U.S. patent application number 13/851091 was filed with the patent office on 2014-10-02 for automated vehicle parking system.
This patent application is currently assigned to Leanpark OY. The applicant listed for this patent is LEANPARK OY. Invention is credited to Emil Jarvinen, Jarmo Jarvinen, Timo Teimonen.
Application Number | 20140294543 13/851091 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50774834 |
Filed Date | 2014-10-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140294543 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jarvinen; Jarmo ; et
al. |
October 2, 2014 |
AUTOMATED VEHICLE PARKING SYSTEM
Abstract
The present disclosure provides an automated vehicle parking
system. The automated vehicle parking system includes at least one
parking facility structure including a plurality of vehicle storage
cells, a vehicle entrance/exit arrangement, and a vehicle
transporting mechanism. The vehicle transporting mechanism
transports one or more vehicles between the entrance/exit
arrangement and the at least one parking facility. The vehicle
transporting mechanism is operable to redistribute the one or more
vehicles between the storage cells within the at least one parking
facility structure so that the one or more vehicles are more
rapidly accessible when they are required to be delivered to the
entrance/exit arrangement for collection thereat.
Inventors: |
Jarvinen; Jarmo; (Lahti,
FI) ; Jarvinen; Emil; (Lahti, FI) ; Teimonen;
Timo; (Helsinki, FI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
LEANPARK OY |
Lahti |
|
FI |
|
|
Assignee: |
Leanpark OY
Lahti
FI
|
Family ID: |
50774834 |
Appl. No.: |
13/851091 |
Filed: |
March 26, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
414/227 ;
414/800 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04H 6/18 20130101; G06Q
50/28 20130101; G06Q 10/06 20130101; E04H 6/12 20130101; E04H 6/22
20130101; E04H 6/24 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
414/227 ;
414/800 |
International
Class: |
E04H 6/12 20060101
E04H006/12 |
Claims
1. An automated vehicle parking system, including at least one
parking facility structure including a plurality of vehicle storage
cells, a vehicle entrance/exit arrangement, and a vehicle
transporting mechanism for transporting in operation one or more
vehicles between the entrance/exit arrangement and the at least one
parking facility, wherein the vehicle transporting mechanism is
operable to redistribute the one or more vehicles between the
storage cells within the at least one parking facility structure so
that the one or more vehicles are more rapidly accessible when they
are required to be delivered to the entrance/exit arrangement for
collection thereat.
2. The automated vehicle parking system as claimed in claim 1,
wherein redistribution of the one or more vehicles is executed
based upon user-entered information indicative of one or more
estimated times of collection of the one or more vehicles.
3. The automated vehicle parking system as claimed in claim 1,
wherein redistribution of the one or more vehicles is executed
based upon a predictive model provided with identification
information for identifying the one or more vehicles.
4. The automated vehicle parking system as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the system is associated with an airport facility, and
redistribution of the one or more vehicles is executed based upon
flight information pertaining to the airport facility, wherein the
one or more vehicles are redistributed on behalf of one or more
users passing through the airport facility.
5. The automated vehicle parking system as claimed in claim 1,
wherein redistribution of the one or more vehicles is executed for
reducing a waiting time experienced by one or more users when
retrieving one or more vehicles from the system.
6. The automated vehicle parking system as claimed in claim 1,
wherein a sub-set of users of the system are provided with a
privileged status, and redistribution of the one or more vehicles
is executed, at least in part, as a function of the privileged
status to reduce waiting times of the users having the privileged
status relative to other users of the system.
7. The automated vehicle parking system as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the system is operable to provide one or more
communications to one or more users of the system indicative of
when their one or more vehicles stored in the system are estimated
to be available at the entrance/exit arrangement.
8. A method of operating an automated vehicle parking system,
wherein the system includes at least one parking facility structure
including a plurality of vehicle storage cells, a vehicle
entrance/exit arrangement, and a vehicle transporting mechanism for
transporting in operation one or more vehicles between the
entrance/exit arrangement and the at least one parking facility,
wherein the method includes: using the vehicle transporting
mechanism to redistribute the one or more vehicles between the
storage cells within the at least one parking facility structure so
that the one or more vehicles are more rapidly accessible when they
are required to be delivered to the entrance/exit arrangement for
collection thereat.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the method includes
redistributing the one or more vehicles based upon user-entered
information indicative of one or more estimated times of collection
of the one or more vehicles.
