GB2496753A

GB2496753A - Vehicle parking assist that detects the size of manoeuvring space on a side of the vehicle opposite a newly appeared obstacle

Info

Publication number: GB2496753A
Application number: GB1220614.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christian Pampus; Thilo Nass; Marcus Schneider
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 2011-11-16
Filing date: 2012-11-15
Publication date: 2013-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 2032-11-15
Also published as: DE102011086440A1; GB201220614D0; FR2982563B1; FR2982563A1; DE102011086440B4; GB2496753B

Abstract

Method for assisting a parking procedure of a vehicle 1, wherein the environment at least in front of and behind the vehicle 1 is monitored and longitudinal 7, 8 and/or transverse guidance instructions for the vehicle 1 are issued in dependence on the monitoring. When a newly appeared obstacle 11, such as a pedestrian, is detected, the manoeuvring space 10 on the side of the vehicle opposite the obstacle 11 is detected. The longitudinal 7, 8 and/or transverse guidance instructions are adapted based on the size of the manoeuvring space 10. This makes it possible to avoid unnecessary guidance instructions and therefore reduces the time required for a parking procedure.

Description

Method for assisting the carrying out of a parking procedure of a vehicle, parking assistance system for a vehicle, andalso vehicle The present invention relates to a method for assisting the carrying out of a parking procedure of a vehicle, and also to a parking assistance system for a vehicle for assistance.

in the carrying out of a parking procedure of the vehicle, and to a vehicle having a parking assistance system.

PRIOR ART

In modern automotive engineering, it is known in principle to provide the driver of a vehicle with driver assistance systems. In this regard, parking assistance systems which enable assisted or automatic parking of the vehicle in different types of parking spaces are very widespread.

Parking assistance systems and the methods carried out by them make parking much easier for the drivers of the vehicles.

The parking assistance system enables not only planning of the parking procedure in advance, but also monitoring of the parking procedure during the same. For instance, a method for monitoring an automatic or semi-automatic parking procedure is known from DE lO 2009 006 336 Al. In particular, in this method the environment of the motor vehicle continues to be monitored during the parking procedure and in the event of there being newly detected 30. obstacles a warning signal is issued. Interventions in the vehicle guidance are also possible here. For instance, the initiation of emergency braking, for example, in order to pEevent a possible collision with a newly and thus previously not detected obstacle is known from DE 10 2009 029 388 Al.

In the case of small parking spaces, a single parking manoeuvre is often insufficient to achieve a sufficiently parallel orientation with respect to a parking-place boundary. In such cases, additional manoeuvres are required. The number of such manoeuvres should be as small as possible in order to ensure driver satisfactibn; and in the case of automatic parking assistance systems, additionally in order to spare the steering and reduce energy consurnpticn. For this reason, there may be provision, for example in the case of automatic or semi-automatic parking assistance systems, to al1o only a maximum number of manoeuvres. If this maximum number is reached or exceeded, the parking procedure is aborted.

During a parking procedure, it can happen, moreover, that new obstacles appear which obstruct the parking procedure.

Particularly in inulti-storey car parks and large car parks with a lot of people coming and goin, it can happen that people enter a parking space in which a vehicle is parking at the same time: If a person or another new obstacle is detected, in particular if the vehicle is moving towards the newly detected obs-table and -is already close to this obstacle, the semi-automatic or automatic parking assistance system stops the travelling of the vehicle and continues the parking procedure with a manoeuvre in the opposite direction. On the one hand this constitutes an additional manoeuvre, and on the other hand the manoeuvring space in the parking space may be restricted by the newly appeared obstacle in such a way that useful continuation of the parking procedure is no longer possible.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the object of the invention to eliminate at least partly the above-described diadvantages of known parking assistance systems of vehicles for assisting the carrying out of a parking procedure of the vehicle. In particular, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for assisting the carrying out of a parking procedure of a vehicle and also a parking assistance system for a vehicle for assisting the parking procedure of the vehicle, which avoid unnecessary manoeuvres and thus speed up the parking procedure in a simple and cost-effective manner.

