BMW will showcase an autonomous remote parking system at CES 2015

One week before the Detroit Motor Show opens its doors, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will take place in Las Vegas, one of the most important specialised electronics fairs. BMW has already announced its novelties for next year’s edition and, although they may not be as striking as seeing an M235i Coupé drifting without driver intervention, they are still of particular interest.

The star model in 2015 will be the i3, into which BMW has fitted the same technology based on laser scanners that it used in the M235i. At this year’s fair, the German brand demonstrated that its autonomous driving system can control the vehicle in risky situations. For the next one, the electric car will be tasked with parking by itself, but not in the way it already knows how; instead, remotely and in a multi-storey car park.

While this technology can be compared with the one Audi showed at CES 2014, BMW’s differs in certain respects. Firstly, the one designed by the Ingolstadt manufacturer required the car park to have Wi-Fi and lasers to help the vehicle drive inside. BMW makes it easier, since the i3 itself already has four sensors installed on its bodywork.

Secondly, BMW’s autonomous parking technology is activated through an application designed for smartwatches (smartwatch), a connection it had already revealed at CES 2014 using the Samsung Galaxy Gear and the i3. The appeal of this parking method lies in allowing the user to avoid even entering the car park.

Besides turning it into a “fantastic car”, the Galaxy Gear displays i3 data such as the battery’s range.

Once you reach the car park entrance, you simply get out of the car, use the watch to tell it to find a space and park autonomously, and when you want to pick it up, send another command so that it is waiting at the exit just when the user returns to it.

Like the invention of Audi, BMW’s does not rely on GPS signals, which are ineffective when it comes to obtaining position data inside car parks, whether underground or built above ground. These qualities mean that the Bavarian brand’s system does not depend on any technical requirement regarding infrastructure.

Source | BMW