JP4613881B2 - Parking guidance device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a parking guidance device that guides a parking method in which a vehicle parks a parking space formed in a parking lot, and in particular, predicts a delivery route when leaving a parking space, and uses a suitable parking method. The present invention relates to a parking guidance device for guiding.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a navigation device is often mounted on a vehicle that provides vehicle travel guidance so that a driver can easily arrive at a desired destination. Here, the navigation device detects the current position of the vehicle by a GPS receiver or the like, acquires map data corresponding to the current position through a recording medium such as a DVD-ROM or HDD or a network, and displays it on a liquid crystal monitor. It is a device that can do. Some of such navigation devices have a function of guiding a parking lot around the current position of the vehicle or in a specific area.
With such a parking guidance function of the navigation device, it is also possible to display a parking lot based on the user's wishes such as parking lot opening hours, vehicle type regulation conditions, and charges (for example, see Patent Document 1). . As a result, the destination or nearby parking lot entered by the user is searched from the data related to the parking lot, and from the search results, the parking lot that is open at a predetermined date, the vehicle width of the user's vehicle, the vehicle It is possible to display a parking lot according to the desire of the user by displaying a parking lot that matches the conditions of the vehicle type and the high, or acquiring congestion information and vacant information of the parking lot.
JP 2001-349740 A (pages 6 to 7, FIGS. 1 and 2)

However, in the parking lot guidance method described in Patent Document 1 described above, it is possible to guide a user to a parking lot as desired, but the parking lot is formed in the parking lot after arriving at the parking lot. In addition, it was not possible to provide guidance on how to park in a large number of parking spaces.
Here, even if there are a lot of parking spaces, there are enough spaces to park in the size of the user's vehicle because parked vehicles etc. that are already parked are parked out of the parking position. There are some parking spaces that are not easy to park due to unsatisfactory driving skills of users. Therefore, when parking in the parking lot in the past, the user should look for a free parking space in the parking lot with his own eyes, and check the surrounding conditions of the parking space and how to park. Was determined to be appropriate, followed by parking operation.
Therefore, especially in a narrow parking lot or a parking lot with few empty spaces, the time required for the parking work becomes very long. Further, if the driving skill is immature, there is a risk of contact with obstacles such as other parked vehicles and fences. was there.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and it is possible to guide an appropriate parking method according to the parking space to a user who parks in the parking lot in a short time. It is another object of the present invention to provide a parking guidance device that can perform a parking operation with a small driving burden.

In order to achieve the object, the parking guidance device (1) according to claim 1 of the present application guides the parking method in which the vehicle (2) parks the parking space (54) formed in the parking lot (52). In the parking guidance device, the exit route (81 to 85) when exiting from the parking space, the exit route when parked in the parking space with forward parking and the exit route when parked with backward parking, respectively The degree of difficulty related to vehicle operation of the exit route prediction means (11) to predict, the exit route when parked by the forward parking predicted by the exit route prediction means and the exit route when parked by the backward parking the difficulty calculating means for calculating respectively (11), based on the difficulty calculated by the difficulty calculating means, issuing the path when the parked prospective parking Wherein among the goods issue route when it is parked backward parking and unloading route selection means for selecting a lower unloading path degree of difficulty (11), of the forward parking or backward parking, selected by the unloading path selection unit issuing And guide means (14, 16) for guiding parking while corresponding to the route .

  Further, the parking guidance device (1) according to claim 2 is a parking space detection means for detecting an empty space of the parking space (54) formed in the parking lot (52) in the parking guidance device according to claim 1. (3), and the delivery route predicting means (11) predicts the delivery route (81 to 85) at the time of delivery from the empty space detected by the parking space detection means.

In here, the "forward-looking parking" means the parking in a state facing the front to the way road that can be left from the parking space by advancing the vehicle.
Further, “backward parking” refers to parking in a state in which the back is turned with respect to a traffic path that can be released from the parking space by reversing the vehicle.

Furthermore, the parking guidance device (1) according to claim 3 is the parking guidance device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the vehicle information storage means (23) for storing vehicle information and the obstacle for detecting an obstacle are used. When it is assumed that the vehicle travels along the exit route predicted by the exit detection means (3, 4A to 4D) and the exit route prediction means (11), the obstacle and the vehicle are based on the vehicle information. has an approach determination means (11) for determine the constant whether approaches to within a predetermined distance, the difficulty calculating means (11) when it is determined that close to a predetermined distance in the following by the approach determination means And increasing the difficulty level of the delivery route.
Here, the “obstacle” refers to other vehicles, fences, walls, pillars, curbs, wheel stops, and other features that hinder travel.

