JP7120042B2 - Automatic parking management server - Google Patents

Description

The present invention detects and identifies the position of a vehicle using a sensor attached to a roadside device (hereinafter simply referred to as "infrastructure") installed around or in a parking lot, for example. The present invention relates to the technical field of automatic parking management servers used for automatic parking services that enable automatic parking.

As a device of this type, the device described in Patent Document 1 uses image recognition to identify the vehicle and recognize the position of the vehicle when performing an automatic parking service.

The device described in Patent Document 2 improves the accuracy of image recognition by comparing the vehicle color with a past image of the vehicle, and particularly when the vehicle color is clearly different from the past image, the administrator is notified. A method is adopted in which a notification is issued

JP 2014-227021 A JP 2008-15627 A

However, according to the background art described above, determination becomes difficult or impossible when the exterior of the vehicle or the marker portion for detecting the position of the vehicle is partially or wholly covered or dirty. As a result, there is a technical problem that automatic parking may not be performed properly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when performing an automatic driving service in a parking lot, the owner of the vehicle can be appropriately requested to perform maintenance such as washing the vehicle. Instead, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic parking management server capable of preventing or suppressing situations in which the automatic parking service is used in an inappropriate state.

In order to solve the above problems, an automatic parking management server according to an aspect of the present invention includes an infrastructure communication unit that communicates with an infrastructure for image recognition of a specific area for automatic parking in a vehicle using a sensor; a computing unit that determines whether or not image recognition of the specific region for the vehicle is possible based on the acquired information related to the output of the sensor; and a vehicle communication unit for transmitting.

Such actions and other benefits of the present invention will be made clear by the embodiments described hereafter.

1 is a schematic plan view of a parking lot and vehicles in the automatic parking service system according to the embodiment; FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an automated parking service system according to an embodiment; FIG. It is a flow chart which shows a flow of processing in an automatic parking service system concerning an embodiment.

An automatic parking service system including an automatic parking management server according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the automatic parking service system according to this embodiment, a parking lot 400 connected to a road 500 is provided with a plurality of parking spaces 401 and parking lot gates 402 . The parking lot 400 further includes a camera 404A aimed at the vehicle 501a located on the road 500 at the entry position to the parking lot 400, and a camera 404C directed at the vehicle 501b at the automatic parking starting position 400S in the parking lot. A camera group is provided. The camera group constitutes a part of the on-road device 101, and outputs image information related to camera output to the inside of the main body of the on-road device 101, as will be described in detail later (see FIG. 2). Under the control of the on-road equipment 101, a group of cameras are arranged to identify the vehicles 501a, 501b or detect the position of the vehicles 501a, 501b.

In FIG. 1, according to the automatic parking service according to the present embodiment, as will be described in detail later (see FIGS. 2 and 3), the vehicle 501b at the starting position 400S is positioned on the road like the vehicles 501c and 501d. 101 and the vehicle 501b are automatically driven into the single parking space 401 assigned to the vehicle 501b. Such automatic driving in the parking lot may be performed while the owner of the vehicle 501 is in the vehicle, or may be performed after the owner gets off, as in so-called "automatic valet parking (AVP)". In either case, as will be described in detail later (see FIGS. 2 and 3), in situations where the vehicle 501 is soiled and it is desirable or necessary to remove the soiling by maintenance or washing, there is a requirement to that effect. made to the owner accordingly.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the automatic parking service system according to this embodiment, in addition to the vehicle 501 and on-road device 101 shown in FIG. 1, a service management device 201 is accommodated in one network. In this embodiment, an example of the “automatic parking management server” according to this embodiment is configured by the service management device 201 . An example of the “sensor” according to this embodiment includes the cameras 404A and 404B, and an example of the “infrastructure” according to this embodiment is the road device 101 .

In FIG. 2 , a vehicle 501 includes a vehicle position estimation unit 502 , vehicle travel control unit 504 , movement amount calculation unit 505 , external world recognition device 503 , and communication unit 506 . The roadside device 101 includes an imaging unit 102, a number recognition unit 103, a classifier area determination unit 104, and a communication unit 106, which correspond to the camera group including the cameras 404A and 404C in FIG.