The above object is achieved by a method having the * features of independent Claim 1, by a parking assistance system having the features of independent Claim 7 and by a vehicle having the features of Claim 12. Further features and details of the invention will emerge from the subclaims, the description and the drawings. In these, features and details which are described in connection with the method according to the invention apply, of course, also in connection with the parking assistance system according to the invention and the vehicle according to the invention and ir each case vice versa, so that reference is or nay be made always reciprocally with regard to the disclosure of the individual aspects of the invention.

In a first aspect of the invention, the object is achieved by a method for assisting the carrying out of a parking procedure of a vehicle, wherein the environment at least in front of and behind the vehicle is monitored and longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions for the vehicle are issued in dependence on the monitoring. The -method according to the invention is distinguished in particular by the following steps: -a) detecting an obstacle to the parking procedure which has newly appeared during the parking procedure, b) detecting the size of a manoeuvring space on the side of the vehicle located opposite to the newly appeared obstacle, c) adaptation of at least one longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction in dependence on the size of the detected manoeuvring space.

-A method according to the invention thus constitutes a development and improvement of known methods for assisting the carrying out of a parking procedure of a vehicle. By monitoring the environment at least in front of and behind the vehicle, a basic data set is produced..On the basis of this data set, a parking trajectory is calculated and the necessary longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions for the vehicle are issued. During the parking procedure, according to step a) of the method according to the invention, a newly appeared object which constitutes an obstacle to the parking procedure is detected. This may be, for example, in particular a person, but also an inanimate object. Such an obstacle is problematical in particular when it is detected in the direction of travel of the vehicle and is already very close to the latter. In such a case, the vehicle is stopped. Step b) of the method according to the invention comprises detecting the size of a manoeuvring space on the side of the vehicle located opposite to the newly appeared obstacle. If the newly -appeared obstacle is a person, it may be assumed that this person is moving cautiously in the road traffic. He or she will thus not deliberately block the movement of the vehicle for a long time. Based on this consideration, in step c) of the method according to the invention, at least one longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction is adapted in dependence on the size of the detected manoeuvring space. It may thus be assuthed that a person who is aware that he or she is blocking a vehicle in a parking procedure will remove this obstruction again and go away as quickly as possible. An obstruction of the parking procedure exists in this case, in particular, when there is a small rnanoeuvr-ing space on the side of the vehicle facing away from the newly appeared obstacle. Small in the context of the invention means that useful manoeures cannot be performed in this manoeuvring space. According to step c) of the method according to the invention, provision may therefore be made to delay, for example, an instruction to change the direction of travel, i.e. a longitudinal guidance instruction, when a manoeuvring space of small size is detected. It the person has moved on during the delay and the obstacle is thus longer present, an unnecessary longitudinal guidance instruction would thus be avoided. A detected rnanoeuvring space of large size constitutes the converse case. Large in the context of the invention means that a useful manoeuvre is possible in this manoeuvring space. It may be assumed that a person who constitutes a newly appeared obstacle is likewise aware of this large size of the detected manoeuvring space. The person can therefore assume that the manoeuvring space available for carrying out the parking procedure of the vehicle is sufficient, and possibly not go away. When the detected manoeuvring space is of large size, it is therefore favourable to issue an instruction to change the direction of travel, thus a longitudinal guidance instruction, without delay. The way described constitutes one possible way of adapting the instructions. Other ways, such as for example an adaptation of the transverse guidance instruction when, for example, it is possible to drive around the obstacle, are of course also conceivable.

The method according to the invention thus makes it possible to avoid unnecessary longitudinal and/or -transverse guidance instructions by adaptation to the size of the detected manoeuvring space. This reduces the time required for a parking procedure of a Vehicle and increases the driver's satisfaotion In a development of a method according to the invention, provision may be made for the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions to be issued to at least one control device of the vehicle. By sending both longitudinal and transverse guidance instructions to at least one control device of the vehicle, the parking procedure is carried out fully automatically, i.e. without intervention of the driver. This makes it particularly easy for the driver, since the parking procedure, in particular in small parking spaces, is often found to be Very demanding. -According to an alternative embodiment of a method according *to the invention, provision may be made for transverse guidance instructions to be issued to at least one control device of the vehicle and, by a suitable user interface, for example a display device and/or a loudspeaker un-it, for longitudinal guidance instructions to be issued to the driver of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the driver undertakes merely the longitudinal guidance of the vehicle, i.e. controls the direction of travel by selecting a forward or reverse gear and by controlling the acceleration of the vehicle. The transverse guidance, i.e. the control of the steering of the vehicle, is undertaken by the at least one control device of the vehicle. In this case, according to the invention, the instructions for the longitudinal guidance are issued to the driver, and the instructions for the transverse guidance are issued to the control device. The transverse guidance, i.e. steering, constitutes the more difficult part of the control during a parking procedure of a vehicle. By virtue of the fact that the transverse guidance is taken away from the driver in this embodiment of the method according to the invention, the driver is markedly relieved. This is referred to as a semi-automatic parking assistance system. The driver merely has to follow the longitudinal guidance instructions, engage the correct gear and actuate the accelerator pedal.

