JP7283615B2 - parking assist device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the technical field of parking assistance devices.

As a device of this type, for example, automatic driving of the own vehicle in the parking lot is permitted on the condition that the traffic direction for the passage for one vehicle in the parking lot is fixed in one direction, and the own vehicle is parked by automatic driving. A device for parking a vehicle in a desired parking space in a parking lot has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2016-099953 A

The technique described in Patent Document 1 does not mention which of reverse parking and forward parking is selected when the host vehicle is parked in a parking space. If the user has to select reverse parking or forward parking, in other words, if the user has to decide the parking attitude of the own vehicle with respect to the parking space after parking, user convenience may decline.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a parking assist system capable of automatically determining a parking posture for a parking space.

A parking assistance device according to an aspect of the present invention is a parking assistance device that automatically parks a target vehicle in a target parking space, which is one parking space among a plurality of parking spaces, and , an acquisition means for acquiring parking information indicating whether the parking posture of a vehicle parked in one or more parking spaces around the target parking space is forward parking or backward parking; and based on the acquired parking information, (i ) When an index value relating to a parked vehicle in a parking posture different from the reference posture of forward parking or backward parking is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the different parking posture is determined as the parking posture of the target vehicle in the target parking space. and (ii) determining means for determining the reference attitude as a parking attitude of the target vehicle with respect to the target parking space when the index value is less than the predetermined value, wherein the forward parking means that the vehicle is This is the parking posture when the vehicle is moved forward into the parking space and the backward parking is the parking posture when the vehicle is moved backward into the parking space.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a parking assistance device according to an embodiment; FIG. It is a flow chart which shows parking assistance processing concerning an embodiment.

An embodiment of a parking assistance device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

(composition)
A configuration of a parking assistance device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the parking assistance device according to the embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a parking assistance device 100 is mounted on a vehicle 1. As shown in FIG. The vehicle 1 includes an automatic driving device 10 , a peripheral monitoring sensor 21 , a vehicle state sensor 22 and various ECUs (Electronic Control Units) 30 . The vehicle 1 is configured to be automatically operable by an automatic driving device 10 .

The surroundings monitoring sensor 21 includes, for example, at least one of a camera, a laser sensor, a millimeter wave radar, an ultrasonic sensor, and the like. Since various existing aspects can be applied to the surroundings monitoring sensor 21, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The vehicle state sensor 22 includes sensors capable of detecting various states of the vehicle 1, such as a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, and a shift sensor. Since various existing aspects can be applied to the vehicle state sensor 22, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Various ECUs 30 include, for example, an engine ECU, a motor ECU, a hybrid ECU, a brake ECU, a steering ECU, and the like. Since various existing aspects can be applied to the various ECUs 30, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The automatic driving device 10 calculates a travel route that the vehicle 1 should travel based on, for example, the output of the surroundings monitoring sensor 21, and then controls the vehicle state sensor 22 so that the vehicle 1 travels along the travel route. Various ECUs 30 are controlled based on the output.

In this embodiment, the operation when the automatic driving device 10 parks the vehicle 1 in the target parking space by automatic driving will be described. The automatic driving device 10 includes a feature analysis unit 11, an own vehicle orientation determination unit 12, and an automatic driving determination unit 13 as processing blocks that are logically realized therein or as processing circuits that are physically realized. It is

Here, the feature analysis unit 11 and the host vehicle orientation determination unit 12 constitute the parking assistance device 100 . In other words, in this embodiment, the parking assistance device 100 constitutes a part of the automatic driving device 10 .

When the vehicle 1 is parked, the feature analysis unit 11 determines the parking directions of other parked vehicles around the target parking space in which the vehicle 1 is to be parked, based on the output of the surroundings monitoring sensor 21 . Specifically, when the perimeter monitoring sensor 21 includes a camera, the feature analysis unit 11 uses a pattern recognition technique or the like using an image captured by the camera to detect other parked vehicles. to determine the direction of parking. Here, the direction of parking when the vehicle is parked backward is called "rearward parking", and the direction of parking when the vehicle is parked forward is called "forward parking".

The own vehicle orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 based on the parking orientation of the other parked vehicles determined by the feature analysis unit 11 . Specifically, when the number of other parked vehicles facing backwards is greater than the number of other parked vehicles facing forwards, the host vehicle direction determination unit 12 determines the parking direction of the vehicle 1 as backwards parking. Alternatively, when the number of other parked vehicles facing forward is larger than that of other parked vehicles facing backward, the vehicle direction determination unit 12 determines the parking direction of the vehicle 1 to be forward parking.

