Controlling a parking lot sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9852623-B2
Application number	US-201615176929-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2016
Priority date	Jun 16, 2015
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

A parking lot sensor includes a sensor for scanning a parking space for a vehicle. A method for controlling the parking lot sensor includes steps of determining an activity of vehicles in the parking lot, of determining a scanning frequency on the basis of the activity and of controlling, as a function of the scanning frequency, the sensor respectively for carrying out a scan.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a parking lot sensor for scanning a parking space for a vehicle, the method comprising:
determining an activity of vehicles in a parking lot;
determining a scanning frequency based on the activity; and
controlling, as a function of the scanning frequency, the sensor for performing a scan.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the activity is determined based on signals of an infrastructure device for scanning vehicles in a traffic area of the parking lot.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the infrastructure device is designed to determine a speed of a vehicle in a traffic area and to determine the activity on the basis of the speed.

4. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the infrastructure device is designed to determine a waiting time of a vehicle in a traffic area and to determine the activity on the basis of the waiting time.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the parking lot includes multiple parking spaces, to each of which one parking lot sensor is assigned, and the scanning frequency for an individual parking lot sensor is determined.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the parking lot includes multiple parking spaces, to each of which one parking lot sensor is assigned, and the scanning frequency of a group of parking lot sensors is determined.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the parking lot includes multiple parking spaces, to each of which one parking lot sensor is assigned, and the scanning frequency of all parking lot sensors is determined.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program code for controlling a parking lot sensor for scanning a parking space for a vehicle, the program code, when executed by a processing device, causing the processing device to perform:
determining an activity of vehicles in a parking lot;
determining a scanning frequency based on the activity; and
controlling, as a function of the scanning frequency, the sensor for performing a scan.

9. A parking lot sensor for a parking lot, wherein the parking lot sensor is designed to receive a scanning frequency based on an activity of vehicles in the parking lot and to determine the presence of a vehicle in the area of a parking space with the scanning frequency.

10. The parking lot sensor as recited in claim 9 , wherein the parking lot sensor has a limited energy reserve and is designed to switch into an energy-saving state between scans.

11. A parking system for a parking lot, the parking system comprising:
a parking lot sensor designed to receive a scanning frequency and to determine the presence of a vehicle in the area of a parking space with the scanning frequency;
an infrastructure device for detecting vehicles in a traffic area of the parking lot; and
a processing device designed to:
receive a signal from the infrastructure device;
determine, on the basis of the signal, an activity of vehicles in the traffic area of the parking lot;
determine, on the basis of the activity, a scanning frequency for the parking lot sensor; and
transmit the determined scanning frequency to the parking lot sensor.

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Nordbruch Stefan

Classifications

• G08G1/149

  coupled to means for restricting the access to the parking space, e.g. authorization, access barriers, indicative lights · CPC title

• G08G1/0175

  by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules · CPC title

• G08G1/0116

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

• G08G1/04

  using optical or ultrasonic detectors · CPC title

• G08G1/146 Primary

  where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space · CPC title