10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the method includes
redistributing the one or more vehicles based upon a predictive
model provided with identification information for identifying the
one or more vehicles.
11. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the system is
associated with an airport facility, and the method includes
redistributing the one or more vehicles based upon flight
information pertaining to the airport facility, wherein the one or
more vehicles are redistributed on behalf of one or more users
passing through the airport facility.
12. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the method includes
redistributing the one or more vehicles for reducing a waiting time
experienced by one or more users when retrieving one or more
vehicles from the system.
13. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the method includes
providing a sub-set of users of the system with a privileged
status, and redistributing the one or more vehicles, at least in
part, as a function of the privileged status to reduce waiting
times of the users having the privileged status relative to other
users of the system.
14. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the method includes
operating the system to provide one or more communications to one
or more users of the system indicative of when their one or more
vehicles stored in the system are estimated to be available at the
entrance/exit arrangement.
15. A software product recorded on machine-readable data storage
media, wherein the software product is executable upon computing
hardware for implementing the method as claimed in claim 8.
Description
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to vehicle parking
systems, and more specifically, to managing delivery logistics of
an automated vehicle parking system. Further, aspects of the
disclosure are also directed to software products recorded on
machine-readable data storage media, wherein such software products
are executable upon computing hardware, to implement the methods of
the disclosure.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Multi-level vehicle parking systems are quite common
nowadays as they facilitate parking of a large number of vehicles
in a limited space. Such parking systems include a vehicle storage
space, and multiple pick up and drop locations, where a vehicle
user can leave and/or pick up their vehicle. The vehicle is moved
between the pickup/drop location and the vehicle storage space
using automatic lifts and movers.
[0003] However, a major problem associated with the multi-level
vehicle parking systems is waiting time associated with pick up of
a vehicle. It is likely that some users have to wait for their
vehicle when there are many vehicles parked in the storage space
and a limited number of pick up locations. When there is one user,
the average waiting time for the pick up depends on an operating
speed of the delivery mechanism and distance of the vehicle from
the pick up location. When there are multiple users, each user is
served in a sequence and waiting time of a given user depends on
the number of users already requesting for their vehicles prior to
the given user.
[0004] A conventional technique to reduce the waiting time in the
vehicle parking system is to increase the number of pick up
locations and to speed up the delivery mechanism, and further to
employ modeling of the average waiting time using mathematical
models such as an Erlang distribution. For example, an Erlang C
distribution may be used to estimate how long it takes for the
vehicle to be delivered to a pick up location. Alternatively, an
Engset equation may be used to determine a probability of a user to
wait for their vehicle. However, the conventional techniques have
not proved to be very efficient in significantly reducing the
waiting time, especially when the number of pickup requests are
large.
[0005] Hence, there exists a need for a vehicle parking system,
which eliminates or reduces the waiting time for the delivery of
the vehicle to a user and results in a more robust delivery,
irrespective of number of pickup requests.
SUMMARY
[0006] The present disclosure provides an automatic vehicle parking
system and a method for operating the same.
[0007] In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide
an automated vehicle parking system that includes at least one
parking facility structure including a plurality of vehicle storage
cells, a vehicle entrance/exit arrangement, and a vehicle
transporting mechanism. The vehicle transporting mechanism
transports vehicles between the entrance/exit arrangement and the
at least one parking facility.
[0008] The vehicle transporting mechanism is operable to
redistribute the vehicles between the storage cells within the at
least one parking facility structure so that the vehicles are more
rapidly accessible when they are required to be delivered to the
entrance/exit arrangement for collection thereat. A vehicle is
redistributed to a vehicle storage cell close to an entrance/exit
arrangement just before their pick up, to reduce a waiting time
experienced by the user when retrieving their vehicle from the
vehicle parking system.
[0009] The redistribution of the one or more vehicles is executed
based upon user-entered information indicative of estimated times
of collection of the vehicles and/or a predictive model provided
with identification information for identifying the vehicles. The
user may provide estimated times of collection of vehicles and
their identification information through a control panel at the
entrance/exit arrangement.
