Benz and Bosch collaborate on driverless parking

WITH the race still on to deliver a fully functional, safe and affordable autonomous drive system for general automotive application, Mercedes-Benz, in collaboration with component manufacturer Bosch, has developed a ‘driverless’ valet parking system for certain Mercedes-Benz models.

The development is considered a milestone on the way towards automated driving and has been approved by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).

Available soon for certain Mercedes-Benz S-Class and EQS variants equipped with Intelligent Park Pilot, the highly automated system is being rolled out in the P6 parking garage at Stuttgart Airport in Germany.

The parking area is run by Airport Parking Corporation of America (APCOA), which specialises in cashless parking payments and manages 1.3 million parking spaces across Europe and the UK.

The Stuttgart Airport system is the world’s first highly automated and approved driverless parking function accredited to SAE Level 4 autonomous driving for commercial use.

Mercedes-Benz says the system will play a key role in the development of mobility of the future with the vehicle and infrastructure taking over driving and manoeuvring.

The luxury car-maker says this will allow drivers to turn their attention to other matters instead of spending time looking for an available parking spot and positioning the vehicle in tight spaces.

Users of the technology simply drive into the parking garage, get out of the vehicle and send it to a pre-booked parking space using a smartphone app.

Once the user has left the parking garage, the vehicle drives itself to its assigned space and parks. Later, the vehicle returns to the pick-up point in exactly the same way.

The process relies on infrastructure supplied by Bosch and installed in the parking garage and Mercedes-Benz automotive technology.

Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle.

The technology in the vehicle converts the information it receives from the infrastructure into driving manoeuvres.

Further, the system enables vehicles to drive themselves up and down ramps to move between storeys in the parking garage.

If the infrastructure sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle brakes and safely comes to a complete stop. Only once the route is clear does it continue on its way.

Mercedes-Benz and Bosch obtained a special permit in 2019 to operate automated valet parking using development vehicles without human oversight in everyday operations at the parking garage of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.

The approval that has now been issued goes beyond this, allowing commercial operation with privately owned vehicles in Stuttgart Airport.

In July 2021 and May 2022, Germany legislated to allow driverless driving in accordance with SAE Level 4 for motor vehicles.

Mercedes, Bosch and APCOA plan to gradually roll out the driverless parking service to other locations.

“The world’s first approval for customer use of our highly automated and driverless parking function, developed together with our technology partner Bosch, shows that innovation leadership and ‘Made in Germany’ go hand in hand,” said Mercedes-Benz Group AG, chief technology officer, responsible for development and procurement, Markus Schäfer at a preview function for the new parking system.

“Following the market launch of our Drive Pilot Level 3 system, we will soon be offering a Level 4 system for parking with our Intelligent Park Pilot – all of that this year. We really are showing our customers how technology can make life easier and give back precious time,” Schäfer said.

Bosch Mobility Solutions chair Markus Heyn described driverless parking as “a key aspect of automated mobility”.

“The highly automated parking system we developed together with our partner Mercedes-Benz shows just how far we’ve already progressed along this development path. It will be with driverless parking that everyday automated driving will start,” he said.

“From the outset, Bosch has taken the approach of making the infrastructure in parking garages intelligent. Accordingly, we have set standards in this area. In the future, our aim is to equip more parking garages with the necessary infrastructure technology – we plan to do several hundred of them worldwide in the next few years.”

APCOA Parking group chief commercial officer Frank van der Sant said: “We are extremely pleased to have successfully developed a connected system for driverless and contactless parking together with our partners from Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, and Stuttgart Airport.

“Our digital platform, APCOA Flow, can be used to book spaces, for contactless access to the parking garage, and for automatic invoicing of the stay in the garage.

“For our customers, this means a huge gain in convenience: planning certainty, hardly any wasted time, short distances to walk, and a contactless and cashless parking process.”

A Stuttgart Airport spokesman said: “Automated Valet Parking really enhances our passenger’s comfort and convenience and saves them time, especially when they’re in a hurry and just want to drop their car off quickly at the airport.”