The service management device 201 selects a starting position 400S specific to each parking lot 400 or an arbitrary position from the gate 402 to the starting position 400S (that is, the position where the vehicle 501 is running or stopped at the start of automatic driving). position on the road 500 and near the gate 402), a past acquired image section 203 that stores past acquired images of individual vehicles 501, and individual vehicles 501. A number information section 204 that stores vehicle number information related to each, a specific area for identification in each classifier (for example, an area where a classifier for detecting the position of the vehicle is arranged, more specifically, an area information unit 205 and a communication unit 206 of the discriminator, in which information of the discriminator for position detection attached to the ceiling of the vehicle, vehicle tires for position detection, etc., are respectively stored; (See FIG. 3), and a calculation unit 208 for determining whether the determination in the determination unit 104 is possible or not.

The communication unit 206 of the service management device 201 receives detection information relating to image information, which is camera outputs relating to the cameras 404A and 404C, from the on-road device 101 via the vehicle 501 or directly. In the service management device 201, as will be described in detail later (see FIGS. 2 and 3), the calculation unit 208 of the service management device 201 determines whether or not the determination unit 104 can make a determination, in other words, based on the detection information related to the camera output. It is determined whether or not maintenance or cleaning, which is mainly intended to remove dirt from a specific area of the vehicle 501, is required. Further, the communication unit 206 appropriately transmits to the owner of the vehicle 501 information regarding whether or not maintenance is necessary (in particular, information indicating that maintenance or car washing is “required”) to the vehicle 501 . These are configured to prevent or suppress situations in which the automatic parking service is used in an inappropriate state within the parking lot 400 . Also, an example of the “infrastructure communication unit” and the “vehicle communication unit” according to this embodiment is configured by the communication unit 206 .

More specifically, in the vehicle 501, in the parking lot 400, image recognition using output information from a front camera, a back camera, an all-around camera, etc., and driving data such as the vehicle speed and steering angle information of the vehicle 501 are processed. An external world recognition device 503 that recognizes the external world based on this recognition recognizes the state and movement of the external world or the vehicle 501 (that is, the own vehicle). Then, the vehicle position estimation unit 502 estimates the position of the vehicle 501 (that is, the own vehicle) in the parking lot 400 . Such estimation may be performed by sequentially adding travel data from the vehicle travel control unit 504 . In parallel with or before or after such estimation, the movement amount calculation unit 505 calculates the amount to be moved by automatic driving in the parking lot 400 (that is, the movement direction to be moved next, the movement distance, etc.). , the vehicle travel control unit 504 executes automatic driving control of the vehicle 501 in the parking lot 400 in response to the estimated vehicle position and the calculated amount of movement. As will be described in detail later (see FIG. 3), the communication unit 506 transmits various information for automatic driving in the parking lot 400 and various information for making it possible to appropriately request maintenance or washing of the vehicle 501. It exchanges between the road device 101 and the service management device 201 .

In the on-road device 101, image information relating to the camera image is output by the imaging unit 102 comprising a group of cameras including the cameras 404A and 404C, and the vehicle number of the vehicle 501 is identified by the number identification unit 103. be done. The number identification itself may be performed based on the image data of the camera 404A before entering the parking lot 400, or may be performed based on the image data of the camera 404C at the stop position. In parallel with or before or after such number identification, the discriminator region determining unit 104 determines the color, pattern, etc. of the specific region of the discriminator. As will be described in detail later (see FIG. 3), the communication unit 106 transmits various information for automatic driving in the parking lot 400 and various information for making it possible to appropriately request maintenance or car washing for the vehicle 501, It exchanges between the vehicle 501 and the service management device 201 .

In the service management device 201, prior to the start of automatic driving in the parking lot 400, information indicating the starting position 400S unique to each parking lot 400 is stored in the storage means or storage means by the automatic driving start position unit 202. Read from the database. It is convenient if such information is stored as information corresponding to the on-road device 101 . In parallel with or before or after such reading, the previously acquired image unit 203 stores information about the specific region of the classifier in the past for the vehicle 501 stopped at the start position 400S. It is read from the database in the storage means. Such information may be acquired and stored via the cameras 404A and 404C, etc., or by registering the car number, model, color, etc. at the time of new car registration, a corresponding pseudo- Default image data, which is a past image, may be stored and read out.

