Mercedes Benz and Bosch partner to develop autonomous ‘valet’ parking

Finding a parking spot in a city is almost always a painful thing to do. Not to consider the heavy traffic you might have to endure before finding one and the problem of “the last mile,” the distance you must travel from your car, bus, or train to your final destination. This is something many people dread to do nowadays in our busy, fast paced urban environment.

But, it looks like Mercedes Benz and Bosch have a solution to your problem, atleast partially. Starting in 2018, certain visitors to the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, Germany, now have a solution thanks to a partnership between Bosch and Daimler. The companies are releasing what they’re referring to as an automated valet. With this technology, customers can use their smartphones to autonomously park their cars and save themselves from the hassle of it.

The idea behind the concept is simple enough to comprehend. You pull up to the drop-off point in your car, get out, select a spot in the parking area where you prefer to park your car on your phone, and let the car go park itself. Quite breezy, simple and hassle free, isnt it?

The car will use assigned spots, meaning there will always be an open space inside the parking to find one. Now when you want to leave, all you have to do is this. Simply head to the same pick-up point and call your car through your mobile phone. The car will automatically find its owner and reach the pick up point.

The parking structure itself has been designed by Bosch and Daimler to direct the cars to their assigned parking location and back. The structure too will gather data about how the technology works. That data will be used by the duo to fine tune the technology and make it even more future proof.

With this, Bosch and Daimler believe that the next gen autonomous technology is here and are keen on making it even better and more mainstream.