Parking management system and its control method

• US 10,198,006 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2017
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kazama, Yoriko
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Louie, Wae L
• Application Number:
  US15/455,565
• Publication Number:
  US 20170329342A1
• Time in Patent Office: 697 Days
• Field of Search: 705 5, 701 2
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0011 associated with a remote control arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0287 involving a plurality of land vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00, particularly anticollision systems G08G1/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2240/00 Transportation facility access, e.g. fares, tolls or parking

Abstract

A parking management system and its control method for controlling a plurality of vehicles and efficiently managing a large-scale parking place are proposed. A parking management system for managing parking of a vehicle includes: a guiding system for automatically guiding the vehicle from a passenger space to a certain parking space; a control system for controlling the guiding system; and a management system for accepting a parking reservation of the vehicle from a terminal system and conveying reservation information and identification information of the vehicle to the control system, wherein after the vehicle arrives at the passenger space and a passenger gets off the vehicle, the control system causes the guiding system to guide the vehicle to, and park the vehicle at, the certain parking space on the basis of the reservation information and the identification information.

Claims

1. A parking management system for managing parking of a vehicle, comprising:

a guiding system for automatically guiding the vehicle from a passenger space to a parking space;

a control system for controlling the guiding system; and

a management system for accepting a parking reservation of the vehicle from a terminal system and conveying reservation information and identification information of the vehicle to the control system,

wherein the control system causes, after the vehicle arrives at the passenger space and a passenger gets off the vehicle, the guiding system to guide the vehicle to, and park the vehicle at, the parking space determined on the basis of the reservation information and the identification information.

2. The parking management system according to claim 1,

wherein the guiding system is an automatic driving system which is built in the vehicle;

and

wherein the control system remotely operates the vehicle from the passenger space to the parking space via the automatic driving system.

3. The parking management system according to claim 1,

wherein the guiding system is a carrier robot capable of self-driving in a state where the vehicle is mounted;

and

wherein the control system remotely operates the carrier robot from the passenger space to the parking space.

4. The parking management system according to claim 3,

wherein the control system causes the guiding system to wait in the passenger space for the vehicle to arrive on the basis of the reservation information.

5. The parking management system according to claim 1,

wherein when the control system issues an instruction to the guiding system to take a route to the parking space, the control system judges whether or not another vehicle exists on the route which is a shortest route;

and when the other vehicle exists on the route which is the shortest route, the control system;

judges whether to wait or detour by comparing required time of the shortest route with that of another route; and

then issues an instruction to the guiding system to take the route of shorter required time.

6. The parking management system according to claim 1,

wherein the control system searches for an empty space in a parking area, determines a position to park the vehicle on the basis of the identification information of the vehicle, and issues an instruction to the guiding system to designate the determined position.

7. The parking management system according to claim 1,

wherein the control system controls the guiding system on the basis of information from a sensor for detecting an obstacle.

8. The parking management system according to claim 1,

wherein the management system informs the terminal system of whether the parking reservation is required or not, on the basis of a movement history of the vehicle.

9. The parking management system according to claim 1,

wherein the management system accepts an unloading reservation of the vehicle, which is parked in the parking space, from the terminal system and then conveys the reservation information about the unloading reservation to the control system;

and

wherein the control system causes the guiding system to guide the vehicle from the parking space to the passenger space on the basis of the reservation information about the unloading reservation.

10. The parking management system according to claim 9,

wherein when the control system judges that reservation time for the unloading reservation has passed, the control system causes the guiding system to move the vehicle in the passenger space to a temporary parking space.

11. A parking management method for managing parking of a vehicle, comprising:

automatically guiding the vehicle from a passenger space to a parking space by way of a guiding system;

controlling the guiding system by a control system;

accepting a parking reservation of the vehicle from a terminal system and conveying reservation information and identification information of the vehicle to the control system; and

causing by the control system, after the vehicle arrives at the passenger space and a passenger gets off the vehicle, the guiding system to guide the vehicle to, and park the vehicle at, the parking space determined on the basis of the reservation information and the identification information.