A number of automakers have been working on
autonomous parking technology, but Bosch and Daimler’s automated valet parking
technology has become the world’s first Level 4 system to be approved by
authorities. Installed at the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage in Stuttgart,
the automated parking system allows people to enter the parking garage, exit
their vehicle and use their smartphone to tell the car to park itself.
The car then drives to an assigned space and parks
autonomously. The process sounds simple, but it’s a bit more complex as the
parking garage has been outfitted with special sensors developed by Bosch. They
“monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information
needed to guide the vehicle.” The car uses this information to maneuver
throughout the parking structure and will immediately stop if an obstacle is
detected in its path.
When visitors are ready to leave the museum, they
simply return to the parking garage and use a smartphone app to tell the car to
pick them up. The vehicle then drives
itself to the pick-up location.
The technology has been in development since 2015. A pilot program
was launched at the parking garage in 2017 and, after extensive testing, the
service was offered to museum visitors in 2018. However, a safety driver
traveled with the vehicle as it made its way to a parking spot.
That’s no longer the case as Mercedes says visitors
will soon be able to use the automated valet parking service without a safety
driver. Since there isn’t an official approval process for automated driving
functions that do not require a driver, Bosch and Daimler worked with
authorities from Stuttgart, the Baden-Württemberg’s transportation ministry and
TÜV Rheinland. They signed off on the technology and approved it for everyday
use.
In a statement, Daimler’s head of automated driving
said “This approval from the Baden-Württemberg authorities sets a precedent for
obtaining approval in the future for the parking service in parking garages
around the world” Dr. Michael Hafner added, the “project paves the way for
automated valet parking to go into mass production in the future.”