He or she is thus markedly relieved.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of a method according to the invention, provision may be made for, after the detection of a newly appeared obstacle and on detection that the size of the manoeuvring space exceeds a limit value, the at least one longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction to be issued after expiry of a first period of time. Furthermore, provision may be made for, after the detection of a newly appeared obstacle and on detection that the size of the manoeuvring space reaches or falls below the limit value, the at least one longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction to be issued after expiry of a second period of time. In particular, the second pericd of time is in this case greater than the first period of time. The main focus of the method according to the invention is on keeping the number of manoeuvres required to reach the end of the parking procedure as low as possible. The limit value with which the size of the manoeuvring space is compared can be chosen in such a way that, if the size of the manoeuvring space exceeds the limit value, the manoeuvring space is large enough to perform a useful manoeuvre therein. The longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction is therefore issued if the size of the manoeuvring space exceeds the limit value after expiry of a first period of time, which can be chosen to be small. After detection of the newly appeared obstacle, the driver of the vehicle therefore only has to wait for a short period of time before being able to continue the parking procedure or before the parking procedure is automatically continued. In the case where the size of the manoeuvring space reaches or falls below the limit value, it is assumed that the size of the manoeuvring space is not sufficient to perform a manoeuvre effectively. In this case, the at least one longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction is issued only after expiry of a second period of time, which is greater, in particular natkedly greater, than the first period of time. Particularly if the newly appeared obstacle is a person who is only crossing the parking space, this crossing may be completed within the second period of time.

The newly appeared obstacle thus no longer exists. It is not necessary to change the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction to the state of the instruction before detection of the newly appeared obstacle. The parking procedure can be continued with the original instructions.

Unnecessary instructions can thus be avoided.

Particularly preference may be given, in a method according to the invention, to the limit value lying between 50 cm and 150 cm, in particular between 80 cm and 120 cm, and being preferably 100 cm. Furthermore, the method according to the invention may be developed in such a way that the first period of time has a value of between 2 seconds and 4 seconds, in particular of 3 seconds, and that the second period of time has a value of between 8 seconds and 12 seconds, in particular of 10 seconds. Thesize of the limit value is in this case to be adapted to the dimensions of the vehicle and its turning circle. In particular, provision may also be made for the limit value to be determinable by the driver of the vehicle. The first period of time preferably assumes values which lie in the order of the reacticn time of the driver. In particular, the first period of time is chosen in such a way that the driver does get annoyed because of an unnecessary waiting time. The second period of time is preferably chosen in such a way that a parking space can be crossed by a person walking normally. This ensures that a longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction is issued only when the whereabouts of the newly appeared obstacle in the parking place can be safely assumed.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the object is achieved by a parking assistance system fcr a vehicle for assisting the carrying out of a parking procedure of the vehicle, having at least one sensor unit for monitoring the environment at least in front of and behind the vehicle, and an output unit for issuing longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions in dependence on the monitoring. In particular, in a parking assistance system according to the invention, provision is made for the sensor unit of the parking assistance system to be designed to detect obstacles during the paking procedure and to detect the size of a rnanoeuvring space on the side of the vehicle located opposite to the newly appeared obstacle, and for the output unit to be designed for adaptation of the issuing of at least one longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instruction in dependence on the size of the detected manoeuvring space. An automatic and/or semi-automatic assistai-ice of the carrying out of a parking procedure of the vehicle is possible by the monitoring of the environment at least in front of and behind the vehicle by the sensor unit and of the issuing of longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions in dependence on the monitoring by the output unit. If now a further, newly appeared, obstacle situated in particular in the direction of travel of the vehicle is detected by the sensor unit of the parking assistance system during the parking procedure, the size of a manoeuvring space on the side of the vehicle located opposite to the newly appeared obstacle is likewise detected by the sensor unit. The size of the detected manoeuvring space allows decisions to be made as to whether the size of the detected rnanoeuvring space is sufficient to perform a useful znanpeuvre therein. At least one longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructior is issued in an adapted manner by the parking assistance system depending on this decision. If the size of the manoeuvring space is sufficient for a useful manoeuvre, the parking procedure is continued by this manoeuvre into the manoeuvring space. If. the size of the manoeuvring space is detected as being too small for a useful manoeuvre, it is possible to wait for a certain time, for example, before the next longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions. If the newly appeared obstacle has left the parking space again in this waiting time, the original parking procedure can be continued. An unnecessary, additional manoeuvre can be avoided in this way. This means greater satisfaction of the driver, since the parking procedure has been performed more quickly and with fewer manoeuvres.

