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