Method and Apparatus for Determining a Parking Position of a Bike

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for determining a parking position of a vehicle is disclosed. The method includes (i) detecting first positions of the vehicle in a temporally successive sequence by a GNSS receiver and storing these positions in a memory, wherein an associated first positioning error is stored for each of the positions, (ii) detecting a final position of the vehicle with an associated final positioning error by the GNSS receiver in response to the vehicle being transferred into a parked state, and (iii) determining the parking position of the vehicle, wherein one of the first positions of the vehicle stored in the memory is determined as the parking position of the vehicle when its distance from the last position plus the associated first positioning error is smaller than the last positioning error or a last positioning error scaled using a specified scaling factor.

Claims

1. A method for determining a parking position of a vehicle, comprising: detecting first positions of the vehicle in a temporally successive sequence by a GNSS receiver and storing these positions in a memory, wherein an associated first positioning error is stored for each of the first positions; detecting a final position of the vehicle with an associated final positioning error by the GNSS receiver in response to the vehicle being transferred into a parked state, and determining the parking position of the vehicle, wherein one of the first positions of the vehicle stored in the memory is determined as the parking position of the vehicle when its distance from the last position plus the associated first positioning error is smaller than the last positioning error or a last positioning error scaled using a specified scaling factor.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, upon determining the parking position of the vehicle, the last position is determined as the parking position of the vehicle when it is true for all stored first positions that their distance from the last position plus the respective positioning error is greater than the last positioning error.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, among the stored first positions of the vehicle, the one for which a sum of its distance from the last position plus the associated first positioning error is the smallest is determined as the parking position of the vehicle.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a position of the vehicle detected by the GNSS receiver is only then stored as a first position in a memory when a speed of the vehicle associated with the position is less than a specified speed threshold, and/or a speed of the vehicle associated with the position is less than a speed associated with a position previously detected by the GNSS receiver.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a newly detected first position with its associated positioning error is not stored in the memory when it is true for all previously stored first positions that their distance from the newly detected position plus the respective first positioning error of the previously stored first positions is less than the last positioning error of the newly detected position.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, if a first position stored in the memory is overwritten by a newly detected first position, then among the stored first positions, the one for which a sum of its distance from the newly detected first position plus the associated first positioning error is the largest is overwritten.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a first position in the memory is overwritten by a newly detected first position only when the memory has no free memory location.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scaling factor is a value between 0 and 1, and/or the memory has a limited number of memory locations.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the vehicle is being transferred into the parked state when a speed of the vehicle drops to 0 km/h, the vehicle is deactivated, an operating component of the vehicle is removed, and/or when it is detected that a speed of the vehicle is equal to 0 km/h over a predefined time interval.

10. An apparatus for determining a parking position of a vehicle, comprising a control unit configured to: detect first positions of the vehicle in a temporally successive sequence by a GNSS receiver and to store these positions in a memory, wherein an associated first positioning error is stored for each of the first positions, detect a final position of the vehicle with an associated final positioning error by the GNSS receiver in response to the vehicle being transferred into a parked state, and determine the parking position of the vehicle, wherein one of the first positions of the vehicle stored in the memory is determined as the parking position of the vehicle when its distance from the last position plus the associated first positioning error is smaller than the last positioning error or a last positioning error scaled using a specified scaling factor.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings include:

[0025] FIG. 1 a schematic illustration of a vehicle 1 having an apparatus for determining a parking position of the vehicle, and

[0026] FIG. 2 a schematic illustration of a movement of the vehicle prior to a parking of the vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a vehicle 1 having an apparatus arranged therein for determining a parking position of the vehicle 1. The vehicle 1 is in this case an electric bike. The apparatus comprises a control unit 4 configured to carry out the method according to the disclosure.

[0028] The apparatus further comprises a GNSS receiver 2 configured to detect current positions of the vehicle 1 and provide them to the control unit 4 for further processing. In addition to a detected position, the GNSS receiver 2 in this case also provides a respective associated positioning error, which describes how far the detected position maximally deviates from an actual position of the GNSS receiver 2. The positioning error is thus a parameter that describes an accuracy of a detected position.

