Daimler and Bosch's driverless valet service is approved by the authorities

© Daimler / Bosch

After several years of research and development, Daimler and Boschfinally see their project of autonomous parking, allowing cars to park without the driver, accepted. A first in Europe.

A first in the autonomous driving project

It was at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart that the experiment took place, and finally, it was fully accepted. The system was launched in 2017 in the museum car park. Within the project, two major German flagship brands: Bosch, in charge of infrastructure, and Daimler, in charge of embedded technology. By 2018, it was already possible to access this system, but the vehicle was still accompanied by a qualified security officer. From now on it will not be obligatory. 

Dr. Hafner, director of the driving technologies and self-control at Daimler says:

"  This approval by the Baden-Württemberg authorities is a precedent for obtaining authorizations, in the future, for this parking service, in car parks around the world. As a pioneer in autonomous driving, our project paves the way for the large-scale production of autonomous valet parking.  ".

So easy that an application is enough

The museum car park was able to obtain SAE (Automotive Engineering Society) level 4, and vehicles will now be able to park without a driver on board in a predefined area. Used daily, this is, according to Daimler, "  a new step on the road to autonomous driving  ". The driving will be via an application and the car will be guided by sensors installed throughout the museum. 

Daimler and Bosch explain the principle  : 
"  Drive in the parking lot, get out and send the car to a parking space, simply by pressing the screen of a smartphone- Valet parking does not need a driver. Once the driver has left the car park to go about his business, the car goes alone to a place assigned to it and parks. Later, the car comes back to the warehouse in exactly the same way. "



"  This system is based on Bosch 's intelligent parking infrastructure and Mercedes - Benz automotive technology. The Bosch sensors installed in the car park monitor the traffic corridor and the surrounding area, giving the necessary information to guide the vehicle. The technology present in the car converts the controls of the infrastructure into driving maneuvers. In this way, cars can go up and down the ramps themselves, to move between the parking floors. If the sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle stops immediately,  "continues Daimler. 

A first successful test for the two big German brands, that it is already possible to see in action.