Sensors
Second-generation Parking Assistant Bay Parking Also Possible With Bosch Technology Making Drivers’ Lives Easier
Parking, and the manoeuvring that goes with it, is still a risky undertaking. Using accident data from the AZT, a German accident research institute, Bosch accident researchers conclude that roughly half of all German traffic accidents involving damage to property are a result of shunts during parking. And the fact that modern cars are becoming increasingly streamlined does not help matters, since this also restricts drivers’ field of vision. This is where ultrasound systems such as the Park Pilot or parking assistance systems can help Bosch be a leading supplier in the field.
The Bosch is now presenting the second generation of its parking assistant. On the one hand, it offers a number of improvements to the already familiar parallel parking function. It now steers semi-automatically into parking spaces that now only have to be 80 centimetres longer than the vehicle itself – the assistant steers while the driver observes the traffic, accelerates, brakes, and changes gear.
The new system electronics now also help the driver when driving out of a parking space. The pull-out control steers the car backward and forward in the parking space until it can drive off safely in one manoeuvre. While the assistant is manoeuvring the car into an ideal position, the driver observes the traffic, and accelerates and brakes as directed by the system.
The bay parking assistant is another new function. This can steer the vehicle into spaces at a 90-degree angle to the road. When driving past a parking bay, ultrasound sensors integrated into the side of the vehicle scan the area and the electronic control unit detects a suitable space. The electronics then computes the most favourable steering manoeuvres, and guides the vehicle along this path into the parking bay. The driver controls the parking manoeuvre by accelerating, braking, and changing gear.
The side distance warning function helps to avoid costly damage to bodywork, for example in underground park garages. The electronics use the parking assistant’s lateral ultrasound sensors to detect railings, pillars, walls, or bollards as the car drives past them, and memorises the position of these obstacles. At the same time, the system observes the further route to be taken by the car. If the computed route detects that it is likely that the car will collide with an obstacle that was previously registered, the system will warn the driver. It will do so even if the obstacle is out of the ultrasound sensor’s range.
The second generation of the Bosch parking assistant will likely first be installed in production vehicles in late 2012.
The next stage: automatic parking
Bosch engineers have plenty more ideas for making the parking assistants of the future even safer, more comfortable, and smarter. They are working on fully automatic parking, where the driver will focus solely on monitoring what is going on. The electronics will take care of steering, accelerating, braking, and changing gear. Moreover, these systems will also be able to master parking in oblique bays. Looking even further ahead, engineers believe the day will come when the driver gets out, presses a button, and the assistant autonomously and fully automatically parks the car, however narrow the space may be.
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