[0029] The GNSS receiver 2 features a sampling frequency of 1/60 to 10 Hz.

[0030] The apparatus further comprises a memory 3 having a limited number of memory locations. For example, the memory 3 has sufficient memory locations in order to store 5 to 200 detected positions of the vehicle 1 with associated first positioning errors.

[0031] If the vehicle 1 is put into operation, the GNSS receiver 2 continuously detects current positions of the vehicle 1. The sampling frequency of the GNSS receiver 2 for detecting positions is typically 1 Hz, but can be in a range of 1-60 Hz. A position is described by a longitudinal and a latitudinal component.

[0032] These positions of the vehicle 1 are written as first positions into the memory 3 by the control unit 5. A respective associated first positioning error 15, 16, 17 is in this case stored in the memory 3 for each of the first positions 11, 12, 13. Newly detected positions are stored in the memory 3 as first positions 11, 12, 13 until the memory 3 is filled.

[0033] A position of the vehicle detected by the GNSS receiver is only stored as a first position in a memory when a speed of the vehicle associated with the position is less than a specified speed threshold.

[0034] Also, a position of the vehicle detected by the GNSS receiver is only stored as a first position in a memory when a speed of the vehicle 1 associated with the position is less than a speed associated with a position immediately previously detected by the GNSS receiver, i.e., when the vehicle is braked or slows down.

[0035] If a further position is detected during further operation of the vehicle 1, i.e., a newly detected first position is provided by the GNSS receiver 2, it is checked whether this position is to be stored in the memory 3. The newly detected first position is in this case not stored in the memory 3 when it describes a current position of the vehicle 1 less precisely than all first positions 11, 12, 13 already stored therein. In order to determine this, all previously stored first positions 11, 12, 13 are considered, and it is determined whether their distance from the newly detected position plus the respective first positioning error 15, 16, 17 of the previously stored first positions 11, 12, 13 is less than the last positioning error of the newly detected position. Thus, the last positioning error of the newly detected position is used as the comparison value.

[0036] The following testing process is thus performed for each first position previously stored in the memory 3:

Error(i)<Error(k)+distance between position i and position k

[0037] The value Error(x) in this case describes the associated positioning error of a position x. In this context, x=i is the newly detected first position, and k defines an index of the stored first positions 11, 12, 13. Each of the stored first positions 11, 12, 13 of the vehicle 1 is considered, and it is checked whether it is better or worse than a newly detected first position. If the previously specified condition is satisfied, the newly detected first position is stored in the memory 3 and overwrites the previously stored first positions 11, 12, 13 for which the condition is satisfied. If the previously specified condition is not met, then the newly detected first position is discarded.

[0038] If the newly detected first position is to be written to the memory 3, it is advantageous when this newly detected position overwrites a previously stored first position 11, 12, 13 that worst describes the current position of the vehicle 1. For this purpose, among the stored first positions 11, 12, 13, the one for which a sum of its distance from the newly detected first position 14 plus the associated first positioning error 15, 16, 17 is the largest is overwritten.

[0039] If the vehicle 1 is moved for the first time after parking, it may be the case that no first positions are stored in the memory 3. It is therefore preferable that a first position 11, 12, 13 in the memory be overwritten by a newly detected first position only when the memory 3 no longer has any free memory locations. It is also optionally advantageous when storage in the memory 3 is only considered for newly detected first positions when a speed of the vehicle 1 is above a predefined threshold. In particular, it is not necessary for new positions to be continuously written to the memory 3 when the vehicle 1 is standing. Thus, it is also avoided that, in the event of minimal movement or no movement of the vehicle 1, all of the last stored first positions 11, 12, 13 immediately prior to a parking of the vehicle 1 can be overwritten before a parking position of the vehicle 1 is determined.