In the service management device 201, in parallel with or before or after these readings, the vehicle number information of the vehicle 501 stopped at the start position 400S is stored by the number information unit 204 in its storage means or storage means. is read from the database at In parallel with or before or after these readings, the discriminator region information unit 205 reads a specific region of the discriminator (for example, the outer surface of the ceiling, the outer surface of the tire, etc.) related to the vehicle 501 stopped at the start position 400S. is read out from the storage means or a database in the storage means. As will be described in detail later (see FIG. 3), the calculation unit 208 determines whether or not there is a change in the specific area of the vehicle 501 in the parking lot 400, that is, whether or not the area is stained. As will be described in detail later (see FIG. 3), the communication unit 206 receives various information for automatic driving in the parking lot 400 and an appropriate request for maintenance or car washing for the vehicle 501 as to whether or not the determination unit 104 can determine. Various types of information are exchanged between the vehicle 501 and the on-road device 101 to enable this.

The configuration and functions of the automatic parking service system that enable automatic driving in the parking lot 400 as described above may be at least partially used for automatic driving on the road 500 (see FIG. 1). In either case, the automatic driving in the parking lot 400 is started after the vehicle 501 passing through the gate 402 is once stopped at the starting position 400S of the vehicle 501b in FIG.

The movement of the vehicle 501 until it stops at the starting position 400S may be performed by fully automatic or semi-automatic operation after the driver gets off the vehicle 501 or while the driver remains in the vehicle. However, it may also be performed manually by the driver of vehicle 501 . In this embodiment, as will be described in detail later (see steps S23 to S26 in FIG. 3), movement to the start position 400S is also automatically performed, which is very convenient. However, even if the movement to the start position 400S is performed manually, the benefits of appropriately prompting maintenance and car washing according to the present embodiment are fully exhibited.

Here, in general, the area used for position detection of the vehicle 501 may be partially or wholly dirty. For example, if a classifier for position detection attached to the ceiling of the vehicle 501 is stained with bird droppings, the tires and wheels of the vehicle 501 that are used for position detection are stained with mud. For example, the contrast between the body color and the ground color is lost or distorted. Even if there is dirt like this, if no dirt is seen in other areas other than the dirty area, the result of past color judgment will be the same as the result of color judgment this time. may occur. The reason for such a phenomenon is that, in general, color determination is performed by detecting the area of the vehicle 501 with the imaging unit while the position of the vehicle 501 is not detected, and the vehicle 501 is traveling toward the start position 400S. This is because it is relatively difficult to determine which part of the vehicle 501 is captured by the imaging unit while grasping the shape and position of the vehicle 501 in the vehicle. In general, there is no place where the traveling vehicle 501 always stops, and depending on the traveling route of the vehicle 501, the area used for position detection on the vehicle surface may enter the blind spot of the imaging unit 102. It's for.

However, in the present embodiment, before starting automatic driving in the parking lot 400, first, it is assumed that the vehicle 501 is stopped at the start position 400S to which the camera 404C is directed in FIG. 1 like the vehicle 501b. Moreover, in this state, the camera 404C is attached so as not to hide the specific area used for position detection in the vehicle 501b. In other words, it is assumed that the vehicle 501b is stopped so that the specific area used for position detection in the vehicle 501b is arranged in a position that does not become a blind spot of the camera 404C.

Further, in this embodiment, under such a premise, while the position of the vehicle 501 passing through the gate 402 and traveling toward the parking lot 400 is grasped by the camera group such as the camera 404A, the camera group captures the position. By determining which area of the vehicle 501 is shown in the current image, the area to be compared between the current image and the past image is narrowed down to a specific area, and then the comparison is executed. Therefore, in the calculation unit 208, it is possible to reliably and easily determine that the specific area to be compared is dirty (that is, the color or pattern has changed as a result of comparison with the previous image). Therefore, it is possible to appropriately prompt the owner of the vehicle 501 to wash and maintain the vehicle before starting automatic driving.

The configuration (especially the configuration of each part shown in FIG. 2) and operation of the automatic parking service system according to the embodiment configured as described above will be further described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 in addition to FIGS. explain.

First, in FIG. 3, image data, vehicle speed data, and steering data acquired by a vehicle 501 having an external recognition device 503 based on, instead of, or in addition to image data acquired by the on-road device 101 having the image pickup unit 102, are described. Based on the corner data or the like, it is determined by the on-road device 101 or additionally or alternatively by the vehicle 501 whether or not the vehicle 501 has passed through the gate 402 when entering the parking lot 400 from the road 500 ( step S11).