  In the parking guidance device according to claim 1 having the above-described configuration, a plurality of patterns of exit routes when exiting from the parking space are predicted, and a difficulty level related to the vehicle operation of the predicted exit routes of the plurality of patterns is calculated and calculated. Since the parking method for leaving the vehicle on the route selected based on the difficulty level is guided, it becomes possible to guide the appropriate parking method corresponding to the parking space to the user who parks in the parking lot. . Then, the user can perform the parking operation in a short time and with a small driving burden by performing the parking operation according to the guidance.

  Moreover, in the parking guidance apparatus of Claim 2, since the vacant space of the parking space formed in the parking lot is detected and the delivery route at the time of evacuating from the detected vacant space is predicted, it is used for parking in the parking lot. It becomes possible to guide the appropriate parking method according to the empty space located around the person. Then, the user can perform the parking operation in a short time and with a small driving burden by performing the parking operation for parking in the empty space detected according to the guidance.

Further, in the parking guidance device according to claim 1 , in particular, a parking route for a parking route with a low difficulty level is predicted by predicting a shipping route when parked with forward parking and a parking route when parked with backward parking. Since it guides, it becomes possible to select according to a parking space whether it is more suitable to park by the parking method of forward-facing parking or backward-facing parking, and it becomes possible to guide a user. Then, the user can perform the parking operation in a short time and with a small driving burden by performing the parking operation according to the guidance.

Furthermore, in the parking guidance device according to claim 3 , when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling along the predicted delivery route and the obstacle and the vehicle approach each other within a predetermined distance, it is difficult for the delivery route. Since the degree is raised, even if there is an obstacle in the parking lot, it is possible to guide the user who parks an appropriate parking method according to the arrangement of the obstacle and the parking space. Then, the user can perform the parking operation in a short time and with a low driving burden by performing the parking operation in accordance with the guidance without fear of contact with an obstacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, a parking guidance device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings based on an embodiment that is embodied.
First, a schematic configuration of the parking guide device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a parking guide device 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a control system of the parking guidance apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2, the parking guidance apparatus 1 which concerns on this embodiment is a front camera (parking space detection means, obstacle detection means) 3 installed with respect to the vehicle 2, and a corner sensor (obstacle). Detection means) 4A to 4D, a vehicle speed sensor 5, and a navigation device 6.
Furthermore, the navigation device 6 includes a navigation ECU (exit route prediction means, difficulty calculation means, exit route selection means, approach determination means) 11, a current location detection section 12, a data recording section 13, and a liquid crystal display (guidance means). 14, a touch panel 15, a speaker (guidance means) 16, and a communication device 17.

  Here, the front camera 3 uses, for example, a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD, and is attached near the upper center of the license plate mounted in front of the vehicle 2 so that the line of sight is directed slightly downward from the horizontal. Installed. Then, the front environment of the vehicle 2 is imaged when the vehicle 2 is traveling. Further, the navigation ECU 11 performs a predetermined process on an image captured as described below, thereby detecting an empty space in front of the vehicle 2 in the parking lot. Moreover, other parked vehicles parked in the parking lot and obstacles such as fences are detected.

  The corner sensors 4A to 4D are respectively attached to a total of four corners of the front bumper and the rear bumper of the vehicle 2, and are basically composed of a sound wave transmitting unit and a sound wave receiving unit. Then, ultrasonic waves are radiated from the sound wave transmission unit to the left and right diagonal four directions of the vehicle 2 and the reflected wave reflected by the object (specifically, a parked vehicle or the like) is received by the sound wave reception unit. To do. As a result, it is possible to detect the distance to the obstacle located around the vehicle 2 based on the intensity and wavelength of the received reflected wave.

  The vehicle speed sensor 5 is a sensor for detecting the moving distance and the vehicle speed of the vehicle, generates a pulse according to the rotation of the wheel of the vehicle 2, and outputs a pulse signal to the navigation ECU 11. And navigation ECU11 calculates the rotational speed and movement distance of a wheel by counting the pulse which generate | occur | produces.

  Next, the components constituting the navigation device 6 will be described. The current location detection unit 12 includes a GPS 31, a geomagnetic sensor 32, a distance sensor 33, a steering sensor 34, a gyro sensor 35 as an orientation detection unit, and an altimeter (not shown). ) And the like, and it is possible to detect the current position and direction of the vehicle 2, the distance to the target (for example, an intersection), and the like.

