and move to pickup areas without a driver, using communication between vehicles and infrastructure facilities to control steering, acceleration, braking, and gear shifting, with emergency brake operations and preset speed management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated valet parking system is implemented, then parking efficiency and safety are improved, but system complexity and infrastructure requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The automated valet parking system is divided into separate functional modules: vehicle detection units, communication units, control units, and execution units. Each module performs a specific function, allowing the system to be developed, deployed, and maintained in manageable segments while achieving high parking efficiency through coordinated operation of these modular components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an infrastructure facility as an intermediary between vehicles and the parking management system. This intermediary coordinates vehicle movements, manages parking slot assignments, and communicates with vehicles through standardized protocols, thereby reducing the complexity burden on individual vehicle systems while maintaining high overall system productivity.
2Loss of time
If vehicle autonomously navigates parking lot, then parking time is reduced, but safety risks from autonomous operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle's communication unit continuously receives feedback from the infrastructure facility regarding parking slot availability, route guidance, and safety conditions. This real-time feedback loop enables the vehicle to adjust its autonomous navigation dynamically, reducing parking time while maintaining safety through constant monitoring and response to environmental conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The infrastructure facility performs preliminary actions by pre-identifying vacant parking slots and calculating optimal routes before vehicles arrive. This advance preparation reduces the time vehicles spend navigating the parking lot while enhancing safety by ensuring that paths are pre-planned and collision-free before autonomous vehicles begin their movement.
3Ease of operation
If driver exits vehicle at drop-off area, then convenience is improved, but vehicle retrieval becomes inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The automated valet parking system provides self-service functionality by autonomously transporting the vehicle from the drop-off area to the designated parking slot and back. The vehicle's autonomous driving unit executes this transport without driver intervention, improving convenience at drop-off while eliminating retrieval time loss through automated return transport when the driver requests vehicle recovery.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system, method, infrastructure, and vehicle for supporting automated valet parking are provided. The automated valet parking method may include: establishing, by a vehicle, a communication with an infrastructure facility; receiving, by the vehicle, a target position and a guide route from the infrastructure facility after the communication is established; performing, by the vehicle, an autonomous driving based on the guide route; and parking, by the vehicle, at the target position.