A vehicle includes one or more laterally mounted microphones and a controller programmed to detect a signature of an unoccupied position adjacent the vehicle in outputs of the microphones. The signature may be identified using a machine learning algorithm. In response to detecting an unoccupied position, the controller may invoke autonomous parking, store the location of the unoccupied position for later use, and/or report the unoccupied position to a server, which then informs other vehicles of the available parking. The unoccupied position may be verified by evaluating whether map data indicates legal parking at that location. The unoccupied position may also be confirmed with one or more other sensors, such as a camera, LIDAR, RADAR, SONAR, or other type of sensor.

A method includes receiving data corresponding to spaces situated in a street section, the data being ascertained by at least one ascertaining vehicle driving through the street section and including information corresponding to a beginning edge of at least one object and a ending edge of at least one second object, determining boundaries of at least one space in which parking is permitted based on the received data, and generating a display representation of the boundaries of the at least one space in which parking is permitted. The method includes receiving the data and determining the boundaries, for example, each time an ascertaining vehicle drives through the street.

A parking assistance device includes: an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle; a separated distance determination unit that determines a separated distance between the obstacles when a plurality of the obstacles are detected; a target position determination unit that determines a target position in a guidance route; a route calculation unit that calculates the guidance route; and a control unit that guides a vehicle in accordance with the guidance route, wherein, when a second obstacle is detected in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction in which one or plurality of first obstacles extends or are lined up while being separated from each other and at a position separated from the first direction, the separated distance determination unit determines the separated distance between the first and second obstacles.

The invention relates to a method for monitoring a surrounding area (6) of a motor vehicle (1), wherein measurement points of surfaces of objects (7) in the surrounding area (6) detected by at least two sensor devices (4, 5) of the motor vehicle (1) are received, and wherein first measurement points of a first surface area (13) detected by a first sensor device (4) are received and second measurement points of a second surface area (14) with no overlap with the first surface area (13) detected by a second sensor device (5) are received, the first and second measurement points are used to determine a relative position of the surface areas (13, 14) with respect to each other, it is determined whether the surface areas (13, 14) are to be assigned to a single object (7) based on the relative position and, if so, the surface areas (13, 14) are combined into a total surface area (12) of the object (7). The invention also concerns a sensor control unit (9), a driver assistance system (2) and a motor vehicle (1).

Objects are sensed by a distance sensor of a vehicle. Reflected signals are received as echo signals by the driving-environment sensor. Object distance is calculable, for example, from the propagation time of the signals. Of the sensed objects, those objects are identified which, e.g., based on their spatial disposition, are parking-space-delimiting objects. It is possible to differentiate between objects delimiting a parking space to the side (e.g., parked vehicles) and lateral parking-space delimitations (e.g., a curbstone) by evaluating the echo signals. The parking-space-delimiting objects are classified through characteristic structures of the echo signals assigned to the parking-space-delimiting objects, and an object class is assigned to each parking-space-delimiting object. A parking-space quality is determined as a function of the classification, and a parking space defined by the parking-space-delimiting objects is recognized as a possible parking space if the quality of the parking space meets a threshold.

A method, a device and a computer-readable storage medium with instructions for processing data in a motor vehicle for forwarding to a back end. In a first step, sensor data are detected along a route of the motor vehicle. On the basis of the sensor data, features and context information on the features are then identified within segments of the route. Finally, the features and the context information on the features are combined into a message for the route.

The invention relates to a device, to a vehicle, and to a method for measuring a dimension between at least two points on surfaces. The device comprises an image-generating apparatus configured to scan the surroundings of the vehicle, and a display apparatus configured to display a representation of the surroundings of the vehicle. The device also includes an input apparatus configured to define at least two points as measuring points between which a dimension is to be determined in the displayed representation, a surroundings sensor configured to sense a distance and a direction of each of the measuring points with respect to the vehicle, and an evaluation apparatus configured to determine the dimension based on the sensed distances and directions of the measuring points, wherein the evaluation apparatus is further configured to output the determined dimension.

A parking space detection apparatus detects a parking space of an own vehicle and includes: a vehicle determination section that determines whether an other vehicle is present on at least one of two sides of a parking space, based on search information acquired from an in-vehicle search section that searches for the parking space; a width calculation section that, it is determined that the other vehicle is present on at least one of the two sides of the parking space, calculate a width of the parking space on an entrance side and a width of the parking space on an inner side based on the search information; and a parking determination section that determines whether the own vehicle is able to park in the parking space based on the widths of the parking space on the entrance side and on the inner side and size of the own vehicle.

A method for detecting a parking area on at least one road section includes providing a usable width of the road section. The usable width represents a passable width of the road section between parking vehicles. The method further includes travelling on the road section using a detector vehicle and detecting lateral distances from objects with a detector device arranged in the detector vehicle. The method also includes comparing the detected lateral distances with the usable width, and detecting the parking area based on the comparison.

A parking assistance device (100) is provided with distance sensors (2FL, 2FR, 2RL, 2RR) which transmit detection waves laterally with respect to a host vehicle (1) while the host vehicle (1) travels and receive reflected waves of the detection waves, a reflection point calculating unit (11) which calculates a reflection point indicating a position where the detection wave is reflected, a grouping unit (13) which groups the reflection points, a parking space pitch calculating unit (14) which calculates a parking space pitch indicating a width of each parking space by using periodicity of a shape of a reflection point group set by grouping, a parking target area setting unit (15) which sets a parking target area which is a target of perpendicular parking by the host vehicle (1), and a parking assistance controlling unit (21) which guides the host vehicle (1) to the parking target area on the basis of the parking space pitch.