  Specifically, the GPS 31 detects the current location and the current time of the vehicle 2 on the earth by receiving radio waves generated by an artificial satellite, and the geomagnetic sensor 32 measures the direction of the vehicle by measuring the geomagnetism. The distance sensor 33 detects a distance between predetermined positions on the road. Here, as the distance sensor 33, for example, a rotational speed of a wheel (not shown) of the vehicle 2 is measured, a sensor for detecting a distance based on the measured rotational speed, an acceleration is measured, and the measured acceleration is 2 A sensor that integrates the times and detects the distance can be used.

  The steering sensor 34 detects the rudder angle of the host vehicle. Here, as the steering sensor 34, for example, an optical rotation sensor attached to a rotating portion of a steering wheel (not shown), a rotation resistance sensor, an angle sensor attached to a wheel, or the like is used.

  And the gyro sensor 35 detects the turning angle of the own vehicle. Here, as the gyro sensor 35, for example, a gas rate gyro, a vibration gyro, or the like is used. Further, by integrating the turning angle detected by the gyro sensor 35, the vehicle direction can be detected.

The data recording unit 13 includes an external storage device and a hard disk (not shown) as a recording medium, a map information DB 21, a parking lot detailed map DB 22, a vehicle information DB 23, a difficulty level calculation table 24, A recording head (not shown), which is a driver for reading a predetermined program and the like and writing predetermined data to the hard disk, is provided. In the present embodiment, a hard disk is used as the external storage device and storage medium of the data recording unit 13, but in addition to the hard disk, a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk can be used as the external storage device. Also, a memory card, magnetic tape, magnetic drum, CD, MD, DVD, optical disk, MO, IC card, optical card, etc. can be used as an external storage device.
The contents of the map information DB 21 and the parking lot detailed map DB 22 are transferred from a recording medium such as a DVD or an externally connected memory card, or information is transmitted from a specific information center or the like via the communication device 17. Updated by downloading etc.

  Here, the map information DB 21 will be described. The map information DB 21 stores map data necessary for route guidance and map display. The map data is, for example, map display data for displaying a map and each intersection. It consists of intersection data, link data 25 relating to roads (links), node data 26 relating to node points, search data for searching for routes, facility data relating to facilities, search data for searching for points, and the like.

  The parking lot detailed map DB 22 is composed of detailed map data of each parking lot nationwide stored as facility data in the map information DB 21. Specifically, in addition to the shape of the entire parking lot, the shapes of parking spaces, traffic paths, and doorways partitioned by parking lane lines are also stored.

The vehicle information DB 23 is a storage unit that stores various parameter information about the vehicle such as the shape design value of the vehicle 2 and the camera design value. The vehicle information DB 23 stores, for example, the wheel radius, total length, total width, total height, wheel base, minimum turning radius, the optical axis direction of the front camera 3, the installation position of the front camera 3 with respect to the vehicle 2, and the like. .
As will be described later, the navigation ECU 11 uses the various parameter information stored in the vehicle information DB 23 to detect the empty space of the parking lot and the position of the obstacle from the image captured by the front camera 3, and at the time of delivery The estimated course of the vehicle 2 at is estimated.

  Furthermore, the difficulty level calculation table 24 is a table for calculating the difficulty level related to the vehicle operation of the exit route from the parking space predicted by the navigation ECU 11. The difficulty level calculation table 24 will be described in detail later.

  On the other hand, a navigation ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 11 is used as a working memory when the CPU 41 performs various kinds of arithmetic processing, and a CPU 41 as an arithmetic device and a control device for controlling the entire navigation device 6. In addition to the RAM 42 that stores route data when a route is searched for, a control program, a destination setting processing program that sets a destination for traveling guidance based on a user's operation, up to the set destination Guidance route setting processing program that searches the route and sets it as a guidance route, detects the empty space in the parking lot when entering the parking lot, calculates the difficulty of the exit route to exit from the empty space, and appropriate parking ROM with parking method guidance program (see Fig. 4) that guides the method 3, includes an internal storage device such as a flash memory 44 which records a program read from the ROM 43. As the RAM 42, ROM 43, flash memory 44, etc., a semiconductor memory, a magnetic core or the like is used. As the arithmetic device and the control device, an MPU or the like can be used instead of the CPU 41.

  In the present embodiment, various programs are recorded in the ROM 43, and various data are recorded in the data recording unit 13. However, the programs, data, and the like are stored in the same external storage device, memory card, and the like. It is also possible to read out a program, data, etc. from the flash memory 44 and so on. Further, the program, data, etc. can be updated by exchanging a memory card or the like.

