The world’s first driverless automatic parking: how Mercedes-Benz and Bosch make it work

Bosch and the Mercedes-Benz Group have received approval for a fully automated self-parking system that allows cars to independently enter a reserved parking space at the Mercedes-Benz Museum garage in Stuttgart, Germany. The ‘Automated valet parkingThe service can be accessed via a smartphone app and requires no driver, making it the world’s first fully automated SAE Level 4 driverless parking feature to be officially approved for everyday use.
Bosch says the two companies have started work on the fully automated version driverless parking in 2015, with active duty at the Mercedes-Benz Museum car park since 2018, accompanied by trained security personnel. The prerequisite for using the service includes equipment such as the electronic stability program, electric parking brake, steering assistance, a start/stop function and a communication unit integrated in your car. Also, the service is limited to automatic cars only.
The driverless system drives the car into a free space using intelligent parking infrastructure, parks the car and thus helps save time, helps to avoid driver errors, and also provides 20% more space for vehicles in the same area, says Bosch. Furthermore, Automated Valet Parking also enables parking operators to make optimal use of existing parking capacities and to offer services such as automatic battery charging or car wash.

How does it work
As the driver, all you have to do is stop the vehicle at the designated drop-off area and get out of the car. The Bosch infrastructure installed in the garage then takes over and interacts with the vehicle’s technology to bring it into a free space and park it. It’s actually as simple as that! Bosch says the parking space the system will target is selected based on the size of the vehicle.
Bosch technology includes cameras that recognize free and suitable parking spaces in the garage, monitor the driving corridor and the surrounding area, and detect unexpected obstacles or people in the car’s path so that the vehicle can react immediately. The car’s technology converts commands from the infrastructure into driving manoeuvres.

Once back, simply call up the vehicle in the smartphone app and the system will take it back to the collection area. Payment of the parking fee is processed automatically when the vehicle leaves the garage.
Availability
Please note that the Automated Valet Parking system will only be available for Mercedes-Benz S-Class or EQS manufactured after July 2022. For now, Bosch and Mercedes-Benz have obtained approval from the relevant authorities in Baden-Württemberg for their automated parking system only in the parking lot of the Mercedes-Benz Museum. However, it is a matter of time before the system is made available in other public car parks in Germany.

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