If it is determined that the vehicle has entered the garage (step S11: Yes), the vehicle equipped with the external recognition device 503 is based on the image data or the like obtained by the on-road device 101 having the imaging unit 102, or alternatively or in addition thereto. It is further determined whether the vehicle 501 has reached the starting position 400S by the on-road device 101 or additionally or alternatively by the vehicle 501 based on the image data and the like acquired in 501 (step S12). .

Here, when it is determined that the vehicle has reached the start position 400S (step S12: Yes), the service management device 201 uses the number information section 204 and the area information section 205 of the discriminator to read the number information and The region information of the discriminator is acquired (step S13), the past acquired image of the vehicle 501 is read by the past acquired image unit 203 (step S14), and the acquired information and the vehicle stop at the start position 400S. Based on the image information of the vehicle 501, the calculation unit 208 determines whether or not there is a change from the previous image with respect to the specific region used for determining the vehicle position of the vehicle 501 (step S15). ).

The determination of the presence or absence of change in step S16 is typically performed by the calculation unit 208 based on whether or not a change exceeding a preset change threshold is recognized. The "threshold value" here is, for example, experimentally and experimentally the degree of dirt when the determination by the determination unit 104 of the identification region of the road device 101 changes from yes to no while changing the degree of dirt in the specific region in advance. It may be determined empirically or by simulation, and may be set by adding an appropriate margin. The comparison in the "specific area" that changes according to the degree of dirt is performed by capturing the position of the vehicle 501 traveling toward the starting position 400S with the camera group including the camera 404A, and capturing the image with the camera group. By determining which area of the vehicle 501 the image being displayed is, and particularly determining that it is a specific area, it is possible to narrow down the area to be compared to the specific area. . That is, it is possible to efficiently avoid the inconvenience that the area to be compared cannot be compared in the same area due to dirt or a blind spot of the camera.

If there is a change here (step S16: Yes), it is estimated that the determination in the determination unit 104 is "no" (impossible). The communication unit 506 on the vehicle 501 side is notified that the user or owner of the vehicle 501 requesting maintenance including car washing or car washing (step S17), and a series of processing ends. be done. In the vehicle 501, the notification to that effect may be transmitted to the driver through visual or auditory output, or the notification to that effect may be transmitted to the user via another communication device.

Alternatively, if there is no change in step S12 (step S16: No), it is estimated that the determination by the determination unit 104 is "possible", so the user or owner of the vehicle 501 is notified of the request for maintenance or car wash. is not performed, the determination by the determination unit 104 on the road device 101 side (that is, vehicle recognition using the specific area) is performed as it is, and a series of processing is terminated. Note that if there is no change in step S12 (step S16: No), a confirmatory notification that the determination by the determination unit 104 is "acceptable" or a confirmatory notification that maintenance or car washing is unnecessary is sent. , may be performed to the communication unit 506 on the vehicle 501 side or the communication unit 106 on the road device 101 side.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that the vehicle has not reached the start position 400S (step S12: No), the external world recognition device 503 of the vehicle 501 performs automatic driving to the start position 400S. Data, vehicle speed data, steering angle data, etc. are acquired (step S23), and the movement amount calculation unit 505 calculates the movement amount after passing through the gate 402 (step S24). Further, the vehicle position estimation unit 502 reads the initial position of the vehicle 501, calculates or estimates the current position based on the initial position and the calculated movement amount (step S25), and starts from the current position and the vehicle speed. It is determined whether or not the position 400S has been reached (step S26), and the series of processes is terminated. After the vehicle 501 passes through the gate 402, the processing after the determination in step S12 is repeated until the vehicle 501 reaches the start position 400S (step S12: No).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that the vehicle has not passed through the gate 402, that is, if it is determined that the vehicle 501 is about to pass through the gate 402 and enter the garage (step S11: No), the vehicle 501 moves to the starting position. As a preparation for reaching 400S, the registered number information is read by the number information unit 204 in the service management device 201 (step S32), and the vehicle 501 about to pass through the gate is registered. It is determined whether or not a vehicle exists (step S33). If there is no corresponding vehicle here (step S33: No), a series of processing is terminated without performing any special processing.

