US-20260125007-A1 - MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Abstract

The management system manages a vehicle in a predetermined area. The management system instructs a target vehicle to execute a plurality of types of actions in a predetermined order. The management system recognizes an action executed by the vehicle within the predetermined area by using a sensor installed in the predetermined area. The management system identifies a vehicle that has executed any one of the types of actions within a determination period after the instruction to the target vehicle, as the target vehicle.

Inventors

• Hidenobu Kinugasa
• Takahiro Yamamoto
• Tatsuya Sugano

Assignees

• TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20250924

Priority Date

20241107

Claims (5)

1. 1 . A management system that manages a vehicle in an area that is predetermined, the management system comprising one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: instruct a target vehicle to execute a plurality of types of actions in an order that is predetermined; recognize an action executed by the vehicle in the area that is predetermined by using a sensor installed in the area that is predetermined; and identify the vehicle that has executed any one of the types of actions within a determination period after the instruction to the target vehicle, as the target vehicle.
2. 2 . The management system according to claim 1 , wherein: the types of actions include a first action and a second action different from the first action; and the one or more processors are configured to instruct the target vehicle to execute the second action after the first action.
3. 3 . The management system according to claim 2 , wherein a first time needed to execute the first action is shorter than a second time needed to execute the second action.
4. 4 . The management system according to claim 2 , wherein a first power consumption needed to execute the first action is lower than a second power consumption needed to execute the second action.
5. 5 . The management system according to claim 2 , wherein a change in vehicle size caused by the execution of the first action is smaller than a change in vehicle size caused by the execution of the second action.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-195214 filed on Nov. 7, 2024. The disclosure of the above-identified application, including the specification, drawings, and claims, is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a technology for managing a vehicle in a predetermined area. 2. Description of Related Art U.S. Pat. No. 10,532,771 discloses a technology related to automated valet parking (AVP) in a parking lot. A target vehicle is a vehicle that uses the AVP in the parking lot. A system transmits information instructing the target vehicle to execute a predetermined action. The predetermined action is, for example, blinking of a front light. The system uses a camera installed at a drop-off position of the parking lot to check whether a vehicle stopped at the drop-off position has executed the predetermined action. The system identifies a vehicle that has executed the predetermined action as the target vehicle. SUMMARY A vehicle identification technology for identifying a vehicle that has executed a predetermined action in a predetermined area as a target vehicle is considered. Regarding such a vehicle identification technology, the present inventors have recognized the following problems. That is, in some cases, an action executed by the vehicle cannot be properly recognized depending on the environment. For example, in a case where the action is blinking of light, depending on a degree of lighting, “overexposure” may occur in an image captured by a camera. In a case where the overexposure occurs in the image, there is a possibility that the blinking of the light by the vehicle cannot be correctly detected even though the blinking of the light is performed. In a case where the action executed by the vehicle cannot be properly recognized, the target vehicle cannot be identified. One object of the present disclosure is to provide a technology capable of increasing a probability that the target vehicle can be identified. An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a management system that manages a vehicle in a predetermined area. The management system includes one or more processors. The one or more processors instruct the target vehicle to execute a plurality of types of actions in a predetermined order. The one or more processors recognize an action executed by a vehicle within a predetermined area by using a sensor installed in the predetermined area. The one or more processors identify a vehicle that has executed any one of the types of actions within a determination period after the instruction to the target vehicle, as the target vehicle. According to the present disclosure, the target vehicle is instructed to execute the types of actions in the predetermined order. Then, the vehicle that has executed any one of the types of actions is identified as the target vehicle. Even though a certain action is difficult to recognize under a certain environment, another action is likely to be easily recognized. That is, in any environment, at least any one of the types of actions is highly likely to be recognized. Therefore, the probability that the target vehicle can be identified is increased. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like signs denote like elements, and wherein: FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for describing an example of vehicle control in a predetermined area; FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for describing a basic vehicle identification processing; FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for describing an outline of the vehicle identification processing based on a plurality of types of actions; FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for describing an example of a method of deciding the types of actions; FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for describing an example of an order of the types of actions; and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the management system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1. Vehicle Control in Predetermined Area Consider the control of a vehicle 1 in a predetermined area AR. Examples of the predetermined area AR include a parking lot, a factory, a site of a facility, and a city (smart city). In the predetermined area AR, the vehicle 1 is controlled to travel to a set destination. The vehicle 1 may be an autonomous driving vehicle. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for describing an example of control of the vehicle 1 in the predetermined area AR. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the predetermined area AR is a parking lot PL. The parking lot PL provides an automated valet parking (AVP) service. The vehicle 1 is equipped with a function of performing a