Parking assistance method and parking assistance device

1. A parking assistance method of performing autonomous travel of a vehicle based on a travel route generated using teaching travel by a driver, the parking assistance method comprising:

acquiring an absolute position and an azimuth in a travel direction of the vehicle;

determining, based on the absolute position and the azimuth in the travel direction, whether or not the vehicle is located and oriented with a prescribed azimuth in a prescribed position, which are registered in association with the travel route; and

outputting, when the vehicle is located and oriented with the prescribed azimuth in the prescribed position, a notification to a user to prompt an operation to start parking assistance.

2. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the operation by the user to start the parking assistance;

acquiring an image obtained by imaging a periphery of the vehicle;

performing a self-localization estimation based on the image and data generated from the peripheral image or a peripheral image captured during the teaching travel; and

moving the vehicle to a parking position through autonomous travel based on the travel route and a position of the vehicle estimated by the self-localization estimation.

3. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving the operation by the user to start the parking assistance;

acquiring an image obtained by imaging a periphery of the vehicle;

performing a self-localization estimation based on the image and data generated from the peripheral image; and

moving the vehicle to a parking position through autonomous travel based on the travel route and a position of the vehicle estimated by the self-localization estimation.

4. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , wherein

the determining includes determining that the vehicle is located and oriented with the prescribed azimuth in the prescribed position when a first difference between the acquired absolute position of the vehicle and the prescribed position is within a first prescribed range and a second difference between the acquired azimuth in the travel direction of the vehicle and the prescribed azimuth is within a second prescribed range.

5. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , wherein

the parking assistance method determines that the vehicle is located and oriented with the prescribed azimuth in the prescribed position when a first difference between the acquired absolute position of the vehicle and the prescribed position is within a first prescribed range and a second difference between the acquired azimuth in the travel direction of the vehicle and the prescribed azimuth is within a second prescribed range.

6. The parking assistance method according to claim 2 , wherein

the determining includes determining that the vehicle is located and oriented with the prescribed azimuth in the prescribed position when a first difference between the acquired absolute position of the vehicle and the prescribed position is within a first prescribed range and a second difference between the acquired azimuth in the travel direction of the vehicle and the prescribed azimuth is within a second prescribed range.

7. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

specifying the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth based on a plurality of past travel histories of the vehicle and registering the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth in association with the travel route.

8. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

specifying the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth based on a plurality of past travel histories of the vehicle and registering the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth in a memory.

9. The parking assistance method according to claim 2 , further comprising:

specifying the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth based on a plurality of past travel histories of the vehicle and registering the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth in association with the travel route.

10. The parking assistance method according to claim 4 , further comprising:

specifying the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth based on a plurality of past travel histories of the vehicle and registering the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth in association with the travel route.

11. The parking assistance method according to claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving a user operation to correct the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth; and

changing the registered prescribed position and the registered prescribed azimuth based on the user operation to correct the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth.

12. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an input by a user of the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth; and

registering the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth inputted by the user in association with the travel route registered using the teaching travel.

13. The parking assistance method according to claim 12 , wherein

the receiving the input by the user includes receiving the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth inputted by the user, from an input device provided near a driving seat of the vehicle.

14. The parking assistance method according to claim 12 , further comprising:

acquiring the absolute position and the azimuth in the travel direction of the vehicle when an instruction by the user to register the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth is received in the receiving the input by the user, wherein

the registering the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth inputted by the user includes registering, in association with the travel route, the absolute position and the azimuth in the travel direction of the vehicle, as acquired, as the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth.

15. The parking assistance method according to claim 12 , wherein

the receiving the input by the user includes receiving the prescribed position and the prescribed azimuth, which are inputted by the user, from a mobile terminal that is capable of directly or indirectly communicating with a parking assistance device of the vehicle.

16. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

acquiring an image obtained by imaging a periphery of the vehicle when the vehicle is located and oriented with the prescribed azimuth in the prescribed position; and

starting a self-localization estimation based on the image and data generated from the image or a peripheral image captured during the teaching travel.

17. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

causing a display to display an image indicating a start position of the travel route when the vehicle is located and oriented with the prescribed azimuth in the prescribed position.

18. The parking assistance method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a user operation to designate a home as a destination of a car navigation system; and

causing a display to display an image indicating a start position of the travel route when the user operation to designate the home as the destination of the car navigation system is received.

19. A parking assistance device that executes parking assistance for performing autonomous travel of a vehicle based on a travel route generated using teaching travel by a driver, the parking assistance device comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

acquire an absolute position and an azimuth in a travel direction of the vehicle; and

determine, based on the absolute position and the azimuth in the travel direction, whether or not the vehicle is located oriented with a prescribed azimuth in a prescribed position, which are registered in association with the travel route; and

outputting, when the vehicle is located and oriented with the prescribed azimuth in the prescribed position, a notification to a user to prompt an operation to start parking assistance.

20. A parking assistance method of performing autonomous travel of a vehicle based on a travel route generated using teaching travel by a driver, the parking assistance method comprising:

acquiring a position of the vehicle and an azimuth in a travel direction of the vehicle; and

outputting, based on the position and the azimuth in the travel direction, when the vehicle is located and oriented with a prescribed azimuth in a prescribed position, a notification to a user to prompt an operation to start parking assistance,

wherein the prescribed position is located within a range of a prescribed distance from a start position of the travel route.