According to a development of a parking assistance system according to the invention, provision may be made for the output unit to be designed to issue longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions to at least one control device of the vehicle and/or for the output unit to be designed to issue transverse guidance instructions to at least one control device of the vehicle and longitudinal guidance instructions to the driver of the vehicle. Rn automatic parking assistance system exists when longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions are issued to at least one control device of the vehicle, whereupon the at least one control device of the vehicle thus undertakes both the acceleration in the forward and reverse direction and the steering of the vehicle. In this case, the driver does not have to intervene in the parking procedure. In the second case, the at least erie control device undertakes onl9 the steering of the vehicle, with the. control unit being controlled by the transverse guidance instructions. The driver undertakes the longitudinal guidance of the vehicle, he or she receiving longitudinal guidance instructions from the parking assistance system by the output unit. This is a semi-automatic parking aSsistance system. In both cases, the parking procedure is made easier for the driver, since in particular the steering of the vehicle is automatically performed in both cases.

In a development of a parking assistance system according to the invention, provision may be made for the output unit to be designed to issue longitudinal guidance instructions acoustically and/or visually to the driver of the vehicle.

In particular, the output unit can have a screen and/or an audio system. It can also be connected to audiovisual systems of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle can thus receive the longitudinal guidance instructions of the parking assistance system in a variety of ways.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of a parking assistance system according to the invention, provision may furthermore be made for the assisted parking procedure to be a parking or an unparking.proedure. All problems which may arise during aparking procedure occur analogously for an unparking procedure as well. A parking assistance system according to the invention enables both procedures to be performed to the increased satisfaction of the driver. In both cases, unnecessary manoeuvres are avoided by using a parking assistance system according to the invention.

In a further preferred development of a parking assistance system according to the invention, provision may be made for the parking assistance system to be designed to carry out a method according to the first aspect of the invention. All advantages which have been described in relation to a method according to the first aspect of the invention, also apply to a parking assistance system which is designed to carry out such a method.

Acording to a third aspect of the invention, the objectis achieved by a vehicle having a parking assistance system, the parking assistance system being designed according to the second aspect of the invention. Thus, likewise all advantages which have been described in relation to a parking assistance system according to the second aspect of the invention also apply to a vehicle having such a parking assistance system.

PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The method according to the invention and its developments and also the advantages thereof are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings, in which in each case schematically: -Figure 1 shows a first parking procedure of a vehicle and Figure 2 shows a second parking procedure of a vehicle.