  The liquid crystal display 14 also has operation guidance, operation menu, key guidance, guidance route from the current location to the destination, guidance information along the guidance route, traffic information, news, weather forecast, time, mail, TV program, and the like. It is a display means to be displayed. In particular, in the parking guidance device 1 according to the present embodiment, when an empty space is detected in the parking lot, an image showing an optimal parking method for the empty space is displayed (see FIG. 9). Instead of the liquid crystal display 14, it is also possible to use a CRT display, a plasma display, or the like, or a hologram device that projects a hologram on the windshield of a vehicle.

  The touch panel 15 is arranged on the front surface of the liquid crystal display 14, specifies the coordinate position of the part touched by the user, where the user touched based on the specified coordinate position information, and in which direction the touched part moves. Can be determined. Instead of the touch panel 15, a keyboard, a mouse, a remote control device for remote operation, a joystick, a light pen, a stylus pen, or the like can be used.

  In addition, the speaker 16 outputs voice guidance for guiding traveling along the guidance route based on an instruction from the navigation ECU 11. Here, examples of the voice guidance to be guided include “the intersection is 300 m ahead in the right direction” and “the next national highway No. XX is congested”. In particular, in the parking guidance device 1 according to the present embodiment, when an empty space is detected in the parking lot, a sound for guiding an optimal parking method for the empty space is output. Note that as the sound output from the speaker 16, in addition to the synthesized sound, various sound effects and various guidance information recorded in advance on a tape, a memory, or the like can be output.

  The communication device 17 is a traffic consisting of various information such as traffic jam information, regulation information, parking lot information, traffic accident information, etc. transmitted from a traffic information center such as a VICS (registered trademark: Vehicle Information and Communication System) center. It is a beacon receiver that receives information as a radio beacon, an optical beacon, or the like via a radio beacon device, an optical beacon device, or the like disposed along a road. The communication device 17 is a network that enables communication in a communication system such as a LAN, WAN, intranet, cellular phone line network, telephone line network, public communication line network, dedicated communication line network, and communication line network such as the Internet. It may be a device. In addition to the information from the information center, the communication device 17 includes an FM receiver that receives FM multiplex information including information such as news and weather forecast as FM multiplex broadcast via an FM broadcast station. The beacon receiver and the FM receiver are unitized and arranged as a VICS receiver, but can be arranged separately.

  Next, the difficulty level calculation table 24 that is stored in the data recording unit 13 and used when the navigation ECU 11 calculates the difficulty level related to the vehicle operation on the exit route from the parking space will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the difficulty level calculation table 24 according to the present embodiment. Here, the difficulty level calculation table 24 shown in FIG. 3 has a difficulty level coefficient for each operation content of one or a plurality of vehicle operations necessary for traveling on a shipping route predicted by the navigation ECU 11 as described later. The table to identify. Then, a value obtained by adding all the specified difficulty coefficients is calculated as the difficulty level of the shipping route (S15 in FIG. 5).

As shown in FIG. 3, the difficulty level calculation table 24 includes vehicle operation contents that are predicted to be performed when the vehicle 2 travels on the estimated delivery route, and difficulty levels corresponding to the vehicle operation contents.
Here, in particular, the “forward” of the vehicle operation content corresponds to an operation of driving the vehicle forward by stepping on the accelerator. Further, “reverse” corresponds to an operation of setting the shift lever to “R (reverse)” and moving the vehicle backward.
In addition, “front contact determination” is an operation for driving the vehicle forward, and the distance between the front end of the vehicle and an obstacle (another parked vehicle, fence, etc.) or a parking lot entrance is within 50 cm. Is applicable. Further, “rear contact determination” corresponds to an operation of moving the vehicle backward, and the distance between the rear end of the vehicle and the obstacle or the parking lot entrance is within 50 cm.
Further, “forward inner ring contact determination (right side)” is an operation of turning the vehicle while turning right forward along the exit route, and the distance between the right side that is the inner ring side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm. Also, “forward inner wheel contact determination (left side)” is an operation of turning the vehicle while turning left front along the exit route, and the distance between the left side which is the inner ring side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm. Further, “reverse inner ring contact determination (right side)” is an operation of turning the vehicle backward while turning right rearward along the exit route, and the distance between the right side on the inner ring side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm. Further, “reverse inner wheel contact determination (left side)” is an operation of turning the vehicle backward while turning leftward along the exit route, and the distance between the left side on the inner ring side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm. Further, “forward outer wheel contact determination (right side)” is an operation of making the vehicle travel while turning left front along the exit route, and the distance between the right side on the outer wheel side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm. Also, “forward outer wheel contact determination (left side)” is an operation of making the vehicle run while turning right forward along the exit route, and the distance between the left side on the outer wheel side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm. Further, “reverse outer wheel contact determination (right side)” is an operation of turning the vehicle backward while turning left rearward along the exit route, and the distance between the right side on the outer wheel side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm. Further, “reverse outer wheel contact determination (left side)” is an operation of turning the vehicle backward while turning right rearward along the exit route, and the distance between the left side on the outer wheel side of the vehicle and the obstacle is Applicable when approaching within 50 cm.
Further, “right turn right” corresponds to an operation of running the vehicle while turning the vehicle forward right. In addition, “left front turn” corresponds to an operation in which the vehicle travels while turning left front. Further, “right rearward turn” corresponds to an operation of turning the vehicle backward while turning rightward. Further, “left rear turning” corresponds to an operation of turning the vehicle backward while turning left.

