This is how the new autonomous parking system of Mercedes-Benz works

Many car manufacturers have been working on autonomous parking technology, but the autonomous parking technology called Valet, developed by Daimler and Bosch, has become the world’s first Level 4 system approved by the relevant authorities.

Installed in the car park of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, the autonomous parking system developed by Bosch and Daimler allows people to enter the car park, get out of their vehicle and use their smartphone to tell the car to park.

The car then drives to the assigned space and parks autonomously. The process seems simple, but it is a little more complex, as the garage has been equipped with special sensors developed by Bosch. They “monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle.” The car uses this information to manoeuvre through the car park structure and will stop immediately if an obstacle is detected in its path.

When visitors are ready to leave the museum, they simply return to the car park and use a smartphone app to tell the vehicle to pick them up. The car then drives itself to the pick-up point.

Bosch and Daimler, united by autonomous driving

The technology has been in development since 2015. A pilot programme was launched in the car park in 2017 and, after extensive testing, the service was offered to museum visitors in 2018. However, a safety driver travelled with the vehicle while it found its way to a parking space.

That is no longer the case, as Mercedes-Benz says visitors will soon be able to use the Valet autonomous parking service without a safety driver. As there is no official approval process for autonomous driving functions that do not require a driver, Bosch and Daimler have worked with the authorities of Stuttgart, the Baden-Württemberg ministry of transport and TÜV Rheinland. These bodies have approved the technology and deemed it fit for everyday use.

“The Bosch sensors in the garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle. The technology in the car converts commands from the infrastructure into driving manoeuvres. In this way, the cars can even go up and down ramps to move between levels in the car park.”

Dr Michael Hafner, Head of Autonomous Driving at Daimler, has stated that “this approval from the authorities of Baden-Württemberg sets a precedent for obtaining approval in the future for garage parking services around the world. The road map for autonomous Valet will serve for mass production of autonomous cars in the not too distant future.”

Dr Markus Heyn, member of the Board of Management of Robert Bosch, for his part added that “this decision by the authorities shows that innovations such as autonomous Valet parking are possible first in Germany. Driverless driving and parking are important elements of future mobility. The autonomous parking system shows how far we have progressed along this road.”