Mercedes may park cars driverless

The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has granted the first approval for a driverless parking vehicle. According to the authority in Flensburg, the manufacturer Mercedes-Benz received the approval. The fully automated parking system was developed by Mercedes and Bosch and has been installed and operated for 2 years at Stuttgart Airport in the P6 parking garage with a special permit, making it "the world's first fully automated and driverless parking function approved by the authorities for series operation in accordance with SAE Level 4," Mercedes announced.

It will soon be used by Mercedes customers who drive an S-Class or an EQS and book the "Intelligent Park Pilot2" service. The prerequisite is that users install the Mercedes me app, through which they can reserve a parking space in advance. Once all occupants have left the vehicle, the parking system checks whether the driveway to the booked parking space is clear and all other technical requirements have been met. If so, the app shows that the vehicle has been taken over by the parking infrastructure. The occupants can leave the parking garage. The vehicle then starts automatically and drives alone to the "drop-off area" parking lot. If the driver wants to leave the parking garage with his car again, he can use the smartphone app to have his vehicle drive up to a predefined pick-up area.

As Mercedes describes, Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and provide data for controlling the vehicle. The technology in the vehicle converts the information. This should also allow the vehicles to drive up and down ramps independently. If the sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle brakes to a standstill and resumes driving only when the route is clear again.

For the time being, driverless parking will only be used in the P6 parking garage at Stuttgart Airport with new Mercedes S-Class vehicles and their electric counterpart, the EQS. "Our goal is to equip more parking garages with the corresponding infrastructure technology in the future - in the next few years, there should already be several hundred worldwide," said Markus Heyn, the managing director of Bosch's supplier division. Everyday automated driving begins with driverless parking, he added.