Parking assistance apparatus and vehicle having the same

• US 10,737,689 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2017
• Issued: 08/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Cheolmun, Jang, Kwangjin
• Primary Examiner(s): Hilgendorf, Dale W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bost, Alexander C.
• Application Number:
  US15/723,433
• Publication Number:
  US 20180093663A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/146 Display means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/06 Automatic manoeuvring for parking
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/165 for passive traffic, e.g. including static obstacles, trees
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/168 Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space

Abstract

A parking assistance apparatus includes a display unit configured to display an image of an area around a vehicle; a sensor unit configured to detect at least one object around the vehicle; and at least one processor. The at least one processor is configured to perform an automatic parking function that moves the vehicle to a target parking position by: calculating a congestion level for the automatic parking function based on information about the at least one object around the vehicle detected by the sensor unit; and executing the automatic parking function according to the calculated congestion level.

Claims

1. A parking assistance apparatus, comprising:

a display unit configured to display an image of an area around a vehicle;

a sensor unit configured to detect at least one object around the vehicle; and

at least one processor configured to perform an automatic parking function that moves the vehicle to a target parking position by;

setting a monitoring region around the vehicle, the monitoring region including a region within a predetermined radius from a parking path of the vehicle;

setting, based on a movement direction and a movement speed of the at least one object, a boundary region around the at least one object;

determining an overlap region between the monitoring region around the vehicle and the boundary region around the at least one object;

assigning a weight value to the at least one object based on one or more characteristics of the at least one object in the monitoring region including a size of the determined overlap region;

calculating, based on a number of the at least one object in the monitoring region and the weight value assigned to the at least one object, a congestion level for the automatic parking function; and

executing the automatic parking function according to the calculated congestion level.

2. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine a first region within a first distance from the vehicle; and

calculate the congestion level for the automatic parking function according to a number of the at least one object detected within the first region.

3. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to raise the weight value assigned to the at least one object as a distance between the vehicle and the at least one object decreases.

4. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to raise the weight value assigned to the at least one object as the size of the determined overlap region increases.

5. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

detect a type of the at least one object by performing a machine learning operation on at least one image of the at least one object; and

assign, based on the detected type of the at least one object, the weight value to the at least one object.

6. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

calculate an expected duration for the automatic parking function that increases with increasing values of the congestion level; and

control the display unit to further display the congestion level and the expected duration for the automatic parking function.

7. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine, according to the congestion level for the automatic parking function, a boundary range of the vehicle based on which the vehicle performs at least one braking operation during the automatic parking function, the boundary range indicating a range within which the vehicle is controlled to travel during the automatic parking function.

8. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the boundary range of the vehicle according to the congestion level by:

determining a first size of the boundary range of the vehicle in a first state in which the congestion level is a first level; and

determining a second size of the boundary range, larger than the first size, in a second state in which the congestion level is a second level that is lower than the first level.

9. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a size of the boundary range of the vehicle differently depending on a parking path by which the vehicle is controlled to travel during the automatic parking function.

10. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine, according to the boundary range of the vehicle, a movement speed of the vehicle for the automatic parking function.

11. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

perform the automatic parking function to control the vehicle to move at a first speed in a first state in which a size of the boundary range of the vehicle is a first size; and

perform the automatic parking function to control the vehicle to move at a second speed, greater than the first speed, in a second state in which the size of the boundary range of the vehicle is a second size that is greater than the first size.

12. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine the boundary range of the vehicle according to a parking path by which the vehicle is controlled to travel during the automatic parking function; and

control the display unit to further display the parking path and the boundary range of the vehicle.

13. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

control the display unit to display the image of the area around the vehicle with a first zoom in a first state in which a size of the boundary range is a first size; and

control the display unit to display the image of the area around the vehicle with a second zoom that is less than the first zoom in a second state in which the size of the boundary range is a second size greater than the first size.

14. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine a first parking path by which the vehicle is controlled to travel to the target parking position during the automatic parking function, based on the congestion level being a first congestion level; and

determine a second parking path, different from the first parking path, based on the congestion level being a second congestion level different from the first congestion level.

15. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

the second congestion level is greater than the first congestion level, and

the at least one processor is configured to determine the second parking path having a second number of turns that is greater than a first number of turns in the first parking path.

16. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 14, wherein:

the second congestion level is greater than the first congestion level, and

the at least one processor is configured to determine the second parking path having a second maximum movement position that is smaller than a first maximum movement position of the first parking path.

17. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

determine the first parking path based on a first parking method that depends on the first congestion level; and

determine the second parking path based on a second parking method, different from the first parking method, based on the second congestion level.

18. The parking assistance apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

control the display unit to display the first parking path in a first state in which the congestion level is the first congestion level; and

control the display unit to display the second parking path in a second state in which the congestion level is the second congestion level.

23. A vehicle comprising the parking assistance apparatus of claim 1.

19. A method of providing an automatic parking function, comprising:

sensing an environment around a vehicle;

obtaining information about at least one object in the environment around the vehicle; and

performing an automatic parking function that moves the vehicle to a target parking position by;

setting a monitoring region around the vehicle, the monitoring region including a region within a predetermined radius from a parking path of the vehicle;

setting, based on a movement direction and a movement speed of the at least one object, a boundary region around the at least one object;

determining an overlap region between the monitoring region around the vehicle and the boundary region around the at least one object;

assigning a weight value to the at least one object based on one or more characteristics of the at least one object in the monitoring region including a size of the determined overlap region;

calculating, based on a number of the at least one object in the monitoring region and the weight value assigned to the at least one object, a congestion level for the automatic parking function; and

executing the automatic parking function according to the calculated congestion level.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein calculating the congestion level of the environment around the vehicle based on the information about the at least one object comprises:

calculating the congestion level based on a number of the at least one object detected within a first region around the vehicle.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein executing the automatic parking function according to the calculated congestion level comprises:

determining, according to the congestion level, a size of a boundary range of the vehicle based on which the vehicle performs at least one braking operation during the automatic parking function, the boundary range indicating a range within which the vehicle is controlled to travel during the automatic parking function.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein executing the automatic parking function according to the calculated congestion level further comprises:

determining a movement speed of the vehicle for the automatic parking function according to the determined boundary range of the vehicle.