Real-world trial of Automated Valet Parking

Daimler, Mercedes-Benz and Bosch have combined this week to demonstrate ‘real-life’ driverless parking, in a controlled environment in the multi-storey car park of the Mercedes Benz Museum, in Stuttgart.

Dubbed Automated Valet Parking, that name tells the story. Drive a car into the museum car park, get out of the car, and using a smartphone app customers can reserve a car space and have the car and the car park’s sensors take the vehicle to the space. When you want the car back, again use the app to summon the car, and the system will pilot the car to a pick-up area. The car and car park systems also of course look out for other vehicles and pedestrians, and take appropriate, safe, and quick action.

“We are approaching autonomous driving faster than many people suspect. The driverless parking solution at the Mercedes-Benz Museum demonstrates in impressive fashion just how far the technology has come,” said Dr Michael Hafner, Head of Automated Driving and Active Safety at Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.

“Parking will be an automated process in the future. By applying an intelligent multi-storey car park infrastructure and networking it with vehicles, we have managed to realise driverless parking substantially earlier than planned,” said Gerhard Steiger, Director of the Chassis Systems Control unit at Bosch.