[0010] In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure,
the automated vehicle parking system is associated with an airport
facility, and redistribution of the vehicles is executed based upon
flight information pertaining to the airport facility. The vehicles
are redistributed on behalf of users passing through the airport
facility. For example, based on the arrival information of a
passenger, the vehicle of the passenger parked in the automated
vehicle parking system is moved to either an entrance/exit or a
storage cell close to the entrance/exit to minimize the waiting
time of the passenger.
[0011] In accordance with another embodiment of the present
disclosure, a sub-set of users of the system are provided with a
privileged status, and redistribution of the vehicles is executed
as a function of the privileged status to reduce waiting times of
the users having the privileged status relative to other users of
the system. For example, the vehicles of the passengers with
priority card (Gold card) may be moved to a storage cell close to
an entrance/exit and the vehicles of the passengers with priority
card (Platinum card) may be moved directly to an entrance/exit
before their scheduled pick up.
[0012] In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present
disclosure, one or more communications is provided to the users of
the system indicative of when their vehicles stored in the system
are estimated to be available at the entrance/exit arrangement. For
example, a message such as Short message service (SMS), e-mail, and
the like, may be sent to the passenger indicative of when their
vehicles are estimated to be available at the entrance/exit
arrangement.
[0013] In another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure
provide a method of operating the automated vehicle parking
system.
[0014] Embodiments of the present disclosure substantially reduce
the waiting time for the delivery of a vehicle and result in a more
robust delivery, irrespective of total number of pick up requests
in an automated vehicle parking system. The vehicles are moved
closer to an entrance/exit just before their pick up, based on
information indicative of one or more estimated times of collection
of the vehicles, and/or a predictive model provided with
identification information for identifying the vehicles. The
automated vehicle parking system may be implemented in an airport
facility or an elevator system of a building to reduce the waiting
time of passengers/residents.
[0015] Additional aspects, advantages, features and objects of the
present disclosure would be made apparent from the drawings and the
detailed description of the illustrative embodiments construed in
conjunction with the appended claims that follow.
[0016] It will be appreciated that features of the invention are
susceptible to being combined in various combinations without
departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the
appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The summary above, as well as the following detailed
description of illustrative embodiments, is better understood when
read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of
illustrating the present disclosure, exemplary constructions of the
disclosure are shown in the drawings. However, the invention is not
limited to specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed herein.
Moreover, those in the art will understand that the drawings are
not to scale. Wherever possible, like elements have been indicated
by identical numbers.
[0018] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an automated vehicle parking
system that is suitable for practicing various implementations of
the present disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 2 is an illustration of a vehicle entrance/exit, in
accordance with the present disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 3 is an illustration of a plurality of floors and a
plurality of entrance/exits of an automated vehicle parking system,
in accordance with the present disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 4 is an illustration of an automated vehicle parking
system associated with an airport facility, in accordance with the
present disclosure;
[0022] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an automated vehicle parking
system integrated with an elevator system of a building, in
accordance with the present disclosure; and
[0023] FIG. 6 is an illustration of steps of a method of operating
the automated vehicle parking system, in accordance with the
present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0024] The following detailed description illustrates embodiments
of the disclosure and ways in which it can be implemented. Although
the best mode of carrying out the invention has been disclosed,
those in the art would recognize that other embodiments for
carrying out or practicing the invention are also possible.
[0025] The present disclosure provides an automated vehicle parking
system. The automated vehicle parking system includes at least one
parking facility structure, a vehicle entrance/exit arrangement and
a vehicle transporting mechanism. The parking facility structure
includes a plurality of vehicle storage cells and the vehicle
transporting mechanism redistributes the vehicles between the
storage cells so that the vehicles are more rapidly accessible when
they are required to be delivered to the entrance/exit arrangement
for collection thereat. The redistribution of the vehicles is
executed based upon user-entered information indicative of
estimated times of collection of the vehicles and/or a predictive
model provided with identification information for identifying the
vehicles to reduce a waiting time experienced by users when
retrieving vehicles from the system.
