SBIR Phase I: Parking Assistant Software for Smart-phones and Car Navigation Systems

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将研究1)众包智能手机关于街道停车位的可行性，以及2)导航司机到可用的停车位。这项创新是智能停车助手(IPA)，这是一款在智能手机和汽车导航系统上运行的软件应用程序，它将司机引导到停车位，类似于将司机引导到目的地的汽车导航系统(CNS)。IPA由两个子系统组成，即停车检测器(PD)和停车导航仪(PN)。警局自动估计城市街区的平均停车位数量。它使用了一种新的方法，建立了每个城市街区停车可用性的历史档案，并将其与来自智能手机的实时信息相结合。相比之下，现有的检测停车可用性的解决方案要么使用专门的昂贵传感器，要么需要手动输入。PN引导司机通过一条她最有可能有效竞争停车位的路径。PN使用了一种新的基于重力的停车算法，该算法利用博弈论开发来解决竞争方面的问题。如果停车时间和能源消耗达到指定的目标，拟议的项目就会成功。这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于减少在市区寻找停车位的时间。停车是城市交通中的一大难题。在11个主要城市进行的研究显示，寻找路边停车位的平均时间为8.1分钟，这些停车位的巡航占这些城市交通拥堵的30%。每个停车位每年至少产生1825英里的车辆行驶里程(VMT)。因此，在芝加哥这样一个拥有超过3.5万个路边停车位的城市，巡航停车产生了6300万VMT。这浪费了超过310万加仑的汽油，并产生了超过4.8万吨的二氧化碳排放。IPA通过智能手机等移动、无线连接的计算设备为司机提供实时信息和指导，从而减少停车搜索。IPA最初将作为手机应用程序进行营销。引导IPA使用所需的停车可用性数据将从当地市政当局获得。在研发中，该公司将把重点放在街道停车上。这一创新源于美国国家科学基金会IGERT奖0549489。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will study the feasibility of 1) crowd-sourcing smart-phones about street parking availability, and 2) navigating a driver to an available parking slot. The innovation is the Intelligent Parking Assistant (IPA), a software application that runs on smart phones and car navigation systems, and guides a driver to a parking slot similarly to a Car Navigation System (CNS) that guides her to the destination. The IPA consists of two subsystems, a Parking Detector (PD) and a Parking Navigator (PN). PD automatically estimates the average number of parking slots on city blocks. It uses a novel method that builds a historical profile of parking availability on each city block, and combines it with real-time information from smart phones. In contrast, existing solutions that detect parking availability either use specialized expensive sensors, or require manual input. PN guides the driver through a path where she is most likely to compete effectively for parking. PN uses a novel Gravity-based Parking Algorithm, developed using game-theory to address the competitive aspect. The proposed project will be successful if parking time reduction and energy consumption reach specified targets.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project lies in reducing the time for finding parking in urban areas. Parking is a major hassle in urban transportation. Studies conducted in 11 major cities reveal that the average time searching for curbside parking was 8.1 minutes and cruising for these parking slots accounted for 30% of the traffic congestion in those cities. Each parking slot generates at least 1,825 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per year. Thus, in a city like Chicago with over 35,000 curbside slots, cruising for parking generates 63 million VMT. This wastes over 3.1 million gallons of gasoline and produces over 48,000 tons of CO2 emissions. The IPA reduces parking search by providing drivers with real-time information and guidance through mobile, wirelessly connected computing devices such as smart-phones. The IPA will be initially marketed as a phone app. The parking availability data needed for bootstrapping the IPA usage will be obtained from local municipalities. In its research and development the company will focus on street-parking. The innovation stems from the NSF IGERT award 0549489.