Parking assisting apparatus

• US 6,487,481 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2001
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ibaraki Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Kubota, Yuichi, Okazaki, Osamu, Konno, Kazushi, Kakinami, Toshiaki, Tanaka, Yuu, Katsuno, Toshiyasu, Iwata, Yoshifumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Application Number:
  US09/866,757
• Publication Number:
  US 20020026269A1
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• Field of Search: 701/41, 701/36, 701/23, 701/28, 318/580, 318/587, 340/932.2
• US Class Current: 701/41
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/10 Automatic or semi-automatic parking aid systems
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/0275 by overlaying a vehicle path based on present steering angle over an image without processing that image
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/028 Guided parking by providing commands to the driver, e.g. acoustically or optically

Abstract

A parking assisting apparatus displays an image of a rear view from a vehicle, which is acquired by a camera, on a display located in a passenger compartment, thus assisting in a parking procedure. The parking procedure assisted by the parking assisting apparatus is, for example, a parallel parking procedure in which the rotating direction of the steering wheel must be switched. An assumed path along which the vehicle is moved during the parking procedure is determined in accordance with the steering angle of the steering wheel when the parking procedure is started. In the parking procedure, the display indicates a steering information that informs the driver of a timing at which the rotating direction of the steering wheel must be switched, in accordance with the assumed path.

Claims

1. A parking assisting apparatus for assisting a driver in a parking operation of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle is moved with a steering device rotated in a first direction and the vehicle is then moved with the steering device rotated in a second direction opposite to that of the first direction, said parking assisting apparatus comprising:

a display, located in a passenger compartment, that displays an image of a view acquired by a camera, as viewed in a direction in which the vehicle moves, and

a control means which assumes a path along which the vehicle is moved during the parking operation,

wherein the control means determines an initial steering angle of the steering device, the initial steering angle corresponding to the steering angle of the steering device when initiating the parking operation,

the control means assumes the path of the vehicle based on the assumption that the parking operation with the steering device rotated in the first direction is performed with the initial steering angle and the parking operation with the steering device rotated in the second direction is performed with the steering angle maintained at a predetermined value after the steering device is rotated in the second direction, and

the control means instructs the display to indicate steering information that informs the driver of a timing at which the steering device must be rotated in the second direction in accordance with the assumed path.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control means determines a target position at which the vehicle is eventually parked in accordance with manipulation of a manipulator and assumes the path of the vehicle in accordance with the target position, and the control means determines the initial steering angle based on the assumed path.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a detecting means that detects a change a the position of the vehicle, wherein the control means determines a timing at which the display indicates the steering information, in accordance with a detection result of the detection means.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, further comprising a detecting means that detects a change of a position of the vehicle, wherein the control means determines a timing at which the display indicates the steering information, in accordance with a detection result of the detection means.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, further comprising a detection means that detects a position of the vehicle relative to the target position, wherein the control means determines a timing at which the display indicates the steering information, in accordance with a detection result of the detection means.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein the assumed path includes a first path that indicates a path along which the vehicle is moved during the parking operation with the steering device rotated in the first direction and a second path that indicates a path along which the vehicle is moved during the parking operation with the steering device rotated in the second direction, and the control means instructs the display to indicate the steering information when the vehicle is located near a terminating point of the first path in the parking operation with the steering device in the first direction.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the assumed path includes a first path that indicates a path along which the vehicle is moved during the parking operation with the steering device in the first direction and a second path that indicates a path along which the vehicle is moved during the parking operation with the steering device in the second direction, and the control means instructs the display to indicate the steering information when the vehicle is located near a terminating point of the first path in the parking operation with the steering device in the first direction.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control means deletes the steering information from the display when the steering device is rotated in the second direction for beginning the parking operation with the steering device in the second direction.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the control means deletes the steering information from the display when the steering device is rotated in the second direction for beginning the parking operation with the steering device in the second direction.

10. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a detecting means that detects a change of a position of the vehicle, wherein the control means judges whether or not the vehicle is located offset from the assumed path, based on a detection result of the detecting means.

11. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, further comprising a detecting means that detects a change of a position of the vehicle, wherein the control means judges whether or not the vehicle is located offset from the assumed path, based on a detection result of the detecting means.

12. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, further comprising a detecting means that detects a position of the vehicle relative to the target position, wherein the control means judges whether or not the vehicle is located offset from the assumed path, based on a detection result of the detecting means.

13. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control means instructs the display to indicate a reference marker for determining an initial position of the vehicle when the parking operation is started, and

when the reference marker and a reference object in the view that appears on the display are located at predetermined positions relative to each other, the vehicle is located at the initial position such that the vehicle at the initial position is located at a predetermined position relative to the reference object.

14. The apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the control means instructs the display to indicate a reference marker for determining an initial position of the vehicle when the parking procedure is started, and

when the reference marker and a reference object in the view that appears on the display are located at predetermined positions relative to each other, the vehicle is located at the initial position such that the vehicle at the initial position is located at a predetermined position relative to the reference object.

15. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control means instructs the display to indicate a reference marker for determining an initial position of the vehicle when the parking procedure is started,

when the reference marker and a reference object in the view that appears on the display are located at predetermined positions relative to each other, the vehicle is located at the initial position such that the vehicle at the initial position is located at a predetermined position relative to the reference object, and

when the vehicle is located at the initial position, the control means instructs the display to indicate a mark that represents a target position at which the vehicle is eventually parked in accordance with the assumed path.

16. The apparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein when the vehicle is located at the initial position, the control means detects a position of the vehicle relative to the reference object with reference to a position of the mark on the display.

17. The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein when the vehicle is located at the initial position, the vehicle is located on a horizontal line that intersects the reference object and inclines in a predetermined direction, the control means determines a lateral interval between the vehicle and the reference object that is measured in a lateral direction of the vehicle in accordance with the position of the mark on the display, and the control means detects the position of the vehicle relative to the reference object based on the lateral interval when the vehicle is located at the initial position.

18. The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the vehicle is spaced from the reference object in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle by a predetermined longitudinal interval when the vehicle is located at the initial position, the control means determines a lateral interval between the vehicle and the reference object that is measured in a lateral direction of the vehicle in accordance with the position of the mark on the display, and the control means detects the position of the vehicle relative to the reference object based on the longitudinal interval and the lateral interval.

19. The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the control means determines the assumed path that prevents the vehicle from interfering with the reference object, based on the position of the vehicle relative to the reference object.

20. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the steering angle after the steering device is rotated in the opposite direction is fixed to a maximum acceptable value.