This disclosure provides a method and apparatus for recognizing a parking space.

An aspect of the present disclosure provides a method, performed by an apparatus of a host vehicle, for recognizing a parking space, the method including: recognizing another vehicle and a pillar based on data acquired from a light detection and ranging (lidar) device; recognizing a parking slot marking based on an image captured by a camera; and generating a map of an indoor parking lot based on information on the another vehicle, the pillar, and the parking slot marking.

A driving assistance device for a vehicle includes a traveling environment recognizer, a parking space detector, an evaluation value calculator, and a parking space setter. The traveling environment recognizer is configured to recognize traveling environment information related to an outside of the vehicle. The parking space detector is configured to, in a case where the vehicle has entered a parking lot, detect one or more parking spaces available to the vehicle based on the traveling environment information. The evaluation value calculator is configured to calculate one or more evaluation values for the one or more parking spaces, each of the one or more evaluation values including an exit hindrance factor as an evaluation item. The parking space setter is configured to select, with priority, a parking space for parking the vehicle from among the one or more parking spaces. The evaluation value of the parking space is relatively high.

A parking enforcement system includes an autonomous vehicle that is equipped with an image capture device that is configured to capture images of license plates of parked vehicles while the autonomous vehicle moves through a parking zone. The system will process the images to extract license plate numbers from the images. The system will correlate the license plate numbers with data in a parking enforcement database to determine whether the license plate numbers are associated with an unexpired parking transaction. For any license plate number that is not subject to an unexpired parking transaction, the system may initiate an enforcement action. For any license plate number that is subject to an unexpired parking transaction, the system may not initiate an enforcement action.

A method can be used for adaptive parking of a vehicle. A parking area is determined around a programmed destination of the vehicle. The parking area has more than one available parking spot for the vehicle. Parking data is acquired via a wireless communication network. The parking data for each parked vehicle includes a parking position and an individual sensing coverage of an environment sensor system of the respective parked vehicle scanning the traffic environment within the parking area. Available parking spots are ranked based on a calculated overall sensing coverage and a recommended parking spot is determined among the available parking spots based on overall sensing coverage of the traffic environment in the parking area.

While a vehicle is in an area, a stored map uncertainty value of map data for the area is retrieved. The stored map uncertainty value gives a range of uncertainty for at least one indicator of a travel path specified by the map data. Upon estimating the travel path and a vehicle pose, a dynamic map uncertainty value is determined based on a pose uncertainty value and a travel path uncertainty value. The pose uncertainty value gives a range of uncertainty for the vehicle pose in three degrees-of-freedom based on vehicle sensor data, and the travel path uncertainty value gives a range of uncertainty for the at least one indicator of the estimated travel path based on vehicle sensor data. Upon determining that the dynamic map uncertainty value is less than the stored map uncertainty value, the map data is updated based on the vehicle sensor data. Upon updating the map data, the vehicle is operated based on the updated map data.

An information providing system includes an onboard device and a server that transmits information to and receives information from the onboard device. The onboard device includes a condition setting unit that acquires a destination and an output mode and transmits the acquired destination and the acquired output mode to the server. The onboard device further includes an output unit that outputs parking lot recommendation information which is received from the server. The server includes a storage unit that stores parking lot information including position information of parking lots and parking fees which are detected from a captured image of the parking lots. The server further includes an information providing unit that prioritizes parking lots which are located within a predetermined range from the destination based on the output mode provides the parking lot information of the prioritized parking lots as the parking lot recommendation information to the onboard device.

A mobile apparatus receives a route response including information identifying a starting location and a target location of a route and an encoding data structure encoding the route. The encoding data structure is a probabilistic data structure configured to not provide false negatives. The mobile apparatus uses the information identifying the starting and target locations to identify a decoded origin traversable map element (TME) and a decoded target TME of the mobile version of the digital map for the route; accesses map information for determining a cost value for TMEs of the digital map, wherein a TME that satisfies the encoding data structure is assigned a minimal cost value; determines a decoded route from the decoded starting TME to the decoded target TME based on the cost value assigned to the TMEs using a cost minimization route determination algorithm; and performs at least one navigation function using the decoded route.

An information processing apparatus includes a controller. The controller determines, based on a preference of a user of a vehicle that enters a parking lot adjacent to a complex facility having a plurality of shops and a plurality of facility entrances, a shop to be used by the user from among the plurality of shops. The controller determines an entrance to be used by the user from among the plurality of facility entrances based on a position of the shop to be used, and outputs a position of the entrance to be used to the vehicle.

A parking assistance apparatus obtains a target travelling route from a present position of a vehicle to a target parking position and controls the vehicle such that the vehicle moves along the target travelling route. The target travelling route is obtained such that the vehicle moves backward to reach the target parking position and the vehicle is moves in a region on the target parking position side of a travelling boundary line. The travelling boundary line is a straight line which is in front of the vehicle located at the target parking position and which is away from a reference position by a boundary distance. The reference position is a position at a front end and at a center in a lateral direction of the vehicle located at the target parking position. The boundary distance is a configurable value changed by a driver of the vehicle.

A parking facility management server for a parking facility, including a communication interface, which is designed to receive a request via a communication network from a user of the communication network to carry out at least one vehicle-specific service for a vehicle in the parking facility, and a processor, which is designed to process the request, in order to check whether or not the at least one service may be carried out in the parking facility for the vehicle in accordance with the request, the processor being further designed to ascertain a response as a function of the check. The communication interface further being designed to transmit the response via the communication network back to the user, the processor further being designed to plan and to coordinate the carrying out of the service in the event of a positive response that at least one service may be carried out.