AI Case Study

Daimler's website describes the "joint pilot project of Mercedes-Benz and Bosch in Stuttgart... the two companies have developed an innovative parking service: the so-called "Automated Valet Parking". Having arrived at a parking garage, you leave your vehicle in a "Drop-off Area". One click in a corresponding smartphone app and the car moves off without any further human intervention into the parking garage and maneuvers into a free space. And it's exactly the same the other way around. Shortly before you want to leave, you order the vehicle via the app. Detected by the intelligent system of the parking garage, the car starts and drives autonomously to a "Pick-up Area". Simply get in and drive off – even parking the car in narrow parking garages in particular loses its fear factor.

At the same time, the automated parking service is an important milestone on the way to autonomous driving. The pilot solution in the parking garage of the Mercedes-Benz Museum is the world's first infrastructure-assisted solution for an automated drive up and park service as a genuine mixed operation. In this system, sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and steer the vehicle. The technology in the car reliably converts the commands from the parking garage infrastructure into driving maneuvers and stops the vehicle in good time if necessary.

In this way, Bosch and Mercedes Benz are gathering experience on how the users deal with the Automated Valet Parking system. Existing parking garages can be retrofitted with the infrastructure technology. For the parking garage operator, driverless parking results in more efficient use of the parking space available: Up to 20 percent more vehicles fit into the same area."

From Auto Connected Car News: "The sensors for the parking garage infrastructure and the communications technology come from Bosch. Daimler is providing the privately owned museum parking garage and pilot vehicles. Together with Bosch, it will define the interface between infrastructure and the vehicle, and make the necessary modifications to the vehicles’ sensor technology and software. The premiere will be followed by an intensive testing and start-up phase. From the start, the project has been overseen by local agencies – the Stuttgart regional administrative authority and the state of Baden-Württemberg’s transportation ministry – and experts from TÜV Rheinland with the aim of assessing the operating safety of the automotive and parking-garage technology."