Elements which have the same function and effect are in each case provided with the same reference symbols in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 1, a schematic view of a procedure of parking a vehicle 1 in a parking space is shown. The parking space is in this case bounded b' further vehicle 20, 21 and a lateral parking-place boundary 22. The parking space is a so-called longitudinal parking space. The vehicle I is equipped with a parking assistance system 2 according to the invention, the parking assistance system 2-depicted being a semi-automatic form of the parking assistance systeth 2. The parking assistance sytem 2 has in this case, inter alia, a display device 3 as output device, via which longitudinal guidance instructions 7, 8, in the case depicted an instruction to drive forwards 7, can be issbed to the driver of the vehicle 1. Furthermore, a control device 9, which can receive from the parking assistance system 2 transverse guidance instructions for the steering of the vehicle 1 during the parking procedure, is connected to the parking assistance system 2. The parking assistance system 2 furthermore comprises sensor units 4, by which the environment of the vehicle 1 at least in front of and behind the vehicle 1 can be monitored. The orientation of the vehicle 5 is indicated by an arrow. In the situation illustrated, the vehicle 1 is moving forwards in its present direction of travel 6. In the present direction of travel 6 of the vehicle 1, a newly appeared obstacle 11 is detected by the sensor units 4 in the situation illustrated. Continued travel in this direction is thus not possible. Only a small manoeuvring space 10.1 remains on the side of the vehicle 1 facing away from the newly appeared obstacle 11. Tn the example depicted, the distance to the further vehicle 21 is only 80 cm. A useful manoeuvre is not possible in this small manoeuvring space 10.1. The person, the newly appeared obstacle 11, is however also aware of this. It may also be assumed that the person does not deliberately block the parking space of the vehicle 1.

In the situation illustrated, the person, who is a moving obstacle 11, 12, wants to cross the parking space of the vehicle 1. The direction of movement of the person as a moving obstacle 11, 12 is indicated by an arrow 12.1. It is therefore to be expected that the space in front of the vehicle 1 will be available for parking again after a short time when the moving obstacle 11, 12 has left the parking space again. In the parking assistance system 2 according to the invention, provision is therefore made, on detection of a small manoeuvring space 10.1 on the side of the vehicle 1 facing away from the obstacle 11, for the issuing of an instruction to change the direction of travel by the display device 3 to be adapted in such a way that it is * 5 issued with a delay. In particular, a delay time of e.g. 10 seconds may be provided here. This allows enough time for a moving obstacle 12 to leave the parking space in frcnt of the parking vehicle 1 again. The parking procedure of the vehicle 1 can then be continued in the original direction of travel 6. As a result, unnecessary manoeuvres of the * vehicle 1 in the parking manoeuvre, can be eliminated. The parking manoeuvre can thus be performed more quickly and to the greater satisfaction of the driver.

Fig. 2 shows a vehicle 1 with a parking assistance system 2 which is designed like the parking assistance system 2 shown in Fig. 1. In the situation illustrated, once again a newly appeared obstacle 11, here a person as a stationary -obstacle 13, is detected in front of the vehicle 1 in the direction of travel 6. On the side of the vehicle 1 facing away from the obstacle 11, there remains a manoeuvring * space 10 which in this case is a large rnanoeuvring space 10.2. The size of the manoeuvring space 10 in this case may in particular be greater than 120 cm. This large manoeuvring space 10.2 is sufficient to perform therein a useful manoeuvre for the parking manoeuvre of the vehicle 1. The person is also aware of this and therefore stays there, for example in order to load the boot of the further vehicle 20. The person does not think that he or she is blocking the parking procedure of the vehicle 1. The parking assistance system 2 according to the invention -therefore issues to the driver of the vehicle 1, by she output unit via the display device 3, an instruction to reverse 8. The parking procedure of the vehicle 1 is continued in this direction. Unnecessary waiting time for the driver can thus be avoided.

Without referring to a figure, it can be said in general that the parking assistance system according to the invention is based on the fact that people, in particular pedestrians, do not intend to block parking or unparking vehicles unnecessarily. Thus, if a person constitutes a newly appeared obstacle in the direction of travel of the vehicle, with only a small manoeuvrinq space remaining, i.e. for example a manoeuvring space which falls below a certain limit value, then the person is also aware bf this.

In order not to obstruct the parking procedure of the vehicle unnecessarily, he or she will leave the parking space as quickly as possible. By adaptation of the longitudinal and/or transverse guidance instructions, in particular by delaying the issuing of an instruction to change the direction of travel, the person can thus be given sufficient time to leave the parking space. In contrast, a person who enters the parking space as a newly appeared obstacle in the direction of travel of the vehicle, with a large manoeuvring space remaining on the opposite side of the vehicle, will assume that the parking procedure of the vehicle can be successfully continued in this large manoeuvring space. It is thus not to be expected that the person will quickly leave the parking space. The order to change the direction of travel can therefore be issued early and in particular without additional delay.

Both situations together result, each taken separately, in a quicker parking procedure with the number of rnanoeuvres adapted to the situation.