Information notification method, information notification system, and recording medium for user who parks vehicle

• US 10,217,360 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2015
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Miura, Kouji, Ishida, Ryo, Kimura, Soichi, Yamashita, Chisato
• Primary Examiner(s): Khan, Omer S
• Application Number:
  US14/877,803
• Publication Number:
  US 20160111003A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,238 Days
• Field of Search: 3409322
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3685 the POI's being parking facilities
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/144 on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/146 where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space

Abstract

An information notification method includes obtaining a parking time limit during which a user is allowed to continuously park a vehicle at a parking lot, measuring a travel time required for the user to move from the parking lot to a destination, obtaining a round trip time required for the user to make a round trip between the destination and the parking lot, calculating a remaining time during which the user is allowed to stay at the destination by subtracting, from the parking time limit, the round trip time and an elapsed time measured from when the user has reached the destination, determining whether the remaining time is less than or equal to a threshold value preset to zero or greater, and notifying the user that the remaining time is short if it is determined that the remaining time is less than or equal to the threshold value.

Claims

1. An information notification system comprising:

a navigation system mounted in a vehicle, the navigation system guiding a user to a destination and a parking lot; and

a mobile device carried by the user and capable of communicating with the navigation system and a cloud server,

wherein the cloud server includes a first non-transitory recording medium storing a measured length of time associated with day of week, time zone and weather, the measured length of time being time during which at least one of the user or a person other than the user previously moved from the destination to the parking lot, the cloud server performs;

obtaining a parking time limit during which the user is allowed to continuously park the vehicle at the parking lot,

measuring a travel time required for the user to move from the parking lot to the destination,

obtaining day of week, time zone and weather when the user moves from the parking lot to the destination,

obtaining the measured length of time stored in the first non-transitory recording medium using the obtained day of week, the obtained time zone and the obtained weather,

obtaining a round trip time required for the user to make a round trip between the destination and the parking lot by summing the travel time and the obtained measured length of time,

calculating a remaining time during which the user is allowed to stay at the destination by subtracting, from the parking time limit, the round trip time and an elapsed time measured from when the user has reached the destination, and

obtaining attribute information indicating whether or not the user violates a traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit,

wherein the attribute information indicates whether or not the parking lot is a public parking to indicate whether or not the user violates the traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit for the parking lot, and

it is determined that the user violates the traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit for the parking lot, by determining that the attribute information indicates that the parking lot is the public parking,

when it is determined, based on the attribute information, that the user violates the traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit,

determining whether the remaining time is less than or equal to a first threshold value,

notifying the user, using the mobile device, that the remaining time is short, upon determining that the remaining time is less than or equal to the first threshold value,

determining whether the remaining time is less than or equal to a second threshold value, and

notifying the user, using the mobile device, that the remaining time is short, upon determining that the remaining time is less than or equal to the second threshold value, the second threshold value is smaller than the first threshold value.

2. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program for use in an information notification system including a cloud server, a navigation system mounted in a vehicle and a mobile device of a user, the mobile device guiding the user to a destination and a parking lot, the mobile device being capable of communicating with the cloud server, the computer program causes the cloud server to perform:

storing, in a storage of the cloud server, a measured length of time associated with day of week, time zone and weather, the measured length of time being time during which at least one of the user or a person other than the user previously moved from the destination to the parking lot,

obtaining a parking time limit during which the user is allowed to continuously park the vehicle at the parking lot;

measuring a travel time required for the user to move from the parking lot to the destination;

obtaining day of week, time zone and weather when the user moves from the parking lot to the destination;

obtaining the measured length of time stored in the storage using the obtained day of week, the obtained time zone and the obtained weather;

obtaining a round trip time required for the user to make a round trip between the destination and the parking lot by summing the travel time and the obtained measured length of time;

calculating a remaining time during which the user is allowed to stay at the destination by subtracting, from the parking time limit, the round trip time and an elapsed time measured from when the user has reached the destination; and

obtaining attribute information indicating whether or not the user violates a traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit,

wherein the attribute information indicates whether or not the parking lot is a public parking to indicate whether or not the user violates the traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit for the parking lot, and

it is determined that the user violates the traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit for the parking lot, by determining that the attribute information indicates that the parking lot is the public parking,

when it is determined, based on the attribute information, that the user violates the traffic regulation when parking duration at the parking lot exceeds the parking time limit,

determining whether the remaining time is less than or equal to a first threshold value,

notifying the user, using the mobile device, that the remaining time is short, upon determining that the remaining time is less than or equal to the first threshold value,

determining whether the remaining time is less than or equal to a second threshold value, and

notifying the user, using the mobile device, that the remaining time is short, upon determining that the remaining time is less than or equal to the second threshold value, the second threshold value is smaller than the first threshold value.