Parking is not your thing but you like to drive? Mercedes Benz is working together with machine company Bosch to renew the way parking garages work. The two German giants announced on 24 July 2017 that they will run a pilot of an autonomous parking garage. In specific, this will be executed in the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart in 2018. But how does it work?
Over a mobile application you can reserve your preferred car. Sensors in the garage and at the car guide the car to the designated pick-up spot where the customer awaits the car. After your trip, you can simply drop off the car at the same area. Then, the car will identify a free parking spot by itself.
Why is Mercedes Benz investing in an autonomous parking garage? First, of all it saves time, in specific in the finding and parking of the car by clients. Second, Mercedes Benz can optimize the usage of the existing parking spots by 20%, as the technology allows to park cars in designated spots, which are smaller than normal. Third, it is also gas friendly, as less unnecessary driving during the search for a parking spot will occur. On the contrary, in order to use the service you will need to download the application, which might present a barrier of usage to some.
If the necessary regulations are in place, I believe it is only a matter of time until the services will be offered for consumer cars. Next, the technology can then be easily applied to other garages, which can come in handy especially in bigger cities, where parking spots are scarce. It will be interesting to see what the findings of this pilot will show, allowing to evaluate the technologies potential impact in the future. The collaboration of the two firms. is therefore not only beneficial to themselves, but will also set an example for the industry and renew parking.
Sources:
Techcrunch (2017) ‘Daimler and Bosch create a driverless parking garage’. Accessed 27 September 2017 (Online). Available on: https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/24/daimler-and-bosch-create-a-driverless-parking-garage/
Bosch Presse (2017) ‘Bosch and Daimler demonstrate driverless praking in real life conditions. Accessed 27 September 2017 (Online). Available on: http://www.bosch-presse.de/pressportal/de/en/bosch-and-daimler-demonstrate-driverless-parking-in-real-life-conditions-116096.html
The Drive (2017) ‘Daimler, Bosch testing autonomous parking at the Mercedes Benz museum’. Accessed 27 September 2017 (Online). Available on: http://www.thedrive.com/tech/12789/daimler-bosch-testing-autonomous-parking-at-the-mercedes-benz-museum
Interesting post Lisa. I find it fascinating that the technology in cars is improving so much that they can literally park themselves in a garage. The only question I have, is how you think liability would work. I’m sure the cars are programmed to park 99,9% without accidents, but there is always the case of something random (animal inside the parking garage for example), that could affect the parking job and lead to an accident. I wonder if the garage’s insurance would be liable, or whether the person whose car it is would be liable.
Interesting article, but for me it is hard to find the real value of this software in parking garages. Currently, there are already many cars that can park by itself. I believe that is more beneficial to invest in these types of software, since they do not limit you to specific parking garages, but can help you to park wherever you are. Additionally, this also limits the barrier to entry since there is no specific application needed. Simpler technologies can than additionally be used in parking garages that guide you to the nearest parking spot. (For example by using lights). What do you think?
I thought it would be interesting for everyone to follow up on the development of this technologies. Although Daimler & Bosch promised the implementation of this technology in the museum this year, it has failed to come to fruition. This is apparently due to legislative hurdles in Germany. It may also be a sign of things to come as Europe lags behind China and the US in their legal acceptance of self-driving vehicles.