[0026] The automated vehicle parking system may be associated with
an airport facility, and redistribution of the vehicles is executed
based upon flight information pertaining to the airport facility.
Further, a sub-set of users of the system and airport facility are
optionally provided with a privileged status, and redistribution of
the vehicles is executed as a function of the privileged status to
reduce waiting times of the users having the privileged status
relative to other users of the system. The automated vehicle
parking system may further provide communications in form of SMS,
email, and the like to users indicative of when their vehicles
stored in the system are estimated to be available at the
entrance/exit arrangement.
[0027] Referring now to the drawings, particularly by their
reference numbers, FIG. 1 is an illustration of an automated
vehicle parking system 100 that is suitable for practicing various
implementations of the present disclosure. The automated vehicle
parking system 100 includes parking facility structures 102a and
102b, hereinafter collectively referred to as parking facility 102.
Each parking facility 102 includes a plurality of parking floors
and the plurality of parking floors include a plurality of vehicle
storage cells 104a, 104b, 104c and 104d, hereinafter collectively
referred to as vehicle storage cells 104 for parking vehicles 106a,
106b, 106c and 106d respectively, hereinafter collectively referred
to as vehicles 106. Examples of vehicles 106, include, but are not
limited to, automobiles, cars, vans, and buses.
[0028] A vehicle transporting mechanism 108 transports the vehicles
106 between the at least one vehicle entrance/exit (not shown in
figure) and the parking facility 102. Examples of the vehicle
transporting mechanism 108 include, but are not limited to,
automated lifts and movers. The vehicle transporting mechanism 108
also moves the vehicles 106 among the vehicle storage cells
104.
[0029] FIG. 2 is an illustration of a vehicle entrance/exit 200 of
the automated vehicle parking system 100, and is explained in
conjunction with FIG. 1. The vehicle entrance/exit 200 is a room,
hereinafter referred to as room 200, where a vehicle user 206
leaves and/or picks up their vehicle 106. The vehicle entrance/exit
200 has an automatic door 202 which can be opened for example after
identifying the vehicle 106 based on its license plate. The vehicle
user 206 drives the vehicle 106 in the room 200 and leaves the
vehicle 106 therein.
[0030] After leaving the vehicle 106 in the room 200, the user 206
may use a control panel 204 to enter a personal code and other
instructions such as an estimated time of picking up the vehicle
106. The door 202 is closed, when the user 206 has entered the
information through the control panel 204. After the door 202 is
closed, the vehicle transporting mechanism 108 transports the
vehicle 106 to an available vehicle storage cell 104. In an
embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle storage cell 104
may be predefined for the user 206. In another embodiment of the
present invention, the vehicle storage cell 104 is dynamically
decided by a control logic of the automated vehicle parking system
100.
[0031] In an embodiment of the present invention, the control panel
204 may be coupled to the control logic of the automated vehicle
parking system 100 and may include an interactive graphical user
interface (GUI) and an input module for receiving a plurality of
instructions from the vehicle user 206. For example, the control
panel 204 may receive the identification information of the vehicle
106, the estimated pick up time of the vehicle 106 and a request
from the user 206 for picking up the vehicle 106. The vehicle
transporting mechanism 108 transports the vehicle 106 from the
vehicle storage cell 104 to the room 200 when a request for pick up
of the vehicle 106 is received. The door 202 is opened and the user
206 may drive the vehicle 106 out of the room 200.
[0032] FIG. 3 is an illustration of an automated vehicle parking
system 300, which is an example of the automated vehicle parking
system 100 and is explained in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2. The
system 300 includes parking floors A, B, C, D, and three
entrance/exits 302a, 302b, and 302c, hereinafter collectively
referred to as entrance/exits 302. Each floor A, B, C and D,
include multiple vehicle storage cells, similar to vehicle storage
cells 104, for parking the vehicles, namely similar to the vehicles
106. A vehicle user, namely similar to vehicle user 206, may leave
a vehicle at any of the entrance/exit 302 and a vehicle
transporting mechanism, namely similar to vehicle transporting
mechanism 108, may move the vehicle automatically to any of the
parking floors A, B, C D based on the availability of the vehicle
storage cells and/or user preferences.
