In the wave of automotive intelligence, the parking problem has become increasingly prominent. Traditional parking methods are inefficient and difficult in complex environments, and remote parking technology has emerged as the times require. Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, with its unique advantages, is becoming the core technology in the field of remote parking, bringing drivers an efficient, convenient, and safe parking experience.
The Development Background of Remote Parking Technology
With the continuous growth of the urban vehicle ownership, parking spaces have become increasingly scarce. Narrow parking spaces and crowded parking lots have caused great distress to drivers. Traditional parking relies on the driver's operation. In complex environments, such as in narrow parking spaces or when there are dense vehicles around, the difficulty of parking increases significantly, and collision accidents are likely to occur. To solve this problem, remote parking technology has been continuously developing, evolving from the initial simple remote control parking to a more intelligent and automated direction. From a technical perspective, remote parking requires vehicles to have precise positioning, environmental perception, and intelligent decision-making capabilities, with extremely high requirements for positioning accuracy and communication stability. UWB technology just meets these needs and has become a key force in promoting the development of remote parking technology.
The Principle and Advantages of UWB Technology
Working Principle
UWB technology is a wireless communication technology that uses nanosecond-level narrow pulses to transmit data. It precisely measures distances by sending and receiving ultra-wideband pulse signals and using the time of flight (ToF) of the signals. Specifically, a UWB device sends a pulse signal, and the receiving end calculates the propagation distance of the signal based on the time difference between signal transmission and reception, combined with the speed of light. For example, when the UWB device on a vehicle sends a signal to an anchor point in a parking lot, the anchor point immediately sends the signal back upon receipt. The vehicle can accurately know its distance from the anchor point by calculating the round-trip time of the signal. This pulse-based ranging method has higher accuracy and anti-interference ability compared to traditional wireless communication technologies.
Technical Advantages
High-precision positioning: The minimum bandwidth of UWB can reach 500MHZ, enabling centimeter-level positioning accuracy. In remote parking, the vehicle needs to accurately position the location of the parking space and its own posture. UWB technology can accurately measure the distance between the vehicle and the parking space as well as surrounding obstacles, providing the vehicle with accurate position information, allowing the vehicle to accurately park in a narrow parking space and avoid collisions.
Strong anti-interference ability: Ultra-wideband radio emits single-cycle pulses with extremely short durations and very small duty cycles, and multi-path signals can be separated in time, effectively avoiding multi-path signal interference. In the complex environment of a parking lot, signals are easily interfered by reflections from buildings, vehicles, etc. The anti-interference characteristics of UWB technology ensure that the vehicle can still stably receive and send signals in such an environment, ensuring the accuracy of positioning and communication.
High security: On the one hand, UWB uses time-hopping spread spectrum, and the receiver can only decode the transmitted data when it knows the spread spectrum code of the transmitter. On the other hand, the system's transmit power spectral density is extremely low, and it cannot be received by traditional receivers, greatly improving the system's security and preventing the signal from being stolen or interfered with during the remote parking process.
The Application Scenarios of UWB in Remote Parking
Autonomous Valet Parking (AVP)
In smart parking lots such as large shopping malls and hotels, after the driver gets off at the designated drop-off point, they issue a parking command through the mobile phone APP. The vehicle, with the help of UWB positioning technology and combined with in-vehicle sensors, accurately perceives its own position and the surrounding environment, automatically plans the optimal parking path, drives to an empty parking space, and completes the parking. When retrieving the vehicle, the driver issues a retrieval command, and the vehicle automatically drives from the parking space to the designated pick-up point. In this process, UWB technology enables the vehicle to accurately position itself in the complex environment of the parking lot, achieving autonomous location finding, obstacle avoidance, and parking, greatly saving the driver's time and energy.
Remote Control Parking in Narrow Spaces
When the space around a narrow street or parking space is limited, the driver can remotely control the vehicle to park outside the vehicle through a mobile phone or car key. UWB technology enables the vehicle to accurately perceive the distance between itself and surrounding obstacles. The driver can obtain real-time vehicle position information and precisely control the vehicle's driving direction and speed, safely parking the vehicle in a narrow parking space and avoiding the embarrassing situation of difficulty in opening the door after parking due to the small space inside the vehicle.
The UWB Remote Parking Technology Solution
System Architecture
The UWB remote parking system is mainly composed of the vehicle end, the parking lot infrastructure end, and the user terminal. The vehicle end is equipped with a UWB positioning module, in-vehicle sensors (such as cameras, millimeter-wave radars), an in-vehicle controller, etc. The parking lot infrastructure end deploys UWB anchor points, which are used to provide positioning references for the vehicle. The user terminal is generally a mobile phone APP, which is used for interaction between the driver and the vehicle, issuing parking commands, and monitoring the parking process.
Working Process
Initialization stage: When the vehicle enters the parking lot area, the in-vehicle UWB module establishes a communication connection with the UWB anchor points in the parking lot, conducts signal calibration and synchronization, and obtains initial position information. At the same time, the vehicle sensors are activated to scan the surrounding environment and construct an environmental map.
Command issuance: The driver selects the remote parking function through the mobile phone APP, enters the target parking space information or directly issues a parking command. The APP sends the command to the vehicle through a wireless network.
Path planning and execution: After receiving the command, the vehicle combines the UWB positioning information and sensor perception data, and uses the in-vehicle controller to plan the optimal parking path. Subsequently, the vehicle automatically controls operations such as acceleration, deceleration, and steering according to the planned path and drives towards the target parking space. During the driving process, it continuously uses UWB positioning and sensor data to adjust the path in real-time to ensure safe obstacle avoidance.
Parking completion feedback: After the vehicle completes parking, it sends a parking completion notification to the driver through the APP, informing the driver of information such as the vehicle's parking location.
