Management of a parking lot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9847027-B2
Application number	US-201615184368-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 16, 2016
Priority date	Jun 17, 2015
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

A parking lot is designed for parking motor vehicles in a non-organized manner. A method for managing the parking lot includes steps of determining an area P of the parking lot that is able to be occupied by parked motor vehicles, of determining an area K of the parking lot that is currently occupied by parked motor vehicles, and of determining a number Z of motor vehicles that may be parked additionally in the parking lot, on the basis of the relationship Z=(1−K/P)*M, where M comprises a maximum number of motor vehicles that may be parked in the parking lot.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing a parking lot for parking motor vehicles, the method comprising:
capturing, using a scanning device, at least one image of a parking lot for parking motor vehicles in a non-organized manner;
determining, using a processing device, an area P of the parking lot, which may be occupied by parked motor vehicles, based on the captured at least one image of the parking lot;
determining, using the processing device, an area K of the parking lot, which is currently occupied by parked motor vehicles, based on the captured at least one image of the parking lot;
determining, using the processing device, a number Z of motor vehicles, which may be parked additionally in the parking lot, on the basis of a relationship Z=(1−K/P)*M, where M comprises a maximum number of motor vehicles that may be parked in the parking lot; and
at least one of: displaying the determined number Z of motor vehicles that may be parked additionally using a display device, or publishing the determined number Z of motor vehicles that may be parked additionally using a publishing device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein M is verified at regular intervals based on a count of the vehicles parked in the parking lot when the parking lot is fully occupied.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein M is determined based on an average value of multiple counts performed at the regular intervals.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein P is determined anew at regular intervals.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein in the determination of P, an area of traffic paths in the parking lot which are not available for parking motor vehicles is excluded.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the determined number Z of motor vehicle that may be parked additionally is published in real time.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein a reliability of the determination of the number Z of motor vehicles that may be additionally parked is determined.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable data carrier storing program instructions, which when executed by a processing device cause the processing device to perform a method for managing a parking lot for parking motor vehicles, the method comprising:
capturing, using a scanning device, at least one image of a parking lot for parking motor vehicles in a non-organized manner;
determining an area P of the parking lot, which may be occupied by parked motor vehicles, based on the captured at least one image of the parking lot;
determining an area K of the parking lot, which is currently occupied by parked motor vehicles, based on the captured at least one image of the parking lot;
determining a number Z of motor vehicles, which may be parked additionally in the parking lot, on the basis of the relationship Z=(1−K/P)*M, where M comprises a maximum number of motor vehicles that may be parked in the parking lot; and
at least one of: displaying the determined number Z of motor vehicles that may be parked additionally using a display device, or publishing the determined number Z of motor vehicles that may be parked additionally using a publishing device.

9. A system for managing a parking lot for parking motor vehicles, the system comprising:
a scanning device to capture at least one image of a parking lot for parking motor vehicles in a non-organized manner;
a processing device to:
determine an area P of the parking lot, which may be occupied by parked motor vehicles, based on the captured at least one image of the parking lot;
determine an area K of the parking lot, which is currently occupied by parked motor vehicles, based on the captured at least one image of the parking lot;
determine a number Z of motor vehicles which may be parked additionally in the parking lot, on the basis of a relationship Z=(1−K/P)*M, wherein M comprises a maximum number of motor vehicles that may be parked in the parking lot; and

at least one of: a display device to display the determined number Z of motor vehicles that may be parked additionally, or a publishing device to publish the determined number Z of motor vehicles that may be parked additionally.

10. The device as recited in claim 9 , wherein the scanning device includes an imaging sensor.

11. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the determining of the area P is performed at a first frequency, and the determining of the number Z is performed at a second frequency equal to or greater than the first frequency.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising detecting, using the processing device, an area of traffic paths in the parking lot which are not available for parking motor vehicles, wherein in the determination of P, the area of traffic paths in the parking lot which are not available for parking motor vehicles is excluded.

13. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the scanning device captures the image using an imaging sensor.

14. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the scanning device captures the image using radar.

15. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the scanning device captures the image using lidar.

16. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the capturing captures a plurality of images using a plurality of a scanning devices.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising combining, by the processing device, the plurality of images.

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Nordbruch Stefan
• Auracher Juergen
• Maier Manuel

Classifications

• G08G1/14 Primary

  indicating individual free spaces in parking areas · CPC title

• G06K9/00785

  Physics · mapped topic

• G08G1/141

  with means giving the indication of available parking spaces · CPC title

• G08G1/0116

  from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons · CPC title

• G08G1/065

  by counting the vehicles in a section of the road or in a parking area, i.e. comparing incoming count with outgoing count · CPC title