[0033] The vehicle transporting mechanism may deliver the vehicle
back to an entrance/exit 302, when the user submits a request for
pick up of the vehicle. In an embodiment of the present invention,
the vehicle transporting mechanism is operable to redistribute the
one or more vehicles among the storage cells so that the one or
more vehicles are more rapidly accessible when they are required to
be delivered to the entrance/exit 302 for collection thereat. The
redistribution of the one or more vehicles is executed for reducing
a waiting time experienced by one or more users when retrieving one
or more vehicles from the system 300.
[0034] For example, the delivery time of a vehicle from floor D to
an entrance/exit 302 is 3 minutes, from floor C is 6 minutes, from
floor B is 9 minutes and from floor A is 12 minutes. The average
time is thus equal to (3+6+9+12)/4=7.5 minutes. In addition, it
takes approximately 1 minute for a user to enter into the vehicle
and drive out of the entrance/exit 302. The vehicle transporting
mechanism may redistribute a vehicle parked at floor A to floor D
close to an entrance/exit 302, just before a pick up of the vehicle
is requested, thereby reducing the waiting time to 3 minutes. In
one embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle transporting
mechanism redistributes one or more vehicles among the vehicle
storage cells at parking floors A, B, C and D based upon
user-entered information indicative of one or more estimated times
of collection of the one or more vehicles. In another embodiment,
the redistribution of vehicles among the parking floors A, B, C and
D is executed based upon a predictive model provided with
identification information of the one or more vehicles. As
discussed above, the user may provide estimated times of collection
of the vehicles and their identification information through a
control panel, namely similar to control panel 204, at the
entrance/exit 302.
[0035] FIG. 3 is merely an example, which should not unduly limit
the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art
would recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications of
embodiments herein.
[0036] FIG. 4 is an illustration of an automated vehicle parking
system 400 associated with an airport facility 404, in accordance
with the present disclosure.
[0037] The parking system 400 is located at or close to an airport
404. A car rental organization associated with the airport 404
stores the car rental information in a first database DB1. A
ticketing organization associated with the airport 404 stores
global ticket information in a second database DB2. The arrival
information of passengers at the airport 404 is stored in a fourth
database DB4. An airport server system 406 is configured to request
and receive information from the first, second, and fourth
databases DB1, DB2, and DB4 respectively.
[0038] The automated vehicle parking system 400 is an example of
the automated vehicle parking system 100. The automated vehicle
parking system 400 includes parking floors A, B, C, D, and three
entrance/exits 402a, 402b, and 402c, hereinafter collectively
referred to as entrance/exits 402, and is controlled by a control
logic 408. A third database DB3 is linked to the control logic 408,
and stores information indicative of a location of parked vehicles
in the system 400. The control logic 408 is linked to the server
system 406 by way of a communication network. Examples of the
communication network include, but are not limited to Ethernet,
Internet, Local Area Network and the like.
[0039] The control logic 408 uses information from the first,
second, third and fourth databases DB1, DB2, DB3 and DB4, to
formulate instructions for either delivering vehicles to
entrance/exits 402 or redistributing the vehicles among the parking
floors A, B, C and D.
[0040] For example, based on the arrival information of a passenger
stored in the fourth database DB4, the control logic 408 may
initiate delivery process of corresponding vehicle to either an
entrance/exit 402 or floor C/D close to the entrance/exit 402 to
minimize the waiting time of the passenger. Thus, the
redistribution of the vehicles among the parking floors A, B, C and
D is executed based upon flight information pertaining to the
airport 404.
[0041] In another example, based on the information regarding
rented cars in the first database DB1, the control logic 408 may
initiate delivery process of a rented car parked in the system 400
at an entrance/exit 402a at an approximate time of pick up of
rented car, and also instruct the user picking up the rented car to
wait outside the entrance/exit 402a. The control logic 408 may be
configured to send a message such as Short message service (SMS),
e-mail, and the like to the passenger to inform about the
entrance/exit 402a.
