Associating parking areas with destinations

• US 9,151,628 B1
• Filed: 01/30/2015
• Issued: 10/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan North America Incorporated (Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Saito, Daisuke, Kojo, Naoki, Thakur, Siddharth Kumar, Lele, Nikhil
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRUSHABER, FREDERICK M
• Application Number:
  US14/609,686
• Time in Patent Office: 249 Days
• Field of Search: 701/23
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3423 Multimodal routing, i.e. combining two or more modes of transportation, where the modes can be any of, e.g. driving, walking, cycling, public transport

Abstract

A method and apparatus for associating parking areas with destinations may include a vehicle identifying transportation network information including a primary destination and parking area information representing a plurality of parking areas, such that the parking area information includes automatically generated parking area association information describing an association between at least one parking area and the primary destination. The vehicle may determine a target parking area from the plurality of parking areas for the primary destination based on the transportation network information, and identify a route from an origin to the target parking area in the vehicle transportation network using the transportation network information. The vehicle may include a trajectory controller configured to operate the vehicle to travel from the origin to the target parking area using the route.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

a processor configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to;

identify transportation network information representing a vehicle transportation network, the vehicle transportation network including a primary destination, wherein identifying the transportation network information includes identifying the transportation network information such that the transportation network information includes parking area information representing a plurality of parking areas, wherein each parking area from the plurality of parking areas corresponds with a respective location in the vehicle transportation network, and such that the parking area information includes automatically generated parking area association information describing an association between at least one parking area from the plurality of parking areas and the primary destination,

determine a target parking area from the plurality of parking areas for the primary destination based on the transportation network information, and

identify a route from an origin to the target parking area in the vehicle transportation network using the transportation network information; and

a trajectory controller configured to operate the vehicle to travel from the origin to the target parking area using the route.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to:

identify a docking location for the primary destination; and

identify the route such that the route includes a first route portion from the origin to the docking location and a second route portion from the docking location to the target parking area.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the parking area information is based on operating information for a plurality of vehicles, wherein the operating information includes at least one of vehicle operating information, supplementary vehicle location information, or non-vehicle operating information.

4. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the vehicle operating information is information reported by the plurality of vehicles, wherein the vehicle operating information includes a plurality of vehicle operations, wherein each vehicle operation from the plurality of vehicle operations is associated with a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles, and wherein each parking area from the plurality of parking areas corresponds with a respective vehicle operation from the plurality of vehicle operations.

5. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the supplementary vehicle location information is information reported by a plurality of infrastructure devices in response to detecting a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles, and wherein each infrastructure device from the plurality of infrastructure devices is associated with a respective location in the vehicle transportation network, and wherein the supplementary vehicle location information includes a plurality of supplementary vehicle parking locations, wherein each supplementary vehicle parking location from the plurality of supplementary vehicle parking locations is associated with a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles, and wherein each supplementary vehicle parking location from the plurality of supplementary vehicle parking locations corresponds with a respective parking operation from the plurality of vehicle operations.

6. The vehicle of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that each infrastructure device from the plurality of infrastructure devices is a smart parking meter, a parking camera, or a parking access device.

7. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the vehicle transportation network information such that the vehicle operating information includes passenger information that identifies a plurality of passengers such that each passenger from the plurality of passengers is associated with a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the non-vehicle operating information includes a plurality of non-vehicle operations, wherein each non-vehicle operation from the plurality of non-vehicle operations includes:

location information reported by a portable device associated with a passenger from the plurality of passengers;

or

location information reported to a third party computing system for a user, wherein the non-vehicle operating information includes an association between the user and a passenger from the plurality of passengers.

9. The vehicle of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the parking area information is determined by filtering the operating information.

10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein filtering the operating information includes:

identifying a vehicle from the plurality of vehicles;

identifying a parking operation for the vehicle; and

identifying a location corresponding to the parking operation as a candidate parking location.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein identifying the parking operation includes:

on a condition that the operating information includes vehicle operating information, identifying the parking operation based on the vehicle operating information;

on a condition that the operating information includes supplementary vehicle location information, identifying the parking operation based on the supplementary vehicle location information; and

on a condition that the operating information includes vehicle operating information and includes supplementary vehicle location information, identifying the parking operation based on at least one of the vehicle operating information or the supplementary vehicle location information.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein identifying the parking operation based on the vehicle operating information includes:

identifying an operation associated with the vehicle from the vehicle operating information as the parking operation on a condition that a stationary period associated with the operation exceeds a minimum parking duration.

13. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein filtering the operating information includes:

identifying a passenger associated with the vehicle;

identifying a destination operation for the passenger; and

identifying a location corresponding to the destination operation as a destination location.

14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein identifying the destination operation for the passenger includes:

identifying a non-vehicle operation associated with the passenger from the non-vehicle operating information as the destination operation on a condition that a stationary period associated with the non-vehicle operation exceeds a minimum destination duration.

15. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the parking area information is determined by:

identifying a plurality of parking area clusters based on the vehicle operating information, wherein the each parking area cluster from the plurality of parking area clusters includes at least one candidate parking location; and

identifying a plurality of destination location clusters based on the non-vehicle operating information, wherein the each destination location cluster from the plurality of destination location clusters includes at least one destination location.

16. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the parking area information is determined by:

identifying the plurality of parking areas such that at least one parking area from the plurality of parking areas corresponds with a parking area cluster from the plurality of parking area clusters;

identifying a plurality of destinations, such that the plurality of destinations includes the primary destination, and such that at least one destinations from the plurality of destinations corresponds with a destination location cluster from the plurality of destination location clusters; and

including, in the parking area information, the automatically generated parking area association information, such that the automatically generated parking area association information describes at least one association between a destination from the plurality of destinations and a parking area from the plurality of parking areas.

17. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the parking area association information describes an automatically generated association between the primary destination and a parking area from the plurality of parking areas.

18. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.

19. A vehicle comprising:

a processor configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to;

identify transportation network information representing a vehicle transportation network, the vehicle transportation network including a primary destination, wherein identifying the transportation network information includes identifying the transportation network information such that the transportation network information includes parking area information representing a plurality of parking areas, wherein each parking area from the plurality of parking areas corresponds with a respective location in the vehicle transportation network, and such that the parking area information includes automatically generated parking area association information describing an association between at least one parking area from the plurality of parking areas and the primary destination, such that the automatically generated parking area association information is based on operating information for a plurality of vehicles and such that the automatically generated parking area association information is determined by filtering the operating information, wherein filtering the operating information includes;

identifying a vehicle from the plurality of vehicles,

identifying a parking operation for the vehicle,

identifying a location corresponding to the parking operation as a candidate parking location, wherein the candidate parking location corresponds with the at least one parking area from the plurality of parking areas,

identifying a passenger associated with the vehicle,

identifying a destination operation for the passenger,

identifying a location corresponding to the destination operation as a destination location, wherein a location of the primary destination corresponds with the destination location, and

including, in the automatically generated parking area association information, automatically generated parking area association information that describes an association between the primary destination and a parking area corresponding to the candidate parking location;

determine a target parking area from the plurality of parking areas for the primary destination based on the transportation network information, and

identify a route from an origin to the target parking area in the vehicle transportation network using the transportation network information; and

a trajectory controller configured to operate the vehicle to travel from the origin to the target parking area using the route.

20. The vehicle of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to:

identify a docking location for the primary destination; and

identify the route such that the route includes a first route portion from the origin to the docking location and a second route portion from the docking location to the target parking area.

21. The vehicle of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium to identify the transportation network information such that the operating information includes at least one of:

vehicle operating information, wherein the vehicle operating information is information reported by the plurality of vehicles, wherein the vehicle operating information includes a plurality of vehicle operations that includes the parking operation, wherein each vehicle operation from the plurality of vehicle operations is associated with a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles, and wherein each parking area from the plurality of parking areas corresponds with a respective vehicle operation from the plurality of vehicle operations, and wherein the vehicle operating information includes passenger information that identifies a plurality of passengers such that each passenger from the plurality of passengers is associated with a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles;

supplementary vehicle location information, wherein the supplementary vehicle location information is information reported by a plurality of infrastructure devices in response to detecting a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles, and wherein each infrastructure device from the plurality of infrastructure devices is associated with a respective location in the vehicle transportation network, and wherein the supplementary vehicle location information includes a plurality of supplementary vehicle parking locations, wherein each supplementary vehicle parking location from the plurality of supplementary vehicle parking locations is associated with a respective vehicle from the plurality of vehicles, and wherein each supplementary vehicle parking location from the plurality of supplementary vehicle parking locations corresponds with a respective parking operation from the plurality of vehicle operations, or

non-vehicle operating information, wherein the non-vehicle operating information includes a plurality of non-vehicle operations, wherein each non-vehicle operation from the plurality of non-vehicle operations includes location information reported by a portable device associated with a passenger from the plurality of passengers or location information reported to a third party computing system for a user, wherein the non-vehicle operating information includes an association between the user and a passenger from the plurality of passengers.

22. The vehicle of claim 19, wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle.