The driverless parking system that Mercedes-Benz and Bosch developed has just received approval for commercial use. A parking garage at the Stuttgart Airport will be the first to implement it.
The system that the two entities partnered up for is the world’s first highly automated driverless parking function to be greenlighted for commercial use in Germany. Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) now allows the function in the P6 parking garage at the Stuttgart airport.
Certain S-Class and EQS versions that benefit from the presence of the Intelligent Park Pilot and rolled off the assembly line starting July 2022, will be getting the automated valet parking.
“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,” says Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, responsible for Development and Procurement.
The driver will be able to drive into the parking garage, get off the car and send it to a pre-booked parking space. And it will all happen via taps on a smartphone app. The car will find its way to the designated spot. It will later return to the pick-up point.
Mercedes-Benz and Bosch have been working on automated valet parking for a while
Bosch and Mercedes-Benz have implemented a smart infrastructure that includes sensors that monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings, sending the necessary data to the car. In case an obstacle shows up in the way, the Mercedes will brake and come to a stop.
Back in 2019, Mercedes-Benz and Bosch received the world’s first permit to operate the Automated valet parking system without human supervision in the parking garage of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. This new step takes it all to a whole new level. According to a law that came into force in Germany in July 2021, driverless driving in compliance with SAE Level 4 is permitted.
Level 4 means that the car can autonomously handle all traffic situations under certain conditions, with no driver required.
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