# US 2018/0024566 A1 · Vehicle positioning in a parking area > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0024566 A1 - Document ID: US20180024566A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/720,145 - Filed: 2017-09-29 - Published: 2018-01-25 - Earliest claimed: 2016-05-11 - Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation - Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation - Inventors: Sarbajit K. RAKSHIT; Shilpa S. SHETTY - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180024566A1 ## CPC - G05D 1/0225: {involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay (parking aids B62D15/027)} - B62D 15/0285: {Parking performed automatically} - G05D 1/0027: {involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00)} - G05D 1/0297: {by controlling means in a control room} - G08G 1/015: with provision for distinguishing between two or more types of vehicles, e.g. between motor-cars and cycles - G08G 1/056: with provision for distinguishing direction of travel - G08G 1/14: indicating individual free spaces in parking areas - G08G 1/143: {inside the vehicles} - G08G 1/144: {on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]} - G08G 1/146: {where the parking area is a limited parking space, e.g. parking garage, restricted space} - H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks - H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services - H04W 4/40: for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] - G08G 1/0112: {from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]} - G08G 1/0129: {for creating historical data or processing based on historical data} - G05D: SYSTEMS FOR CONTROLLING OR REGULATING NON-ELECTRIC VARIABLES - B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M) - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Vehicle positioning in a parking area is provided by obtaining vehicle information of vehicles for positioning in the parking area, identifying unutilized parking space in the parking area, then based on recognizing a vehicle movement event, determining an optimized layout for the vehicles, the optimized layout including position for each vehicle of the vehicles, the vehicle movement event including (i) actual or anticipated arrival of an arriving vehicle to be positioned in the parking area or (ii) actual or anticipated departure of a departing vehicle departing from the parking area, and positioning one or more vehicles of the vehicles to conform to the determined optimized layout, the positioning including automatically controlling movement of at least one autonomous vehicle of the one or more vehicles and repositioning a vehicle, of the one or more vehicles, that is a different vehicle than the arriving vehicle or departing vehicle. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method comprising: obtaining vehicle information of a plurality of vehicles, the plurality of vehicles for positioning in a parking area and the vehicle information comprising vehicle dimension and driving direction; identifying occupied areas of the parking area and comparing the identified occupied areas to a total area size of the parking area to identify unutilized parking space in the parking area; based on recognizing a vehicle movement event, determining an optimized layout for the plurality of vehicles, the optimized layout comprising position for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, the position including vehicle orientation and location within the parking area, and the vehicle movement event comprising (i) actual or anticipated arrival of an arriving vehicle to be positioned in the parking area or (ii) actual or anticipated departure of a departing vehicle departing from the parking area; and positioning one or more vehicles of the plurality of vehicles to conform to the determined optimized layout, the positioning comprising automatically controlling movement of at least one autonomous vehicle of the one or more vehicles and repositioning a vehicle, of the one or more vehicles, that is a different vehicle than the arriving vehicle or departing vehicle. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle movement event comprises anticipated departure of a departing vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises: anticipating a departure time of the departing vehicle; and triggering the vehicle movement event at a time prior to the anticipated departure time, to trigger the determining the optimized layout, wherein determining the optimized layout comprises determining a new position for the departing vehicle that decreases impact on other vehicles of the plurality of vehicles when the departing vehicle departs the parking area, and wherein the positioning the one or more vehicles comprises repositioning the departing vehicle in the parking area prior to the anticipated departure time from an initial position to the new position. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the anticipating the departure time comprises monitoring actions by an individual to arrive at the parking area and occupy the departing vehicle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle movement event comprises anticipated arrival of an arriving vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises: anticipating an arrival time of the arriving vehicle; and triggering the vehicle movement event at a time prior to the anticipated arrival time, to trigger the determining the optimized layout, wherein determining the optimized layout comprises determining a position in the parking area that the arriving vehicle is to occupy in the parking area. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein the anticipating the arrival time is based on an express or assumed request for a parking space in the parking area for the arriving vehicle. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, further comprising receiving vehicle dimension and driving direction of the arriving vehicle, wherein the determining the optimized layout is based on the vehicle dimension and driving direction of the arriving vehicle, wherein an orientation of the arriving vehicle when occupying the determined position in the parking area is based on the driving direction of the arriving vehicle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the optimized layout considers anticipated departure time of first and second vehicles of the plurality of vehicles, wherein the optimized layout positions an anticipated earlier departing vehicle of the first and second vehicles in a position of greater accessibility to an exit of the parking area than an anticipated later departing vehicle of the first and second vehicles, and wherein the positioning the one or more vehicles positions the anticipated earlier departing vehicle in the position of greater accessibility. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the optimized layout considers potential repositioning of all vehicles located within the parking area. