PARKING ASSIST SYSTEM WITH PARKING SPOT OCCUPANCY READOUT

A parking assist system for a vehicle uses cameras to collect ground images at opposite edges of the vehicle. A speed sensor provides a speed signal representing a speed of the vehicle. When speed is less than a threshold, a navigation system compares a geographic location of the vehicle to map data or the camera images are monitored to detect parking zones. A parking controller is coupled to the cameras, a display panel, navigation system, and speed sensor. When the parking controller detects that the geographic location of the vehicle coincides with a parking zone then the parking controller 1) examines the ground images to recognize a pair of edge boundaries of a parking spot, 2) calculates a proportion of an intersection length of the vehicle contained within the boundaries to a full length of the vehicle, and 3) displays the calculated proportion as a percentage on the display panel.