German companies Daimler and Bosch have received official approval from German authorities to use an autonomous parking system. Now drivers can leave their car at the Mercedes-Benz museum parking lot in Stuttgart using a smartphone.
The parking area is equipped with a large number of sensors created by Bosch specialists. These devices monitor the situation in the parking lot and transmit information to the car via receivers developed by Daimler engineers. Additionally, cameras are installed on the premises to monitor the surroundings. If an obstacle appears in the car's path, the vehicle automatically stops.
The driverless parking system at the museum first appeared back in 2015. Owners of cars with autonomous features could leave their vehicle at the entrance and send it to the parking lot with a single touch of a button on their smartphone. The car could be retrieved in the same way. The system underwent extensive testing: initially it operated exclusively in a closed mode, after which access was granted to regular drivers, but with the mandatory presence of a safety driver behind the wheel until a complete stop.
Daimler and Bosch are already working together on creating autonomous vehicles — by the end of this year, the companies plan to launch driverless taxis based on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in California. Such a car can be ordered via a mobile app, but only within a limited area, and the first rides will be free — these are the conditions the state authorities set for allowing passenger transportation.