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the optimized layout considers a change in orientation of at least some vehicles located within the parking area. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the optimized layout comprises maximizing an amount of unused parking space of the parking area after the plurality of vehicles are positioned to conform to the layout. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the repositioning the at least one vehicle comprises changing an orientation and location of the at least one vehicle. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining, identifying, determining, and positioning are performed by a remote computer system in communication with the plurality of vehicles. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicles are each autonomous vehicles, the movement of which is automatically operable by one or more computer systems. ### Claim 14 A computer program product comprising: a computer readable storage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions for execution by the processor for performing a method comprising: obtaining vehicle information of a plurality of vehicles, the plurality of vehicles for positioning in a parking area and the vehicle information comprising vehicle dimension and driving direction; identifying occupied areas of the parking area and comparing the identified occupied areas to a total area size of the parking area to identify unutilized parking space in the parking area; based on recognizing a vehicle movement event, determining an optimized layout for the plurality of vehicles, the optimized layout comprising position for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, the position including vehicle orientation and location within the parking area, and the vehicle movement event comprising (i) actual or anticipated arrival of an arriving vehicle to be positioned in the parking area or (ii) actual or anticipated departure of a departing vehicle departing from the parking area; and positioning one or more vehicles of the plurality of vehicles to conform to the determined optimized layout, the positioning comprising automatically controlling movement of at least one autonomous vehicle of the one or more vehicles and repositioning a vehicle, of the one or more vehicles, that is a different vehicle than the arriving vehicle or departing vehicle. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the vehicle movement event comprises anticipated departure of a departing vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises: anticipating a departure time of the departing vehicle; and triggering the vehicle movement event at a time prior to the anticipated departure time, to trigger the determining the optimized layout, wherein determining the optimized layout comprises determining a new position for the departing vehicle that decreases impact on other vehicles of the plurality of vehicles when the departing vehicle departs the parking area, and wherein the positioning the one or more vehicles comprises repositioning the departing vehicle in the parking area prior to the anticipated departure time from an initial position to the new position. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the vehicle movement event comprises anticipated arrival of an arriving vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises: anticipating an arrival time of the arriving vehicle; and triggering the vehicle movement event at a time prior to the anticipated arrival time, to trigger the determining the optimized layout, wherein determining the optimized layout comprises determining a position in the parking area that the arriving vehicle is to occupy in the parking area. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises receiving vehicle dimension and driving direction of the arriving vehicle, wherein the determining the optimized layout is based on the vehicle dimension and driving direction of the arriving vehicle, wherein an orientation of the arriving vehicle when occupying the determined position in the parking area is based on the driving direction of the arriving vehicle. ### Claim 18 A computer system comprising: a memory; and a processor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, the method comprising: obtaining vehicle information of a plurality of vehicles, the plurality of vehicles for positioning in a parking area and the vehicle information comprising vehicle dimension and driving direction; identifying occupied areas of the parking area and comparing the identified occupied areas to a total area size of the parking area to identify unutilized parking space in the parking area; based on recognizing a vehicle movement event, determining an optimized layout for the plurality of vehicles, the optimized layout comprising position for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, the position including vehicle orientation and location within the parking area, and the vehicle movement event comprising (i) actual or anticipated arrival of an arriving vehicle to be positioned in the parking area or (ii) actual or anticipated departure of a departing vehicle departing from the parking area; and positioning one or more vehicles of the plurality of vehicles to conform to the determined optimized layout, the positioning comprising automatically controlling movement of at least one autonomous vehicle of the one or more vehicles and repositioning a vehicle, of the one or more vehicles, that is a different vehicle than the arriving vehicle or departing vehicle. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The computer system of claim 18, wherein the vehicle movement event comprises anticipated departure of a departing vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises: anticipating a departure time of the departing vehicle; and triggering the vehicle movement event at a time prior to the anticipated departure time, to trigger the determining the optimized layout, wherein determining the optimized layout comprises determining a new position for the departing vehicle that decreases impact on other vehicles of the plurality of vehicles when the departing vehicle departs the parking area, and wherein the positioning the one or more vehicles comprises repositioning the departing vehicle in the parking area prior to the anticipated departure time from an initial position to the new position. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The computer system of claim 18, wherein the vehicle movement event comprises anticipated arrival of an arriving vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises: anticipating an arrival time of the arriving vehicle; and triggering the vehicle movement event at a time prior to the anticipated arrival time, to trigger the determining the optimized layout, wherein determining the optimized layout comprises determining a position in the parking area that the arriving vehicle is to occupy in the parking area.