For most drivers, finding a parking space in a crowded parking lot or busy downtown area is one of the most frustrating driving tasks.

Ford Motor engineers are no exception to feeling such frustration, but they have been able to do something toward solving the problem, and saving time, fuel, and emissions in the bargain.

Technology Enablers

The company's developers were looking for new ways to use existing sensors on today's vehicles, and came up with the Parking Spotter application. The system that is now being tested uses ultrasound sensors in the front fascia, just ahead of the wheels, to find open parking spaces in parking lots or along a street. Information collected by the sensors is provided to other drivers to shorten their hunt for a space.

"One of the great things about this project is it uses off-the-shelf technology, existing elements already on the vehicle," says Dave McCreadie, Ford's manager of electric vehicle infrastructure and smart grid technology.

The ultrasound sensors already were being used for obstacle detection and to enable the automaker's hands-free parking feature. Adding radar sensors and cameras could be features in future iterations of the Parking Spotter. In its present form, sensor data indicating an open parking spot is sent to the "cloud" where it can be accessed by users of parking apps such as Streetline or ParkMe. There is no shortage of such information providers, McCreadie says, but adds that Ford found that the data behind these apps is scarce. "Our vehicles enrich the data, providing more information to the cloud" for use by these services, he says

That vehicle-derived data supplements data that is already available from cameras and embedded sensors used in some parking facilities. Increased reliance on vehicles themselves as data probes could reduce the need (and expense) of those fixed-facility sensors.

Testing Time

For the Parking Spotter prototype now under test, Ford developers used OpenXC, a development tool that plugs into a vehicle's OBD-II diagnostic port. The device allowed accessing data on the CAN bus, including the ultrasound sensor signals. After these signals are grabbed, the OpenXC's modem sends the data to the cloud, along with vehicle GPS data, where software code interprets the information. An operational version of the system will use electronics integrated onboard a vehicle rather than the OBD-II port.

Concept diagram for Ford's Parking Spotter. Source: FordAfter connecting with engineers at Valeo, a manufacturer of ultrasound sensors, the Ford team specified the system and set up the cloud processing because it was not a new invention but simply a different way of using the data, McCreadie says. "It was then just testing for accuracy and determining dependence on vehicle speed and distance [to a parking space]," he says. Thus far, the best data is obtained from vehicles traveling less than 20 mph, he says.

This year will see Parking Spotter tested for different space configurations, such as parallel parking, 90º and angled spaces, as well as software refinement. The greater number of vehicles equipped with such a data gathering system to ferret out a large proportion of empty spaces, the more useful the system will be.

"That critical mass isn't known yet," McCreadie says. "We are planning tests to find out, and are looking to partnerships with other OEMs" whose cars have similar sensors, he says.

The Road Ahead

The prototype Parking Spotter requires the driver to turn it on, with the sensors always firing. An operational system would likely have an "opt in" feature so no user interaction would be needed. McCreadie also says that more "smarts" will be built into the system. For example, on a high-speed road there would be no need to gather data, so the sensors would turn off. At lower speeds, integration with GPS and map data of known parking areas would generate data only in environments with potential targets. Eventually, a driver might reserve a space, which would only allow him or her to occupy it "legally" with the swipe of a credit card.

McCreadie offers one potential caution, however. Initially the system is not data intensive, handling small amounts of data with small bandwidth. "Calculation is done in the cloud, but with potential for many more vehicles [feeding data], there could arise cloud-processing issues," he says.

Privacy and Legalities

Jeremy Carlson, senior analyst for IHS Automotive Technology, says that systems that increasingly leverage the cloud boost the usefulness of existing technology assets. Specifically, with Parking Spotter "Ford did a good job with its autonomous parking assist, [and is using this technology] in solving one of the most frustrating aspects of driving, and saving fuel." Carlson also envisions these applications eventually replacing fixed infrastructure assets, such as ultrasound sensors that determine if a garage parking space is occupied, once a critical mass of technology-equipped vehicles is reached.

This trend in vehicle connectivity could also be expanded with other examples of data fusion, Carlson says. For instance, systems on luxury cars can adjust a suspension to smooth the ride and control over potholes. Combining data from abrupt suspension excursions, coupled with a vehicle's GPS location, may alert authorities to execute timely repair of potholes before they cause vehicle damage or accidents, particularly if many cars are "reporting" such occurrences.

However, using vehicles as data probes and information generator raises longer-term questions, Carlson says. For example, what happens to data and who owns it are questions that depend on privacy laws. The advent of Parking Spotter positions Ford as owner of the data and helps to start that conversation, he says.

"Data generated in vehicle can be made valuable (as with Parking Spotter) and passed on to the consumer," Carlson says. "We all want to own our data, but when you provide value in exchange and consumers opt in to use it, then they are likely to contribute it for their own use and the greater good."

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