  Next, a parking method guidance processing program executed by the navigation ECU 11 in the parking guidance device 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the parking method guidance processing program according to the present embodiment. Here, the parking method guidance processing program is executed at predetermined intervals (for example, every 100 ms) after the vehicle navigation device 6 is activated, and detects an empty space in the parking lot when entering the parking lot. This is a program for calculating the difficulty level of a delivery route to be delivered and performing a process for guiding an optimal parking method. 4 and 5 are stored in the RAM 42 and the ROM 43 provided in the navigation device 6 and executed by the CPU 41.

  First, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1 in the parking method guidance processing program, the CPU 41 performs a matching process based on the detection result by the GPS 31 and the map data stored in the map information DB 21, and automatically maps the data on the map data. Detect the current position of the vehicle.

  Next, in S2, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the current position of the host vehicle detected in S1 has changed since the previous detection, that is, whether or not the host vehicle is running. As a result, when it is determined that the current position of the host vehicle has changed (S2: YES), the process proceeds to S3. On the other hand, if it is determined that the current position of the host vehicle has not changed (S2: NO), that is, if it is determined that the host vehicle is stopped or parked, the parking method guidance processing program is executed. finish.

  In S3, the CPU 41 reads out the map data around the current position of the host vehicle detected in S1 from the map information DB 21 and refers to it. At that time, identification of the link or facility where the vehicle is currently located is also performed.

  Furthermore, in S4, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the host vehicle is currently off-road based on the reference result of the map data in S3. The off-road means an area other than a road (link). For example, when a vehicle enters a facility such as a parking lot, it is determined that the vehicle is off-road.

  If it is determined that the host vehicle is located off-road (S4: YES), it is further determined in S5 whether or not the host vehicle is particularly located in the parking lot. On the other hand, when it is determined that the host vehicle is not off-road (S4: NO), the parking method guidance processing program is terminated.

If it is determined in S5 that the host vehicle is located in the parking lot (S5: YES), a parking guidance process (FIG. 5) described later is performed in S6. Here, the parking guidance process detects an empty space in the parking lot, compares the difficulty of the exit route from the detected empty space with forward parking and backward parking, and guides the easier parking method. It is processing.
On the other hand, when it determines with not being located in a parking lot (S5: NO), the said parking method guidance process program is complete | finished, without performing a parking guidance process.

  Next, the sub-process of the parking guidance process executed by the navigation ECU 11 in S6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the parking guidance processing program according to the present embodiment.

In the parking guidance process, first, the CPU 41 reads out detailed map data of the parking lot where the host vehicle is currently located from the parking lot detailed map DB 22 and refers to it. Here, FIG. 6 is a top view showing a case where the host vehicle 50 enters a predetermined parking lot 52 from a one-way road 51, for example.
As shown in FIG. 6, when the host vehicle 50 enters the parking lot 52, detailed map data of the parking lot 52 is read from the parking lot detailed map DB 22 in S11. In addition to the overall shape of the parking lot 52, the parking lot detailed map DB 22 also stores the shapes of the parking space 54, the passage 55, and the entrance / exit 56 partitioned by the parking lot line 53.

  Thereafter, in S12, the CPU 41 detects an empty space and an obstacle in the parking space in the parking lot. Here, in the parking guidance device 1 according to the present embodiment, an empty space and an obstacle are detected based on the image recognition result based on the image captured by the front camera 3 and the detection results by the corner sensors 4A to 4D.

