AUTONEWS

Mercedes and Bosch announce new automatic parking maneuver technology

Many cars, and not just in the premium class, nowadays offer the possibility of automatic parking in cramped conditions when the driver is out of the cabin with a key or smartphone in hand. Mercedes-Benz and Bosch, using the example of the EQS electric car, have demonstrated how parking a car in a covered car park will be carried out automatically in the near future.

For the demonstration, the company used a parking lot at one of the hotels in downtown Los Angeles, where the presentation took place. The Mercedes-Benz EQS electric sedan used a smartphone app to activate the traction motors and all the electronics needed to drive to its parking space. The organizers clearly demonstrated that when a pedestrian enters the trajectory, the car stops and waits until it stops interfering.

As part of the demo ride, the EQS bypassed the cars already parked in the neighborhood and moved to a parking space located perpendicular to the entrance. Bosch security lidars were everywhere on the parking floor and at the entrance to the parking lot, which interacted with the Mercedes-Benz on-board automation, but in the final version, all this infrastructure will be mounted on the roof of the parking lots, as Electrek explains. In Germany, the car park at Stuttgart Airport is already equipped with these sensors. They allow you to make sure that there are no obstacles in the path of the movement of cars, and the target parking space is really free.

Bosch and Mercedes-Benz plan to use the experience gained in car park automation to create other infrastructure elements – driverless service stations, car washes and charging stations. The electric car itself will be able to take care of its condition while the owner is busy with more important matters. The main obstacle to implementing such ideas is still the legislative requirements for the presence of a driver in a moving vehicle. In fact, the proposed technologies belong to fourth-level automation.

Image source: Electrek