The automatic driving determination unit 13 calculates the driving route when the vehicle 1 is parked based on, for example, the current position of the vehicle 1, the position of the target parking space, the parking orientation determined by the own vehicle orientation determination unit 12, and the like. . Since various existing modes can be applied to the method of calculating the travel route, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

(Parking assistance processing)
Next, the parking assistance process performed by the automatic driving device 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 2, the automatic driving device 10 acquires the position of an empty parking space (that is, a parking space in which no parked vehicle exists) among a plurality of parking spaces in a parking lot (step S101). The position of the vacant parking space may be obtained based on the output of the perimeter monitoring sensor 21, or may be obtained from a device provided on the parking lot side. The automatic driving device 10 determines a target parking space for parking the vehicle 1 from the position of the empty parking space.

Next, the feature analysis unit 11 acquires information related to one or a plurality of parked vehicles (that is, other vehicles) existing around the target parking space based on the output of the surroundings monitoring sensor 21 (step S102). . Subsequently, the feature analysis unit 11 determines the parking direction of each of the one or more parked vehicles based on the output of the surroundings monitoring sensor 21 (step S103).

Next, the host vehicle orientation determining unit 12 aggregates the parking orientations of one or more parked vehicles (step S104). The result of the processing in step S104 may be represented, for example, by the number of units, or may be represented by a ratio or percentage. When the result of the process of step S104 is represented by a ratio or a percentage, the vehicle orientation determining unit 12 may use the number of parked vehicles as a parameter for obtaining the ratio or percentage.

Next, the host vehicle orientation determination unit 12 determines the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 as the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 based on the result of the process of step S104 (step S105). . Subsequently, the automatic travel determination unit 13 calculates the travel route of the vehicle 1 when the vehicle 1 is parked, based on the parking orientation determined by the own vehicle orientation determination unit 12, for example. Then, the automatic travel determination unit 13 controls various ECUs 30 based on the output of the vehicle state sensor 22 so that the vehicle 1 travels along the travel route (step S106).

(technical effect)
According to the parking assistance device 100, the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 can be determined based on the parking orientation of the parked vehicle. Since the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 is automatically determined by the parking assistance device 100, the user's convenience can be improved, for example, compared to a device according to a comparative example in which the user determines the parking orientation.

<First modification>
The own vehicle orientation determining unit 12 may predetermine a standard parking orientation as the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 . In this case, in the process of step S105 described above, if the number of parked vehicles in a parking orientation different from the standard parking orientation is less than a predetermined value, the vehicle orientation determination unit 12 changes the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 to the standard parking orientation. to determine the direction of parking. On the other hand, in the process of step S105 described above, if the number of parked vehicles in a parking orientation different from the standard parking orientation is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the host vehicle orientation determination unit 12 changes the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 to the standard parking orientation. A parking orientation different from the parking orientation (that is, forward parking if the standard parking orientation is rearward parking, and rearward parking if the standard parking orientation is forward parking) is determined.

The "standard parking direction" may be fixed, or may be changed according to, for example, the area where the parking lot is installed, the form of the parking lot, the installation environment, and the like. Specifically, for example, when a private house is adjacent to a parking lot, the standard parking direction may be set to forward parking in order to suppress the inflow of exhaust gas into the private house. For example, in the case of a parking lot of a large-scale commercial facility where a relatively large number of vehicles come and go, the standard parking direction may be set to rearward parking in order to make exiting the parking space relatively smooth.

The "predetermined value" is a value that determines whether or not the vehicle 1 is parked in a direction different from the standard parking direction. The predetermined value is not limited to the number of vehicles and may be expressed as a ratio or percentage (in view of the fact that the number of parking spaces in a parking lot is not uniform, the predetermined value is preferably expressed as a ratio or percentage). If the predetermined value is, for example, the number of parked vehicles suitable for standard parking, the configuration is substantially the same as that of the embodiment described above. Naturally, if the predetermined value is expressed as a ratio or percentage, the index value for the parked vehicle that is compared with the predetermined value is also expressed as a ratio or percentage. The number of parked vehicles described above is also an example of the index value.

With this configuration, even if there is no parked vehicle in the parking lot, the parking orientation of the vehicle 1 can be appropriately determined.

<Second modification>
In the above-described embodiment, the parking assistance device 100 is mounted on the vehicle 1, but the parking assistance device 100 may be provided on the parking lot side.

For example, in Valet Parking, a device on the side of the parking lot monitors the condition of the parking lot (eg, number of parked vehicles, number and location of empty parking spaces, etc.). In particular, in valet parking lots where vehicles are automatically moved to a predetermined parking space, a device provided on the parking lot side often calculates the route of the vehicle to the predetermined parking space. In such a parking lot, it is desirable that the parking assistance device 100 is provided on the parking lot side and the direction of parking is determined on the parking lot side.

It should be noted that "automatically move the vehicle to a predetermined parking space" is not limited to automatically moving the vehicle to a predetermined parking space by the automatic driving function of the vehicle. The concept also includes conveying the upper vehicle together with the pallet to a predetermined parking space and conveying the vehicle to a predetermined parking space by a conveyor.

