Driverless cars a step closer
A new trial approved in Germany brings driverless cars nearer to mainstream use.
Driverless cars have moved a step closer to reality with the approval of a world-first automated valet parking system for certain Mercedes-Benz S-Class and EQS models.
The automated valet parking trial at Stuttgart Airport is claimed to be the world’s first highly automated driverless parking function given official approval for commercial use.
The driverless parking system collects and returns the vehicle completely independently, using Mercedes-Benz S-Class and EQS models equipped with the German car maker’s Intelligent Park Pilot2 feature.
Mercedes-Benz and its technology partner Bosch are presenting the automated parking system trial as a major milestone on the way to automated driving after gaining approval from Germany’s powerful Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
“The world’s first approval for customer use of our highly automated and driverless parking function, developed together with our technology partner Bosch, shows that innovation leadership and ‘Made in Germany’ go hand in hand,” said Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, responsible for Development and Procurement.
Dr Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector, said it would be with driverless parking that everyday automated driving will start.
“Driverless parking is a key aspect of automated mobility,” he said.
“The highly automated parking system we developed together with our partner Mercedes-Benz shows just how far we’ve already progressed along this development path.
“In the future, our aim is to equip more and more parking garages with the necessary infrastructure technology – we plan to do several hundred of them worldwide in the next few years.”
To operate the driverless parking system drivers first use an app to book their parking space.
They then park the vehicle in a predetermined drop-off area and can leave the parking garage.
The parking system will automatically check if the route is clear and that other technical requirements are met, before the vehicle starts automatically and finds its way to its parking space.
When the driver wants to retrieve their car, they summon it via smartphone command and the vehicle makes its way to a predetermined pick-up area.
The process relies on the interplay between intelligent infrastructure supplied by Bosch and installed in the parking garage and Mercedes-Benz automotive technology.
Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle, while the technology in the vehicle converts the information it receives from the infrastructure into driving manoeuvres.
It’s the latest step in an ongoing autonomous vehicle collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and Bosch, who in 2019 obtained the world’s first permit to operate automated valet parking in the parking garage of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
The Stuttgart Airport trial goes beyond that, however, by allowing commercial operation with privately owned vehicles.
In July 2021 a new law came into force in Germany permitting driverless driving in accordance with SAE Level 4 for motor vehicles.
There are six levels of automated driving, with four stating declaring that the vehicle can autonomously handle all traffic situations under certain conditions, with no driver required.
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