Smart spacing allocation

• US 9,589,468 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2015
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Slingshot IOT LLC
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gupta, Rudranil D., Lahiri, Kaushik
• Primary Examiner(s): TRIEU, VAN THANH
• Application Number:
  US14/877,406
• Publication Number:
  US 20160027302A1
• Time in Patent Office: 517 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/145 where the indication depends on the parking areas
• 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 1/168 Driving aids for parking, e.g. acoustic or visual feedback on parking space

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for allocating parking spaces for vehicles in a parking area. In one embodiment, the invention provides a system comprising a sensor system for generating output representing measurements of vehicles in the parking area, a marking system for identifying parking spaces in the parking area, and a controller for calculating parking spaces for vehicles. The controller obtains defined measurements for the vehicles in the parking area, and calculates for each of the vehicles, a respective one parking space in the parking area. Embodiments of the invention dynamically allocate parking spaces based on: (1) Determining the minimum space that should be enough for the size of the car that is being currently identified for parking; and (2) Maximizing utilization of space by preventing improper fragmentation, where because of allocating fixed size spaces to all cars, big/small/medium, fragments of space would be wasted.

Claims

1. A method of determining a size and a location for a parking space in a defined parking lot for a vehicle, the parking lot having a plurality of pools of parking areas, the method comprising:

measuring specified dimensional information about an identified vehicle;

using the measured specified dimensional information to determine one of the pools, and positional information within said one of the pools, for the identified vehicle;

forming markings in the one of the pools to mark a parking space in the one of the pools for the identified vehicle;

triggering an alarm signal when the identified vehicle approaches the parking space;

terminating the alarm signal when the identified vehicle is completely within the parking space; and

removing said markings after the identified vehicle leaves the parking space.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring specified dimensional information about an identified vehicle includes measuring the specified dimensional information when the identified vehicle enters the parking lot.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the forming markings to mark a parking space includes using lasers on a ceiling of the parking lot to draw lines to mark the parking space.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising using a map guidance to guide the identified vehicle to the parking space.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the using the measured specified dimensional information includes using the measured specified dimensional information to determine a size and a position for the parking space in the parking lot.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the using the measured specified dimensional information includes determining a defined minimum size for the identified vehicle.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the using the measured specified dimensional information to determine one of the pools, and positional information within said one of the pools, for the identified vehicle includes using one or more defined equations, including the specified dimensional information, to calculate specified dimensions for the parking space.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein:

the specified dimensional information include a length of the vehicle and the width of the vehicle; and

the using one or more defined equations to calculate the given dimensions for the parking space includes calculating a length of the parking space by adding a first fixed amount to the length of the vehicle.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the using one or more defined equations to calculate the given dimensions for the parking space further includes calculating a width of the parking space by adding a second fixed amount to the width of the vehicle.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the measuring specified dimensional information about an identified vehicle includes using vector oriented graphic drawings methods to calculate boundaries of the identified vehicle; and

the using the measured specified dimensional information includes determining a minimum space for the identified vehicle and calculating a length and a width for the parking space.

11. A system for determining a size and a location for a parking space in a defined parking lot for a vehicle, the parking lot having a plurality of pools of parking areas, the system comprising:

a sensor system for generating output representing measured specified dimensional information about an identified vehicle;

a controller including one or more processor units for receiving the output from the sensor system, for using said output to determine one of the pools, and positional information within said one of the pools, for the identified vehicle;

a marking system for forming markings in the one of the pools to mark a parking space in the one of the pools for the identified vehicle; and

an alarm system for triggering an alarm signal when the identified vehicle approaches the parking space and for terminating the alarm signal when the identified vehicle is completely within the parking space; and

wherein the marking system removes said markings after the identified vehicle leaves the parking space.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the specified dimensional information includes a length and a width for the vehicle.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the controller identifies a respective one buffer zone for each of the parking spaces.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein:

each of the parking spaces has a defined boundary; and

the buffer zone for the parking space is adjacent the defined boundary of the parking space.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein the marking system includes a laser subsystem to outline the parking spaces with light beams.

16. An article of manufacture, comprising:

at least one tangible computer readable medium having computer readable program code logic to execute machine instructions in one or more processing units for determining a size and a location for a parking space in a defined parking lot for a vehicle, the parking lot having a plurality of pools of parking areas, said computer readable program code logic, when executing, performing the following;

receiving specified dimensional information about an identified vehicle;

using the specified dimensional information to determine one of the pools, and positional information within said one of the pools, for the identified vehicle;

forming markings in the one of the pools to mark a parking space in the one of the pools for the identified vehicle;

triggering an alarm signal when the identified vehicle approaches the parking space; and

terminating the alarm signal when the identified vehicle is completely within the parking space; and

removing said markings after the identified vehicle leaves the parking space.

17. The article of manufacture according to claim 16, wherein the receiving specified dimensional information about an identified vehicle includes receiving the specified dimensional information when the identified vehicle enters the parking lot.

18. The article of manufacture according to claim 16, wherein the forming markings to mark a parking space includes using lasers on a ceiling of the parking lot to draw lines to mark the parking space.

19. The article of manufacture according to claim 16, wherein the using the specified dimensional information includes using the specified dimensional information to determine a size and a position for the parking space in the parking lot.

20. The article of manufacture according to claim 16, wherein the using the measured specified dimensional information to determine one of the pools, and positional information within said one of the pools, for the identified vehicle includes using one or more defined equations, including the specified dimensional information, to calculate specified dimensions for the parking space.