Method for coordinating the traffic of motor vehicles in a parking environment

• US 10,269,250 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2016
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Original Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Inventors: Altinger, Harald, Schuller, Florian
• Primary Examiner(s): Brushaber, Frederick M
• Application Number:
  US15/553,016
• Publication Number:
  US 20180053422A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,166 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/028 Guided parking by providing commands to the driver, e.g. acoustically or optically
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0285 Parking performed automatically
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 6/422 Automatically operated car-parks
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 6/426 Parking guides
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0297 by controlling means in a control room
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/143 inside the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/146 where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/149 coupled to means for restricting the access to the parking space, e.g. authorization, access barriers, indicative lights
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses a method for coordinating the traffic of motor vehicles in a parking environment. The method evaluates sensor data and determines current traffic situation data of a parking environment based on the evaluating. The method determines a target corridor for a destination of a motor vehicle based on current traffic situation data, a map data set, and target corridors determined for other motor vehicles. The method transmits the target corridor to the motor vehicle, and a recommendation to wait to another motor vehicle during a planned departure of the other motor vehicle from the parking environment. The method outputs a confirmation of a request for an automatic departure of the other motor vehicle to a mobile device when a time to reach an exit according to an optimal target corridor exceeds a threshold value.

Claims

1. A method for coordinating traffic of motor vehicles in a parking environment, comprising:

evaluating, by a central computing unit, sensor data from sensors, wherein the central computing unit comprises a server, the central computing unit spatially and temporally coordinates traffic in the parking environment, the central computing unit and the sensors are assigned to the parking environment, the sensors monitor the parking environment, and the sensors deliver the sensor data to the central computing unit;

determining, by the central computing unit, current traffic situation data of the parking environment based on the evaluating, wherein the current traffic situation data comprises positions of the motor vehicles operating in the parking environment;

determining, by the central computing unit, a spatial and temporal target corridor for a destination of a motor vehicle in the motor vehicles based on input data, wherein the spatial and temporal target corridor provides spatial and temporal limits within which specific path and trajectory planning of the motor vehicle is to occur, and the input data comprises the current traffic situation data, a map data set stored in the central computing unit, and spatial and temporal target corridors determined for other motor vehicles in the motor vehicles;

transmitting, by the central computing unit, the spatial and temporal target corridor to the motor vehicle;

transmitting, by the central computing unit, a recommendation to wait to another motor vehicle in the motor vehicles, or a mobile device associated with the other motor vehicle, during a planned departure of the other motor vehicle from the parking environment, wherein the mobile device transmitted a request for an automatic departure of the other motor vehicle to the central computing unit; and

outputting, by the central computing unit, a confirmation of the request to the mobile device when, as a result of a high volume of traffic, a time to reach an exit according to an optimal target corridor exceeds a threshold value.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the motor vehicles in the parking environment are operated partially or fully automatically along a trajectory determined within the spatial and temporal limits of the spatial and temporal target corridor.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the parking environment has a transfer region in which the motor vehicle is parked for automatic shunting to a parking space or is received after automatic return from the parking space to the transfer region.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein automatic driving functions in the parking environment are selected via a mobile device of a driver, wherein the mobile device of the driver comprises a cell phone.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the ego data comprises a current position of the motor vehicle, wherein the current position was determined in the motor vehicle using the map data set transmitted to the motor vehicle, and the current position is merged with a position of the motor vehicle determined from the sensor data.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the input data further comprises environmental data transmitted by the motor vehicles operating in the parking environment or ego data of the motor vehicles operating in the parking environment, wherein the ego data describes operating states of the motor vehicles operating in the parking environment.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising adjusting the spatial and temporal target corridor in response to detecting at least one of a spatial and temporal conflict of the spatial and temporal target corridor with an object detected based on the determining the current traffic situation, or a spatial and temporal conflict of the spatial and temporal corridor with a target corridor of the other motor vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a light-signal system or gate of the parking environment is controlled by the central computing unit based on the spatial and temporal target corridors.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spatial and temporal target corridors are determined within a framework of a route planning algorithm or within a framework of an optimization for the motor vehicles operating in the parking environment, wherein the route planning algorithm comprises an A* algorithm.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein a mutex method is used to select time windows for each route section in the route sections.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the destination parking space is selected based on a shortest route or a shortest waiting time during the spatial and temporal target corridor.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein spatial and temporal target corridors of the motor vehicles are divided into route sections, wherein a time window for driving through a route section is selected for each route section in the route sections, and during a time window a first route section for a first motor vehicle does not conflict with a second route section for a second motor vehicle.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein for the motor vehicle to be parked in a parking space in the parking environment, a destination parking space is assigned as a destination of the spatial and temporal target corridor based on the current traffic situation data and the spatial and temporal target corridors determined for other motor vehicles.

14. A central computing unit of a parking environment comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

evaluate sensor data from sensors, wherein the sensors monitor the parking environment, the sensors deliver the sensor data to the central computing unit, and the sensors are assigned to the parking environment;

determine current traffic situation data of the parking environment based on the evaluating, wherein the current traffic situation data comprises positions of motor vehicles operating in the parking environment;

determine a spatial and temporal target corridor for a destination of a motor vehicle in the motor vehicles based on input data, wherein the spatial and temporal target corridor provides spatial and temporal limits within which specific path and trajectory planning of the motor vehicle is to occur, and the input data comprises the current traffic situation data, a map data set stored in the memory of the central computing unit, and spatial and temporal target corridors determined for other motor vehicles in the motor vehicles;

transmit the spatial and temporal target corridor to the motor vehicle;

transmit a recommendation to wait to another motor vehicle in the motor vehicles, or a mobile device associated with the other motor vehicle, during a planned departure of the other motor vehicle from the parking environment, wherein the mobile device transmitted a request for an automatic departure of the other motor vehicle to the central computing unit; and

output a confirmation of the request to the mobile device when, as a result of a high volume of traffic, a time to reach an exit according to an optimal target corridor exceeds a threshold value,

wherein the central computing unit comprises a server, the central computing unit spatially and temporally coordinates traffic in the parking environment, and the central computing unit is assigned to the parking environment.