Automated parking technology is being increasingly explored by many global automakers, as one of the key aspects towards fully-autonomous vehicles, and now it seems that Mercedes-Benz is looking to catch up with its German counterparts Audi and BMW, which are currently considered to be front-runners in the development of this technology. Mercedes-Benz has announced that it has started working on a pilot project involving automated parking for car parks, in an attempt to ease the stress involved in trying to find an available parking spot and maneuver into it, a problem that is all too familiar to people living in crowded cities.
Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has partnered up with Bosch, one of the world’s leading electronics companies, to develop an entirely automated parking system that is supposed to be integrated with a smartphone application used by the car-sharing program Car2Go, which is also a subsidiary of Daimler.
“Our customers are always the centre of attention and all of our actions are oriented towards them. In the future the car will even go to them”, explains Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board Daimler AG, responsible for Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development. “In collaboration with our partner Bosch and our mobility service car2go we are developing and testing an infrastructure-based solution for a fully automated valet parking service. For us another step on our way to autonomous driving – or as in this case: towards autonomous parking!”
Mercedes-Benz will deploy several of its vehicles that are fitted with its sophisticated on-board sensors for this project, which will be put at the disposal of Car2Go users. The technology employed by Daimler and Bosch will allow the cars to find a parking space by themselves and enter it without the help of a human driver. The system will only work in car parks that will be fitted with special intelligent infrastructure, developed by Bosch, which will include cameras, communication technology and parking space occupancy sensors.
The system works in a pretty simple and straightforward way. Customers will just have to go to one of the parking lots equipped by Bosch and use the Car2Go app to summon a car that has a self-parking capability. The app locates a car and activates its automated parking function. Then, the car backs out of the parking spot, drives across the parking lot by itself and stops in front of the customer.
When the customer wants to return the car, all they have to do is drop the car off at a specially marked spot on the lot, leave the car and let it locate a vacant parking spot and navigate the lot automatically.
“Fully automated parking will be ready for mass-production before fully automated driving. Low driving speeds and the information from the car park infrastructure enable a fast implementation,” said Bosch board member Dr Dirk Hoheisel.