Auto valet parking system and method

• US 10,241,519 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2017
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nagai, Toru, Katou, Atsushi, Atarashi, Yoshitaka, Okude, Mariko
• Primary Examiner(s): Jeanglaude, Gertrude Arthur
• Application Number:
  US15/450,066
• Publication Number:
  US 20170285654A1
• Time in Patent Office: 750 Days
• Field of Search: 701 23, 701 36
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/06 Automatic manoeuvring for parking
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0285 Parking performed automatically
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0212 with means for defining a desired trajectory involving a plurality of land vehicles G05D1/0287
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/043 Optimisation of two dimensional placement, e.g. cutting of clothes or wood
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1097 Task assignment
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/141 with means giving the indication of available parking spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/143 inside the vehicles
• 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 auto valet parking system operates a car in a parking lot and including: a parking lot map database which manages route information to each parking space; a vacant space information database which manages full and vacant information for each parking space; a facility migration information database which accumulates facility migration information indicative of behaviors of a parking lot user; a first unit which detects the full and vacant information for each parking space, searches for a route to the parking space and automatically parks the car in the parking space based on the route information; a second unit notifies the parking lot user of information on a parking position through a mobile terminal; and a third unit which searches for the vacant space as close as possible to conditions based on the facility migration information, and reflects the vacant space on the first unit.

Claims

1. An auto valet parking system for operating a car in a parking lot attached to a facility, the system comprising:

a parking lot map database which manages route information to each parking space inside the parking lot;

a vacant space information database which manages full and vacant information for each parking space;

a facility migration information database which accumulates facility migration information indicative of behaviors of a parking lot user in the facility;

a first unit which detects the full and vacant information for each parking space, searches for a route to the parking space and automatically parks the car in the parking space based on the route information to the searched parking position;

a second unit which notifies the parking lot user of information on a parking position through a mobile terminal;

a third unit which searches for the vacant space as close as possible to conditions based on the facility migration information of the parking lot user, and reflects the vacant space on the first unit; and

a fourth unit which determines whether it is possible to leave a car when the parking lot user leaves the car on a road around the parking lot, and guides the car to the parking space by reflecting the determination on the first unit when it is possible to leave the car.

2. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein the facility migration information includes information set in advance by the parking lot user or information on a state of the parking lot user in the facility obtained via a mobile terminal.

3. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein the facility migration information includes a current position of the parking lot user, a migration route of the facility, a staying plan time, and current user status information.

4. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein, when arranged in a parking queue in a stage in which the parking lot user searches for a vacant space in at least a road which is not a public road around the parking lot facility or a passage inside the parking lot, the fourth unit requests currently traveling location information, desired parking position information, and the like to a center that manages the parking lot, determines whether or not it is possible to leave the car based on the request information at the center, and reports the determination result to the parking lot user.

5. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein the facility migration information accumulates status information such as during window shopping, during meals, during toilet and during break, during staying at each facility, with what kind of route and how long the parking lot user stays in the facility, the auto valet parking system using the information for search or data analysis by keywords registered in advance.

6. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein the second unit informs the parking lot user of the information on the parking position of the currently parked car and the parking position scheduled to be parked at a center which manages the parking lot, or when the parking lot user is not satisfied with the parking position presented from the center, the second unit transmits the change condition to the center.

7. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein the third unit searches for a current position of the parking lot user and the parking space near the facility to which the parking lot user is likely to move as a future migration route, based on the condition of the parking space requested by the parking lot user, and based on the facility migration information DB collected and accumulated when the user moved in the facility in the past.

8. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein the third unit automatically detects at least a current position in the facility, and a staying plan time or behavior status information within the facility of the parking lot user, or periodically notifies the information to a center which manages the facility by the parking lot user.

9. The auto valet parking system according to claim 1, wherein the fourth unit automatically parks the cars, by providing a dedicated lane and a parking area, when automatically parked cars and non-automatically parked cars coexist at a leavable position.

10. An auto valet parking method for operating a car in a parking lot additionally provided in a facility, the method comprising:

holding a parking lot map database which manages route information to each parking space inside the parking lot, a vacant space information database which manages full and vacant information for each parking space, and a facility migration information database which accumulates facility migration information indicative of behaviors of a parking lot user in the facility;

a first step which detects the full and vacant information for each parking space, searches for a route to the parking space and automatically parks the car in the parking space based on the route information to the searched parking position;

a second step which notifies the parking lot user of information on a parking position through a mobile terminal;

a third step which searches for the vacant space as close as possible to conditions based on the facility migration information of the parking lot user, and reflects the vacant space on the first step; and

a fourth step which determines whether it is possible to leave a car when the parking lot user leaves the car on a road around the parking lot, and guides the car to the parking space by reflecting the determination on the first step when it is possible to leave the car.