Various aspects of the invention derived from the embodiments and modifications described above will be described below.

A parking assistance device according to an aspect of the invention is a parking assistance device that automatically parks a target vehicle in a target parking space, which is one parking space out of a plurality of parking spaces, comprising: acquisition means for acquiring parking information indicating a parking attitude of a vehicle parked in one or more parking spaces around the target parking space; and parking of the target vehicle in the target parking space based on the acquired parking information. and determining means for determining the posture. In the above-described embodiment, the "vehicle 1" corresponds to an example of the target vehicle, the "feature analysis unit 11" corresponds to an example of the acquisition means, and the "vehicle orientation determination unit 12" corresponds to an example of the determination means. do. "Parking orientation (that is, rearward parking, forward parking)" in the above-described embodiment corresponds to an example of "parking posture for the target parking space."

In the parking assistance device, the parking attitude of the target vehicle in the target parking space is determined based on the parking information indicating the parking attitude of the parked vehicle. For example, if one of the parking postures of the parked vehicles indicated by the parking information has more parking postures than the other parking postures, the parking posture of the target vehicle may be determined as the one parking posture. According to the parking assistance device, the parking attitude of the target vehicle can be automatically determined.

In one aspect of the parking assistance device, the determination unit determines (i) based on the acquired parking information, if an index value related to a parked vehicle in a parking posture different from the reference posture is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the different determining a parking posture as a parking posture of the target vehicle relative to the target parking space; and (ii) determining the reference posture as a parking posture of the target vehicle relative to the target parking space when the index value is less than the predetermined value. Determined as

According to this aspect, even if there is no parked vehicle in the parking lot, it is possible to appropriately determine the parking attitude of the target vehicle. It should be noted that the "standard parking direction" in the above-described embodiment corresponds to an example of the reference posture.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope not contrary to the gist or idea of the invention that can be read from the scope of claims and the entire specification. is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle, 10... Automatic driving apparatus, 11... Characteristic analysis part, 12... Vehicle direction determination part, 13... Automatic driving determination part, 21... Surroundings monitoring sensor, 22... Vehicle state sensor, 30... ECU, 100... Parking support equipment

Claims (4)

A parking assistance device that automatically parks a target vehicle in a target parking space, which is one parking space among a plurality of parking spaces,
Acquisition means for acquiring parking information indicating whether a parking attitude of a vehicle parked in one or more parking spaces around the target parking space among the plurality of parking spaces is forward parking or backward parking;
Based on the acquired parking information, (i) when an index value relating to a parked vehicle in a parking posture different from the reference posture of forward parking or backward parking is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the different parking posture is determined as described above. (ii) determining means for determining a parking attitude of the target vehicle for the target parking space, and determining the reference attitude as the parking attitude of the target vehicle for the target parking space when the index value is less than the predetermined value; and,
with
The forward parking is a parking posture when the vehicle moves forward into the parking space and enters the parking space,
A parking assistance device, wherein the rearward parking is a parking attitude when the vehicle is parked in a parking space by retreating. The parking assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the parking assistance device is provided outside the target vehicle. A parking assistance method for automatically parking a target vehicle in a target parking space, which is one of a plurality of parking spaces, comprising:
Acquiring parking information indicating whether the parking attitude of a vehicle parked in one or more parking spaces around the target parking space among the plurality of parking spaces is forward parking or rearward parking;
Based on the acquired parking information, (i) if an index value related to a parked vehicle in a parking posture different from the reference posture of forward parking or backward parking is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the different parking posture is (ii) if the index value is less than the predetermined value, determining the reference posture as the parking posture of the target vehicle for the target parking space; ,
including
The forward parking is a parking posture when the vehicle moves forward into the parking space and enters the parking space,
The rearward parking is a parking posture when the vehicle is parked in a parking space by reversing.
A parking assistance method characterized by: A computer included in a parking assistance device that automatically parks a target vehicle in a target parking space, which is one of a plurality of parking spaces,
Acquisition means for acquiring parking information indicating whether a parking attitude of a vehicle parked in one or more parking spaces around the target parking space among the plurality of parking spaces is forward parking or backward parking;
Based on the acquired parking information, (i) if an index value related to a parked vehicle in a parking posture different from the reference posture of forward parking or backward parking is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the different parking posture is (ii) determining means for determining a parking attitude of the target vehicle for the target parking space, and determining the reference attitude as the parking attitude of the target vehicle for the target parking space when the index value is less than the predetermined value; and,
to make it work,
The forward parking is a parking posture when the vehicle moves forward into the parking space and enters the parking space,
The rearward parking is a parking posture when the vehicle is parked in a parking space by reversing.
A computer program characterized by:

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