In the following, the procedure for detecting an empty space will be described. First, the CPU 41 captures an image captured by the front camera 3, performs an analysis process, and performs an image recognition process for detecting other parked vehicles and parking lot lines located in the parking lot. Do.
Specifically, first, an image captured by the front camera 3 is input using analog communication means such as NTSC or digital communication means such as i-link, and is converted into a digital image format such as jpeg or mpeg. . Next, the CPU 41 corrects the luminance of the road surface and the object in the captured image based on the luminance difference. Thereafter, a binarization process for separating the object from the image, a geometric process for correcting distortion, a smoothing process for removing image noise, and the like are performed to detect a boundary line between the road surface and the object. This makes it possible to detect other parked vehicles and parking lot lines. And when there is no other parked vehicle in the detected parking lot, the parking space formed by the parking lot is detected as an empty space.

Next, the obstacle detection procedure will be described. In addition to the image recognition process by the front camera 3, the CPU 41 detects other parked vehicles, fences, walls, and pillars located in the parking lot by the detection process by the corner sensors 4A to 4D. Detect curbs, wheel stops, and other features that hinder travel.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the host vehicle 50 enters the parking lot 52, the parking spaces 61 to 64 out of the total 12 parking spaces 54 formed in the parking lot 52 in S <b> 12. Detected as free space. Furthermore, other parking vehicles 71 to 78 parked in the parking space 54 and the fence 79 surrounding the parking lot are detected as obstacles.

Subsequently, in S13, the CPU 41 determines whether an empty space of the parking space can be detected in the parking lot where the host vehicle has entered based on the detection result in S12. If it is determined that an empty space has been detected (S13: YES), the process proceeds to S14. On the other hand, if it is determined that an empty space could not be detected (S13: NO), that is, if the parking space could not be detected or if another parked vehicle was already parked in the detected parking space, the process proceeds to S21. Transition.
In addition, when the empty space of several parking spaces is detected in the process of said S12, the empty space in the position nearest to the own vehicle is selected, and the process after S14 is performed.

Next, in S14, the outgoing route of the host vehicle from the empty space is predicted for the empty space detected in S12. Specifically, when it is assumed that the vehicle is parked with forward parking in the detected empty space, and when the vehicle is parked with backward parking (hereinafter referred to as forward shipping route) The route for leaving the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a backward-facing exit route) is determined from the arrangement of empty space, the shape of the traffic route, the attribute of the road adjacent to the entrance, the arrangement of the obstacle, the vehicle information stored in the vehicle information DB 23, etc. Predict.
Here, FIG. 7 is a top view showing an example of a backward exit route predicted when the own vehicle 50 detects the parking space 61 of the parking lot 52 shown in FIG. 6 as an empty space, and FIG. It is the top view which showed an example of the forward exit route estimated when the own vehicle 50 detects especially the parking space 61 of the parking lot 52 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the vehicle is parked in a backward-facing parking with respect to the parking space 61 located in the upper right corner in the parking lot 52, the vehicle is first left front along the path 81 when leaving the parking space 61. Turn forward to advance, then turn back to the right and back along the path 82, and further advance backward while turning to the left front along the path 83 to advance to the road 51 The outbound route is predicted.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, when the host vehicle is parked in a forward-facing parking with respect to the parking space 61 located in the upper right corner in the parking lot 52, first, along the route 84 when leaving the parking space 61. A forward exit route that advances to the road 51 is predicted by turning leftward and moving backward, and then moving forward along the route 85 while turning leftward.
In the present embodiment, only one pattern is predicted for each of the forward exit route for forward parking and the backward exit route for backward parking, but multiple exit routes may be predicted. Moreover, said S14 is corresponded to the process of the delivery route prediction means.

  Subsequently, in S15, the CPU 41 calculates the degree of difficulty related to the vehicle operation of the shipping route predicted in S14. Specifically, the difficulty level coefficient is specified by the difficulty level calculation table 24 for the operation contents of one or a plurality of vehicle operations necessary to travel on the predicted delivery route, and each difficulty level coefficient specified is specified. Is calculated as the difficulty level of the delivery route. In the calculation of the difficulty level in S15, when it is assumed that the host vehicle travels along the shipping route, it is determined whether or not the distance from the obstacle detected in S12 is within 50 cm. The determination is made based on the route and the vehicle information. If it is determined that the vehicle is approaching, the difficulty level is increased.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, in the backward exit route when the host vehicle is parked in the backward parking with respect to the parking space 61 located in the upper right corner in the parking lot 52, first turn left front along the route 81. "(1) left front turn" and forward left turn, the distance between the right side that is the outer wheel side of the vehicle and the obstacle (parked vehicle 71 in FIG. 7) approaches within 50 cm in the left front turn "( 2) Forward outer wheel contact determination (right) ”and“ (3) Front contact determination ”when the distance between the front end of the vehicle and the parking lot entrance / exit approaches within 50 cm by turning left forward, and right along route 82 The distance between the left side of the outer wheel side of the vehicle and the obstacle (parked vehicle 72 in FIG. 7) approaches within 50 cm by turning backward and moving backward (4) right backward turning. "(5) Retraction outer ring contact determination (left)" Turn leftward along the path 83 with “(6) Back contact determination” when the distance between the rear end of the vehicle and the obstacle (parked vehicle 73 in FIG. 7) approaches within 50 cm by turning right rearward. A total of eight vehicles ("(8) Forward contact determination") when the distance between the front end of the vehicle and the parking lot entrance / exit approaches within 50 cm due to the left forward turn. Consists of operations.
And the difficulty coefficient of each vehicle operation is 2, 1, 1, 3, 4, 2, 2, 1, respectively, and the total difficulty of backward parking is “16”.

