German engineers have devised the world’s first fully-automated driverless parking function, which safely steers cars into the tightest garage spaces. The new feature, a joint effort between companies Bosch and Daimler, could eliminate the age-old problem of parking too close to other vehicles. It may even boost the amount of cars a multi-story car park can hold by maximizing available space. Impressively, the technology is infrastructure*-based, meaning all commands come from the parking garage, not the vehicle or the pedestrian. Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle. The technology in the car converts the commands from the infrastructure into driving maneuvers. This way, cars can even drive themselves up and down ramps* to move between stories in the parking garage. If the infrastructure sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle stops immediately. The companies are currently trialling the project in the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage, where the service is accessed via a smartphone app. If successful, the technology can be retrofitted* in other parking garages. To use it, a person simply drives in to the parking garage, gets out and sends the car to a parking space by tapping on a smartphone screen. Once the driver has left the parking garage to go about their business, the car drives itself to an assigned space and parks. When the car owner is ready to leave, they order the vehicle via the app. Their car will start and drive autonomously to a “Pick-up Area,” which is all detected by the intelligent system of the parking garage. (SD-Agencies) |