Device for Determining a Parking Position for a Motor Vehicle

Abstract

A device determines a parking position for a motor vehicle. The device has a receiver unit for receiving a desired parking position of a first user, an output unit for outputting a parking position for the motor vehicle of the first user, and a processing unit which is designed, on the basis of historical data and current data, to determine the probability that the desired parking position of the first user matches the desired collection position of a second user, and which is designed to determine a parking position for the motor vehicle of the first user on the basis of the probability, the output unit being designed to output the parking position.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A device for determining a parking position for a motor vehicle, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving a desired parking position of a first user; an output unit for outputting a parking position for the motor vehicle of the first user; and a processing unit that is configured to take historical data and current data as a basis for determining a probability of the desired parking position of the first user matching the desired pickup position of a second user, and that is configured to determine a parking position for the motor vehicle of the first user on the basis of the probability, wherein the output unit is configured to output the parking position.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine the parking position in a predefined area around the desired parking position of the first user.

13. The device according to claim 11, wherein the parking position is determined such that the probability of the parking position matching a desired pickup position of a second user is above a defined threshold.

14. The device according to claim 11, wherein the historical data include information about actual pickup positions and/or parking positions of motor vehicles in the past, the information containing temporal and/or geographical information.

15. The device according to claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine the parking position by using geographical information.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the geographical information comprises parking areas and/or road sizes.

17. The device according to claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured to: compare the desired parking position of the first user with a current desired pickup position of a second user, and use the comparison as a basis for determining the parking position.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the processing unit is further configured to: compare a route from a current position of the first user to the desired parking position of the first user with a route from the desired pickup position of the second user to the desired parking position of the first user, and use the comparison as a basis for stipulating the parking position along the route from the desired pickup position of the second user to the desired parking position of the first user.

19. The device according to claim 11, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine the probability of the desired parking position of the first user matching the desired pickup position of a second user on the basis of already known future desired pickup positions.

20. A motor vehicle comprising a device for determining a parking position for the motor vehicle according to claim 11.

21. The motor vehicle according to claim 20, wherein the motor vehicle further comprises a monitoring unit for monitoring an interior of the motor vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0029] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a motor vehicle.

[0030] Elements that are identical or have an identical effect in functional terms are denoted by the same reference signs below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle 1 that has a device 2 for determining a parking position for the motor vehicle 1. The motor vehicle may be in particular a car sharing vehicle that is part of a motor vehicle fleet.

[0032] So as, if possible, to allow a direct handover from a first user to a second user of the motor vehicle, the device 2 is configured to determine a parking position of the motor vehicle 1 at which there is a high probability of a direct handover from the first user to a (potential) second user being possible.

[0033] The first user is the current driver of the motor vehicle 1, who, if possible, wishes to hand over the motor vehicle 1 directly to a second user. In this way, the first user does not need to park the motor vehicle 1 and thus look for a parking space.

[0034] The device 2 has an input unit 4 in order to receive a desired parking position of the first user. The desired parking position may be for example the actual destination position of the first user. The first user may input the desired parking position using an input device 6 of the motor vehicle 1. The input device 6 may be for example an input 6 of a navigation unit, for example a touchscreen or another input device such as a keypad. The desired parking position may also be input by the user as a voice input.

[0035] Based on the desired parking position that has been input, a processing unit 8 of the device 2 may determine a parking position. To this end, the processing unit 8 may use historical data and current data, in order to take these as a basis for determining a probability of the desired parking position of the first user matching the desired pickup position of a second user. In particular, the processing unit 8 may determine as the parking position a position in a predefined area around the desired parking position of the first user in which there is a high probability of a second user in this area needing a motor vehicle. The historical data may be generated by other vehicles of the motor vehicle fleet.

[0036] The historical data are in particular actual parking positions and pickup positions of motor vehicles of the motor vehicle fleet in the past. These may be taken into consideration on both a geographical and a temporal basis in a heatmap. In addition to the historical data, the processing unit 8 may also take into consideration current data. The current data may be primarily current search queries from potential second users after a motor vehicle 1.

[0037] As soon as the processing unit 8 has determined a parking position for the motor vehicle 1, an output unit 10 of the device 2 may output this parking position as the new destination position by way of an output device 12. The output device may be for example a screen or the like that is for example part of a navigation unit.

[0038] When determining the parking position, the processing unit 8 may also stipulate that a handover of the motor vehicle 1 from the first user to the second user takes place on a route of the first user. This is the case if the desired pickup position of the second user is on the road from a current position of the first user to the desired parking position of the first user. In this case, there may be provision for the second user to take along the first user in the motor vehicle 1. This allows optimum utilization of the motor vehicle 1, since no distances need to be covered twice unnecessarily.

[0039] In order to increase safety for both users in such a case, the motor vehicle 1 may have a monitoring apparatus 14. This monitoring apparatus may be a camera, which may be coupled to an emergency call system, for example. The monitoring apparatus 14 may be activated automatically or manually when required, i.e. in the event of a second user taking along the first user. This increases safety when both users are in the motor vehicle at the same time.

[0040] The device proposed here allows a parking position for a motor vehicle to be determined in such a way and a user to be provided with a display indicating that there is a high probability of the first user being able to perform a direct handover of the motor vehicle to a second user, without it being necessary to park the motor vehicle.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0041] 1 motor vehicle [0042] 2 device [0043] 4 input unit [0044] 6 input device [0045] 8 processing unit [0046] 10 output unit [0047] 12 output device [0048] 14 monitoring unit