Approval for autonomous multi-storey car park
Bosch and Daimler have joined forces in the field of autonomous parking. After the “Automated Valet Parking” was tested in the parking garage of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, the authorities have now granted their approval. Criteria for safety and approval have been jointly developed and will also be applied in other projects.
The corresponding vehicles are now officially allowed to park next to conventional cars without a driver. The technology comes from Bosch and the vehicles are provided by Mercedes-Benz. The service is activated via a smartphone app, and the vehicle is then parked completely automatically without a safety driver. On return, the vehicle also drives up automatically.
During parking, Bosch sensors monitor the car park corridor and surroundings and transmit the technology to the vehicle’s control system. The Mercedes then implements the commands of the infrastructure. This allows ramps to be raised and lowered autonomously or floors to be changed.
According to Daimler, this is the world’s first fully automated and driverless parking function approved for everyday use. The two partners plan to introduce the service in all car parks worldwide. However, the technology will only work if Bosch’s smart car park infrastructure is installed in a compatible Mercedes-Benz vehicle. However, this is not yet the case for any standard vehicle. In the future, the technology will be installed in all new cars.
The Bosch and Daimler project was launched in 2015. Two years later, Automated Valet Parking was presented to the public in real traffic. This was followed by a long test phase in the multi-storey car park of the Mercedes-Benz Museum.