Bosch and Daimler have obtained approval to install an automated parking system that operates without human supervision in the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage in Stuttgart, Germany.
The automated parking valet service is accessed via a smartphone app. The companies claim that this is the world’s first Society of Automation Engineers (SAE) Level 4 parking function to be approved for daily use.
Since there is not an official approval process for automated driving functions that don’t require a driver, Bosch and Daimler met with local governments to oversee the project along with German technical inspection service TÜV Rheinland.
The companies said the pilot project was conceived with safety in mind, focusing on how the driverless vehicle detects pedestrians and other cars in its path and even comes to a halt when it encounters an obstacle. Bosch and Daimler established secure communications between all system components and took steps to make the parking maneuver reliable.
The technology works when a driver comes into the parking garage, gets out and sends the car to a parking space by tapping a smartphone screen. Once the driver has left the parking garage, the car drives itself to an assigned space and parks. Later, the car returns to the drop-off point in exactly the same way.
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 allows the cars to drive themselves up and down ramps and move between floors in the parking garage.
