Method for identifying parking spaces by means of ultrasonic sensors

A system for identifying parking spaces, comprising at least one ultrasonic sensor and a computing hardware unit which is configured to evaluate the information provided by the ultrasonic sensor, wherein the system is configured to execute the following:

• a) emitting an ultrasonic signal by an ultrasonic sensor of a vehicle;
• b) receiving a reflected signal component of the ultrasonic signal by the ultrasonic sensor;
• c) providing a grid which refers to a region surrounding the vehicle, wherein the grid has a plurality of cells, wherein each cell is assigned to a partial region of the region surrounding the vehicle and an occupancy value is assigned to each cell;
• d) assigning the reflected signal component to a set of multiple cells of the grid based on a transit time of the ultrasonic signal between the emission of the ultrasonic signal and the reception of the reflected signal component, wherein the occupancy values of the cells to which the reflected signal component is allocated are in each case increased by a specific value;
• e) determining an item of occupancy information by the computing hardware unit based on the occupancy values of the cells of the set of cells by:
• 1. determining that cell of the set of cells which has a maximum occupancy value;
• 2. comparing the maximum occupancy value with a first threshold;
• 3. if the maximum occupancy value exceeds the first threshold, changing a counter, which is assigned to the cell having the maximum occupancy value, by an incremental value;
• and
• 4. comparing the counter with a second threshold and specifying an occupancy status of the cell depending on the comparison result;
• f) repeating a), b), d) and e) multiple times;
• and
• g) performing parking space identification based on the occupancy status of the cells of the grid.