When it is determined in step S33 that there is a corresponding vehicle, that is, various data such as the license plate number of the currently targeted vehicle 501, the previously acquired image, and the specific region of the discriminator are registered in respective databases. If yes (step S33: Yes), the initial position of the vehicle 501 acquired from the external world recognition device 504 in the vehicle 501 via the communication unit 506 and the communication unit 206 is determined by the automatic driving start position unit 202 as the start position It is recorded for automatic driving (step S34) until it reaches 400S (step S12: Yes), and the series of processes is terminated.

Aspects of the invention derived from the embodiments described above will be described below.

An automatic parking management server according to an aspect of the present invention includes an infrastructure communication unit that communicates with an infrastructure for recognizing a vehicle using a sensor; and a vehicle communication unit configured to transmit information regarding the necessity of maintenance to the vehicle according to the determination result of the calculation unit.

According to this aspect, the information regarding the necessity of maintenance is transmitted to the vehicle according to the determination result of whether or not the vehicle can be recognized by the infrastructure or by the automatic parking management server, based on the information regarding the output of the sensor acquired from the infrastructure communication unit. do. For this reason, on the other hand, when the vehicle recognition by the infrastructure or by the automatic parking management server is "possible", the automatic driving can be executed without any maintenance or washing, which is very convenient. On the other hand, when the vehicle recognition by the infrastructure or by the automatic parking management server is "failed" (that is, not possible), it is possible to appropriately inform the owner of the vehicle that maintenance, washing, etc. should be performed. Convenient.

In the automatic parking management server according to another aspect of the present invention, in the aspect described above, the infrastructure includes, as the sensor, one sensor unit directed to the vehicle stopping at the start position of automatic driving, and the computing unit discriminates a change in the area used for identifying the vehicle position of the vehicle as the vehicle recognition based on the information related to the output of the one sensor unit, and if the change exceeds a threshold value, the dirt is detected in the area. As attached, the vehicle recognition is determined to be negative, and the vehicle communication unit prompts at least one of maintenance and car washing of the vehicle as the information regarding the necessity of maintenance before the start of the automatic operation. send information about

According to this aspect, based on the information related to the output of the one sensor unit directed to the vehicle stopped at the start position of the automatic driving, by determining the change in the area used for identifying the vehicle position of the vehicle, the area Since it is determined whether or not the area is soiled, if the area is not soiled,
Automatic operation can be reliably executed without maintenance, car washing, etc., and if the area is dirty, it is possible to appropriately notify the vehicle owner, etc. that maintenance, car washing, etc. should be performed.

In the automatic parking management server according to still another aspect of the present invention, in the other aspect described above, the calculation unit determines a change in a specific area preset as the area, and the one sensor unit detects the start The vehicle is mounted so as not to obscure the specific area of the vehicle that stops at a position, and the infrastructure further includes, as the sensor, other sensors for ascertaining the position of the vehicle that is traveling toward the starting position. a sensor unit, wherein the computing unit determines which area of the vehicle is reflected in the one sensor unit based on information related to the outputs of the one sensor unit and the other sensor unit; The specific area is narrowed down to the imaged area, and the change is discriminated.

According to this aspect, the change is determined by focusing on the area reflected in the specific area that is not hidden from the one sensor unit, and the position of the vehicle traveling toward the starting position is grasped by the other sensor. Therefore, it is possible to reliably determine the dirtiness of the specific area while grasping the position of the vehicle traveling toward the starting position without putting the specific area into the blind spot of the sensor.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, maintenance such as car washing can be appropriately requested to the owner of the vehicle when the automatic driving service is provided in the parking lot. Accordingly, in addition to or instead of this, it is possible to prevent or suppress a situation in which the automatic parking service is used in an inappropriate state such as being dirty.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified within the scope of the gist or idea of the invention that can be read from the scope of claims and the entire specification, and automatic parking management accompanied by such modifications. A server is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101... Road apparatus, 201... Service management apparatus, 208... Calculation part, 400... Parking lot, 400S... Automatic driving start position, 401... Parking space, 402... Gate device, 404A, 404C... Camera, 500... Road, 501 , 501a to 501d... vehicle

Claims (1)

an infrastructure communication unit that communicates with an infrastructure for image recognition of a specific area for automatic parking in a vehicle by a sensor;
a calculation unit that determines whether or not image recognition of the specific region is possible for the vehicle based on information related to the output of the sensor acquired from the infrastructure communication unit;
and a vehicle communication unit that transmits information regarding whether or not maintenance is necessary to the vehicle according to the determination result of the calculation unit.

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