Methods and vehicles for driverless self-park
Methods and systems are disclosed for vehicles configured for performing a self-parking operation without a human operator. The vehicle includes an on-board computer for receiving a wireless signal from a portable device. The wireless signal is configured to instruct the on-board computer to perform the self-parking operation. The on-board computer of the vehicle is configured for processing instructions to communicate with sensors of the vehicle, and the sensors are located along a front and a rear of the vehicle, and the sensors along the front and the rear include a combination of one or more cameras and ultrasonic sensors. The on-board computer is configured for receiving data from the combination of said one or more cameras and said ultrasonic sensors. The on-board computer is configured for determining that a space in front of said vehicle is clear to enable movement of the vehicle using said data from the combination of said camera and said ultrasonic sensors from said front of the vehicle. The on-board computer enabling the vehicle for movement forward toward a parking space, and while said vehicle is moving, continuing to determine that the space in front of said vehicle remains clear as the vehicle continues to move toward the parking space and stopping said movement while the space is determined to not be clear by way of a detected obstacle along a path of said movement. The on-board computer stops said vehicle upon detecting that the vehicle has arrived at a destination location for parking of said vehicle.
1. A method for communicating instructions to a vehicle to perform a self-parking operation without a human operator, comprising,
receiving, by an on-board computer, a wireless signal from a portable device, the wireless signal is configured to instruct the on-board computer to perform the self-parking operation, the vehicle having a physical dimension and a virtual buffer dimension around the physical dimension of the vehicle;
executing, by the on-board computer of the vehicle, instructions to communicate with sensors of the vehicle, the sensors are located along a front and a rear of the vehicle, and the sensors along the front and the rear include a combination of one or more cameras and ultrasonic sensors;
receiving, by the on-board computer, data from the combination of said one or more cameras and said ultrasonic sensors;
determining, by the on-board computer, that a space in front of said vehicle, including the virtual buffer dimension, is clear to enable movement of the vehicle using said data from the combination of said camera and said ultrasonic sensors from said front of the vehicle;
engaging, by the on-board computer, the vehicle in movement forward toward a parking space, and while said vehicle is engaged in movement,
continuing to determine that the space in front of said vehicle, including said virtual buffer dimension around the physical dimension of the vehicle, remains clear as the vehicle continues to move toward the parking space, and
stopping said movement when the space in front of said vehicle, including said virtual buffer dimension around the physical dimension of the vehicle, is determined to not be clear by way of a detected obstacle along a path of said movement; and
stopping movement and operation, by the on-board computer, of said vehicle upon detecting that the vehicle has arrived at a destination location for said parking space of said vehicle.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ultrasonic sensors are configured to generate data that is processed by the on-board computer to determine a distance to one or more obstacles, when present, in front of the vehicle during said moving of the vehicle along the path to the destination location for parking.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein image data captured by the camera is processed by the on-board computer to detect moving objects as detected obstacles in the space before or during said movement of the vehicle along the path to the destination location for parking.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the distance to said one or more obstacles is processed to determine when a threshold is reached to trigger stopping of said vehicle from continuing to move, wherein said distance is beyond said virtual buffer dimension.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said data from the combination of said camera and said ultrasonic sensors is used to process to predict a probability of a collision with said detected obstacle, said probability is used as an input to determine if the vehicle is to be stopped during the movement to the destination for parking said vehicle.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said portable device is one of a key fob or a smart device that is configured to communicate with the on-board computer via wireless communication.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the smart device is configured to process an application that enables communication with the on-board computer, a graphical user interface of the application provides selectable inputs which include an input for instructing said self-park operation, wherein selection of said input causes the application to instruct sending of said wireless signal to instruct the on-board computer to perform the self-park operation.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising,
receiving, by the on-board computer, data from a radar unit disposed in said front and said rear of the vehicle, the data from said radar units being usable in combination with data from said cameras and ultrasonic sensors.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising,
receiving, by the on-board computer, data from a global positioning system (GPS), the data from the GPS being usable during said moving of the vehicle.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising,
receiving, by the on-board computer, data from one or more of heat sensors, infrared (IR) sensors, sound sensors, microphones, and said data is usable during said moving of the vehicle.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the destination location is a parking spot, a garage, a parking lot space, a driveway, or an ad hoc parking space.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein destination location is a location identified when receiving the instruction to perform the self-parking operation.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the destination location is defined by a virtual parking location defined for temporary use.
14. A vehicle, configured for performing a self-parking operation without a human operator, comprising,
an on-board computer for receiving a wireless signal from a portable device, the wireless signal is configured to instruct the on-board computer to perform the self-parking operation, the vehicle having a physical dimension and a virtual buffer dimension around the physical dimension of the vehicle;
the on-board computer of the vehicle for processing instructions to communicate with sensors of the vehicle, the sensors are located along a front and a rear of the vehicle, and the sensors along the front and the rear include a combination of one or more cameras and ultrasonic sensors;
the on-board computer receiving data from the combination of said one or more cameras and said ultrasonic sensors;
the on-board computer determining that a space in front of said vehicle, including the virtual buffer dimension, is clear to enable movement of the vehicle using said data from the combination of said camera and said ultrasonic sensors from said front of the vehicle;
the on-board computer enabling the vehicle for movement forward toward a parking space, and while said vehicle is moving,
continuing to determine that the space in front of said vehicle, including said virtual buffer dimension around the physical dimension of the vehicle, remains clear as the vehicle continues to move toward the parking space, and
stopping said movement when the space in front of said vehicle, including said virtual buffer dimension around the physical dimension of the vehicle, is determined to not be clear by way of a detected obstacle along a path of said movement; and
the on-board computer stops said vehicle upon detecting that the vehicle has arrived at a destination location for parking space of said vehicle.
15. The vehicle of claim 14 , wherein the ultrasonic sensors are configured to generate data that is processed by the on-board computer to determine a distance to one or more obstacles, when present, in front of the vehicle during said moving of the vehicle along the path to the destination location for parking.
16. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the image data captured by the camera is processed by the on-board computer to detect moving objects as detected obstacles in the space before or during said movement of the vehicle along the path to the destination location for parking.
17. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein the distance to said one or more obstacles is processed to determine when a threshold is reached to trigger stopping of said vehicle from continuing to move, wherein said distance is beyond said virtual buffer dimension.
18. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein said data from the combination of said camera and said ultrasonic sensors is used to process to predict a probability of a collision with said detected obstacle, said predicting used as an input to determine if the vehicle is to be stopped during the movement to the destination for parking said vehicle.
19. The vehicle of claim 15 , wherein said portable device is one of a key fob or a smart device that is configured to communicate with the on-board computer via wireless communication.
20. The vehicle of claim 19 , wherein the smart device is configured to process an application that enables communication with the on-board computer, a graphical user interface of the application provides selectable inputs which include an input for instructing said self-park operation, wherein selection of said input causes the application to instruct sending of said wireless signal to instruct the on-board computer to perform the self-park operation.