[0040] If it is detected that the vehicle 1 is parked, e.g., by determining that a speed of the vehicle drops to 0 km/h, the vehicle is deactivated, or an operating component of the vehicle 1 is removed, e.g., a battery or a speedometer of the vehicle 1 is removed, then a last position 14 of the vehicle 1 is detected. An associated last positioning error 18, which is associated with the last position 14, is also detected in this case. This is also done by the GNSS receiver 2 in a manner similar to the detection of the first positions 11, 12, 13. However, the last position 14 and the last positioning error 18 are not written to the memory 3, but rather are used in order to determine the parking position of the vehicle 1. This process is described below by way of example, based on the exemplary scenario in FIG. 2.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows a trajectory 10, along which the vehicle 1 has been moved before the vehicle 1 is parked. The vehicle 1 was parked at the last position 14. Previously, first positions 11, 12, 13 were detected while the vehicle 1 was moving along the trajectory 10. Each of the detected positions, i.e., the first positions 11, 12, 13 as well as the last position 14, have a positioning error. The first positions 11, 12, 13 shown in FIG. 2 have the first positioning errors 15, 16, 17. The last position 14 has the last positioning error 18. The positioning errors are indicated in FIG. 2 as circles circumscribing the respective associated position. This illustrates that the positioning error defines an inaccuracy by which it is described how far an actual position detected by the GNSS receiver 2 can deviate from the actual position of the vehicle 1. Using the example of the last position 14, this means that the vehicle 1 is not necessarily exactly at the last position 14 detected by the GNSS receiver 2, but is highly likely to be within the circle defined by the last positioning error 18. This also applies accordingly for the first positions 11, 12, 13.

[0042] In the scenario illustrated in FIG. 2, the vehicle 1 was moved along the trajectory 10 and moved into a closed building shortly prior to the vehicle 1 being transferred into the parked state. Thus, the final positioning error 18 is significantly greater than the first positioning errors 15, 16, 17 of the first positions 11, 12, 13. In particular, it can be seen that the last detected first position 13 can in this case describe the parking position of the vehicle 1 more precisely than the last position 14, because the last position 14 has a particularly high last positioning error 18. Thus, the detected last position 14 with the associated last positioning error 18 enables the vehicle 1 to theoretically even be located along the trajectory 10 before the last detected first position 13, because it cannot be safely assumed that the vehicle 1 is exactly at the detected last position 14.

[0043] In order to determine the parking position of the vehicle 1, one of the stored first positions 11, 12, 13 is determined as the parking position of the vehicle 1 when its distance from the last position 14 plus the associated first positioning errors 15, 16, 17 is smaller than the last positioning error 18 or a last positioning error 18 scaled using a specified scaling factor.

[0044] For example, the last detected first position 13 is considered. The sum of the distance d between the last first position 13 and the last position 14 of the vehicle 1 is determined. This distance d between the last position 14 and the last first position 13 is applied to the first positioning error 17 of the last detected first position 13. The result is that the sum of these two distances is less than the last positioning error 18. In other words, this means that the circle defined by the last first positioning error 17 lies within the circle defined by the last positioning error 18. In this case, it is not the last position 14, but rather the last detected first position 13 that is selected as the parking position of the vehicle 1.

[0045] It can further be seen that, for the first positions 11, 12 detected prior to the last detected first position 13, the sum of their distance from the last position 14 and their first positioning error is greater than the last positioning error 18. These first positions 11, 12 are thus not determined as the parking position of the vehicle 1. According to FIG. 2, this is therefore advantageous because the vehicle 1 according to the detected last position 14 is very likely to be within the circle described by the last positioning error 18 and thus not within the range of the initially detected first positions 11, 12. Given that a plurality of first positions can also be located within the circle defined by the last positioning error 18, it is advantageous when the position for which a sum of its distance from the last position 14 plus the associated first positioning error 15, 16, 17 of the respective first position 11, 12, 13 is the smallest is determined as the parking position of the vehicle 1.

[0046] In alternative scenarios, it can also result that the detected last position 14 best describes the parking position of the vehicle 1. This is the case when it is true for all stored first positions 11, 12, 13 that their distance from the last position 14 plus the respective first positioning error 15, 16, 17 is greater than the last positioning error 18. In this case, the detected last position 14 is determined as the parking position of the vehicle 1.

[0047] In addition to the written disclosure made hereinabove, explicit reference is made to the disclosure of FIGS. 1 and 2.