On the other hand, in the forward exit route when the host vehicle is parked in the forward parking with respect to the parking space 61 located in the upper right corner in the parking lot 52 as shown in FIG. "(1) Turn left backward" and turn left, and the distance between the left side on the inner ring side of the vehicle and the obstacle (parked vehicle 72 in FIG. 8) approaches within 50 cm. “2) Reverse inner wheel contact determination (left)” and “(3) Back contact determination” when the distance between the rear end of the vehicle and the obstacle (parked vehicle 73 in FIG. 8) approaches within 50 cm by turning left rearward. "(4) Left forward turn" that advances while turning left forward along the route 85, and "(( 5) A total of five vehicle operations for “front contact judgment”. .
And the difficulty coefficient of each vehicle operation is 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, respectively, and the total difficulty of forward parking is “10”. Note that S15 corresponds to the processing of the difficulty level calculation means and the approach determination means.

  Next, in S16, the CPU 41 compares the difficulty levels calculated in S15 with respect to the multiple patterns of outgoing routes predicted in S14 (two patterns of forward outgoing route and backward outgoing route in this embodiment). In S17, it is determined whether or not the degree of difficulty is lower than the backward exit route when the forward exit route when the forward parking is performed and the backward exit route when the backward parking is performed.

  As a result, if it is determined that the degree of difficulty in the case of forward parking is lower (S17: YES), it is selected as a parking method that recommends forward parking, and guidance information for guiding forward parking is created. (S18). On the other hand, if it is determined that the degree of difficulty in the case of backward parking is lower (S17: NO), it is selected as a parking method that recommends backward parking, and guide information for guiding backward parking is created ( S19). The information created in S18 and S19 includes an image displayed on the liquid crystal display 14 and a sound output from the speaker 16 in order to explain the parking method to the user. Moreover, said S17-S19 is corresponded to the process of the delivery route selection means.

In S20, the CPU 41 provides guidance on the parking method using the guidance information created in S18 and S19. Specifically, a map image of the parking lot around the empty space detected in S12 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 14 using the parking lot detailed map DB 22, and it is determined that the difficulty level for the empty space is easy. The image of the vehicle parked by the other parking method is displayed superimposed on the map image of the parking lot. In addition, a sound for guiding the parking method is output from the speaker 16 (for example, “please park with forward parking”).
Here, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a parking method guidance screen 91 displayed on the liquid crystal display 14 in S20. As shown in FIG. 9, on the parking method guidance screen 91, an image of the own vehicle 93 parked forward with respect to the empty space 92 is displayed together with a map image of parking lots around the empty space 92. The user can recognize that the parking space 92 should be parked forward by referring to the parking method guidance screen 91.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in the determination process of S13 that the parking space in the detectable range around the own vehicle is not an empty space in the parking lot where the own vehicle has entered (13: NO), the liquid crystal display 14 Then, a map image of the parking lot where other parked vehicles are parked in the parking space is displayed (S21), and it is notified that another parked vehicle is already parked in the parking space.