[0042] In another example, based on the second database DB2, the
control logic 408 may move the vehicles of the passengers with
priority card, for example Gold card holders, to floor D close to
an entrance/exit 402 and move the vehicles of the passengers with
priority card, for example Platinum card holders, directly to an
entrance/exit 402. Thus, redistribution of the vehicles among the
parking floors A, B, C and D is executed based upon privileged
status of one or more users.
[0043] FIG. 4 is merely an example, which should not unduly limit
the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art
would recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications of
embodiments herein.
[0044] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an automated vehicle parking
system 500 integrated with an elevator system 508 of the building
506, in accordance with the present disclosure. The building 506
may be a residential building or an office building, and includes
first through eighth floors. The elevator system 508 of the
building 506 is controlled by a first control logic 510.
[0045] The automated vehicle parking system 500 is an example of
the automated vehicle parking system 100 and includes parking
floors A, B, C, D, and three entrance/exits 502a, 502b, and 502c,
hereinafter collectively referred to entrance/exits 502. The
automated vehicle parking system 500 is controlled by a second
control logic 512. A database DB3 is linked to the second control
logic 512 and stores location information of vehicles parked in the
system 500. The database DB3 can also include other statistical
information of the residents of the building 506 such as normal
pick up times of the vehicles from the system 500.
[0046] In one embodiment of the present invention, the first
control logic 510 is connected to the second control logic 512 by
way of a communication network. In another embodiment of the
present invention, the first and second control logics 510 and 512
are integrated in a single hardware unit.
[0047] The first control logic 510 includes information on requests
for elevator system 508 to go to one or more floors. For example,
when a resident of 7.sup.th floor of the building 506 requests the
elevator system 508 to the 7.sup.th floor, he/she presses a button
next to a door of the elevator system 508. The pressing of the
button is registered by the first control logic 510 and the
elevator system 508 is delivered to the 7.sup.th floor.
[0048] In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, if the
resident of the 7.sup.th floor has parked he/she vehicle in the
system 500 and the first control logic 510 indicates that the
elevator system 508 has been ordered to the 7.sup.th floor, the
second control logic 512 may initiate delivery process of the
vehicle of resident of the 7.sup.th floor to either floor D or to
an entrance/exit 502. When there is more than one residence at the
7.sup.th floor, the second control logic 512 may be configured to
move vehicles of all residents of 7.sup.th floor to floor D to
reduce statistical waiting time. Alternatively, the second control
logic 512 may initiate delivery process of the vehicle of resident
of the 7.sup.th floor whose house is locked based on a lock status
of the doors of the houses at the 7.sup.th floor. Alternatively,
the second control logic 512 may initiate delivery process of the
vehicle of resident of the 7.sup.th floor based on normal pick up
times of vehicles registered in the database DB3.
[0049] In another exemplary embodiment, the second control logic
512 may send a request to the first control logic 510 to request
the elevator system 508 to ground floor (floor 0) for a user, when
the user leaves their vehicle at an entrance/exit 502, thereby
reducing the waiting time for the elevator system 508.
[0050] FIG. 5 is merely an example, which should not unduly limit
the scope of the claims herein. One of ordinary skill in the art
would recognize many variations, alternatives, and modifications of
embodiments herein.
[0051] FIG. 6 is an illustration of steps of a method of operating
the automated vehicle parking system 100, in accordance with the
present disclosure. The method is depicted as a collection of steps
in a logical flow diagram, which represents a sequence of steps
that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination
thereof. At a step 602, the automated parking system 100 may
receive information indicative of estimated times of collection of
vehicles parked in the system 100 or identification information of
the vehicles.
[0052] At a step 604, the automated parking system 100 may
redistribute one or more vehicles between the storage cells based
on received information so that the one or more vehicles are more
rapidly accessible when they are required to be delivered to an
entrance/exit for collection thereat. The redistribution of the one
or more vehicles is executed for reducing a waiting time
experienced by one or more users when retrieving one or more
vehicles from the system 100.
[0053] It should be noted here that the steps 602 to 604 are only
illustrative and other alternatives can also be provided where one
or more steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or
more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing
from the scope of the claims herein.
[0054] Although embodiments of the current invention have been
described comprehensively, in considerable detail to cover the
possible aspects, those skilled in the art would recognize that
other versions of the invention are also possible.
* * * * *