Tracking vehicle locations in a parking lot for definitive display on a GUI

• US 7,957,900 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2008
• Issued: 06/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gaurav Chowdhary, Sachin Chaudhry
• Original Assignee: Gaurav Chowdhary, Sachin Chaudhry
• Inventors: Chowdhary, Gaurav, Chaudhry, Sachin
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US12/028,262
• Publication Number:
  US 20090204325A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,215 Days
• Field of Search: 701/207, 701/214, 701/222, 701/225, 701/300, 340/425.5, 340/435, 340/436, 340/438, 340/439, 340/426.15, 340/426.28, 340/572.1, 340/932.2
• US Class Current: 701/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A computer implemented method for displaying on a map a definitive image of precise locations of multiple mobile objects such as vehicles in a lot. The lot is mapped digitally to display precise locations of sub-areas of different types, such as parking and movement slots and their raw, approximate distances from vehicles are determined from approximate coordinates of vehicles obtained remotely. A data base of vehicle and sub-area types is established and a vehicle placement matrix is determined providing probabilities of respective sub-areas being occupiable by respective vehicles derived from business environment rules based on compatibilities of respective vehicle types with respect sub-area types. Raw, approximate distances of vehicles from sub-areas are divided by the probabilities to provided adjusted distances, sub-areas ranked by least adjusted distances and the respective vehicles placed in their top ranked sub-areas for more accurate display of location on a GUI.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method to automatically track/identify respective parking slots and movement slots occupied by respective individual vehicles of a group of vehicles crowded together in a parking lot to enable definitive, real time, display of the vehicles'"'"' respective parking and movement slots on a GUI, comprising the steps of:

determining a set of business environment rules based on compatibility of respective slots with respective vehicles for providing relative probabilities of occupation of respective slots by respective vehicles;

determining raw distances of respective vehicles from respective slots;

adjusting values of raw distances of respective vehicles from respective potential slots according to the respective probabilities of occupation as determined by the business environmental rules so that the relative proximities of slots to respective vehicles increase with increasing probabilities of occupation as compared with relative proximities derived from the raw distances;

ranking the respective slots in order of most proximate to respective vehicles, as derived from the adjusted values of raw distances and,

placing respective vehicles in respective top ranked slots for real-time display on a GUI and, so that any slot occupying vehicles are replaced by more proximate vehicles and replaced vehicles are then placed in successively ranked slots.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which, when a shape and size of a vehicle is no larger than a shape and size of a slot in which the vehicle is placed, an image of the vehicle is positioned within boundaries of an image of the slot, such that the vehicle image has a centroid which is coincident with a centroid of the slot image;

and

when a shape and size of the vehicle is greater than a shape and size of a slot in which the vehicle is placed, an image of the vehicle will be positioned in the slot image to minimize any total overhang over boundaries of the slot image.

3. A method for improving mobile object resolution in a real time simultaneous display of multiple mobile objects in specific sub-areas of a facility area on a GUI comprising the steps of:

measuring approximate respective distances of respective mobile objects from respective potentially occupiable specific sub-areas;

formulating at least one business environment rule based on relative compatibility of respective mobile objects with respective sub- areas indicative of relative probabilities of respective mobile objects being found in respective sub-areas;

modifying the measured distances in accordance with the relative probabilities to provide respective adjusted distances; and

,

placing respective mobile objects in respective sub-areas located at least adjusted distances therefrom for display in the facility area on the GUI.

4. A method according to claim 3 in which when a shape and size of a mobile object is no larger than a shape and size of a sub-area in which the mobile object is placed, an image of the mobile object is positioned within boundaries of an image of the sub-area, such that the mobile object image has a centroid which is coincident with a centroid of the sub-area image;

and

when a shape and size of the mobile object is greater than a shape and size of a sub-area in which the mobile object is placed, an image of the mobile object will be positioned in the sub-area image to minimize any total overhang over boundaries of the sub-area image.

5. A method for improving vehicle resolution in a real time simultaneous display of multiple vehicles in specific sub-areas of a lot on a GUI comprising the steps of:

measuring approximate respective distances of respective vehicles from respective potentially occupiable specific slots of the lot;

formulating at least one business environment rule based on relative compatibility of respective vehicles with respective slots indicative of relative probabilities of respective vehicles being found in respective slots;

modifying the measured distances in accordance with the relative probabilities to provide respective adjusted distances; and

,

placing respective mobile-vehicles in respective slots located at least adjusted distances therefrom for display in the lot on the GUI.