As described above in detail, the parking guidance device 1 according to the present embodiment detects an empty space in the parking space based on the image captured by the front camera 3 when the vehicle enters the parking lot (S12). , Predicting the exit route when it is assumed that the vehicle is parked forward and backward with respect to the detected empty space (S14), and comparing the degree of difficulty related to the vehicle operation of each predicted exit route (S16), so that the parking method determined to be easy is guided (S20), so that the user who parks in the parking lot is guided to an appropriate parking method according to the empty space located around. Is possible. Then, the user can perform the parking operation in a short time and with a small driving burden by performing the parking operation according to the guidance. In addition, the possibility of contact with an obstacle can be reduced even in a narrow parking lot or a parking lot with few empty spaces.
In addition, it compares the exit route when parked with forward parking and the exit route when parked with backward parking, and guides the parking method for those who think parking operations are easy, so forward parking and backward parking Which parking method is more appropriate for parking can be guided to the user.
Also, if it is determined that the vehicle is traveling along the predicted exit route and the obstacle and the vehicle approach each other within a predetermined distance, the difficulty level of the exit route is increased. Even when there are obstacles such as other parked vehicles, it is possible to guide the user who parks an appropriate parking method according to the arrangement of the obstacles and the parking space. Then, the user can perform the parking operation in a short time and with a low driving burden by performing the parking operation in accordance with the guidance without fear of contact with an obstacle.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, an empty space or an obstacle in a parking lot is detected by the front camera 3 or the corner sensors 4A to 4D, but may be detected by using a radar device using a millimeter wave radar. . Furthermore, obstacles such as fences and pillars may be stored in advance in the parking lot detailed map DB 22. Moreover, it is good also as detecting whether another vehicle exists in a parking space by communicating between vehicles.

  In this embodiment, the recommended parking method is guided to the user using the liquid crystal display 14 and the speaker 16 based on the difficulty level of the vehicle operation. However, the vehicle is controlled by controlling the steering angle and the shift position. It is also possible to control the vehicle so as to park the vehicle in the recommended parking method by changing the traveling direction or traveling speed.

  In the present embodiment, the parking method for the exit route with a low difficulty level for vehicle operation is automatically selected and guided as a recommended parking method. However, the liquid crystal display 14 indicates the parking method and the difficulty level of the parking method. It is good also as letting the user who displayed together and confirmed the display content select a parking method.

  Further, in this embodiment, when vacant spaces of a plurality of parking spaces are detected in the process of S12, the vacant space closest to the host vehicle is selected and the processes after S14 are performed. It is good also as performing the process after S14 on all the vacant spaces performed. Furthermore, it is good also as performing the process after S14 on the empty space which the user selected.

It is a schematic structure figure of the parking guidance device concerning this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows typically the control system of the parking guidance apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the difficulty level calculation table which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the parking method guidance process program which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the parking guidance process program which concerns on this embodiment. It is the top view which showed the case where the own vehicle approached the predetermined parking lot from the one-way road. It is the top view which showed an example of the backward facing exit path | route predicted when the empty space in a parking lot is detected by the own vehicle. It is the top view which showed an example of the forward outgoing route predicted when the empty space in a parking lot is detected by the own vehicle. It is the figure which showed the parking method guidance screen displayed on a liquid crystal display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Parking guidance apparatus 2 Vehicle 3 Front camera 4A-4D Corner sensor 6 Navigation apparatus 11 Navigation ECU
12 Current location detection processing unit 14 Liquid crystal display 16 Speaker 23 Vehicle information DB
41 CPU
42 RAM
43 ROM

Claims (3)

In a parking guidance device for guiding a parking method in which a vehicle parks against a parking space formed in a parking lot,
About the exit route when leaving from the parking space, the exit route prediction means for predicting the exit route when parked in the parking space with forward parking and the exit route when parked with backward parking, respectively ,
Difficulty degree calculating means for calculating the difficulty level relating to the vehicle operation of the outgoing route when parked in the forward-facing parking predicted by the outgoing route prediction means and the backward-facing parking, respectively ,
Based on the degree of difficulty calculated by the difficulty level calculation means, a delivery route with a low difficulty level is selected from among a delivery route when parked with the forward parking and a delivery route when parked with the backward parking. Outbound route selection means,
A parking guidance device comprising guidance means for guiding parking while corresponding to the delivery route selected by the delivery route selection means in forward-facing parking or backward-facing parking . A parking space detecting means for detecting an empty space of the parking space formed in the parking lot;
The parking guidance device according to claim 1, wherein the delivery route prediction unit predicts a delivery route when the delivery is performed from an empty space detected by the parking space detection unit. Vehicle information storage means for storing vehicle information;
Obstacle detection means for detecting obstacles;
An approach determination unit that determines whether or not the obstacle and the vehicle approach within a predetermined distance based on the vehicle information when it is assumed that the vehicle travels along the exit route predicted by the exit route prediction unit. And having
If the the difficulty calculating means is determined to approach up to a predetermined distance in the following by the proximity determination unit, a parking guide according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that to increase the difficulty of its outgoing path apparatus.

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