BMW Reveals Future of Autonomous Parking

When it comes to new technologies, the Munich based manufacturer BMW has been on top of the chart. Taking this ahead, BMW has revealed its advanced Remote Valet Parking Assistant, which is an advanced new laser scanning system. It will be a boon in tight multi-storey garages and will make parking a hassle free job. This new technology can be termed as an advance step towards the autonomous mobility solutions. The new technology will make its first public debut at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

 
The Remote Valet Parking Assistant allows the prototype vehicle to park itself fully automatically and then be hailed again and can be controlled via simple voice commands. The system will be installed on a smart watch.

The prototype vehicle, which supports the system, is basically an i3, which uses four state-of-the-art laser scanners to continuously examine its surroundings and provide guidance to a separate operating system that oversees the primary autonomous driving functions of propulsion, steering and braking. So, the drivers role is limited to enter in parking garage and active the Remote Valet Parking Assistant app, unlike Mercedes-Benz Active Parking Assist, where the driver needs to toggle between reverse and drive mode.

 
The latest laser technology provides a precise digital mapping technology and guides the i3 into multi-story parking garages. Once the driver enables the system, it guides the car floor-by-floor fully autonomously until it detects a free parking space, at which point the Remote Valet Parking Assistant parks the i3 without any assistance.
 
The new system is quite advance and it can detect potential hazards, such as falsely parked cars and pedestrians. It makes a digital map of the garage by identifying its properties. The feature also allows you to hail the car again and then it reverses the process.

  
Unlike most of the guiding and digital map based systems, the new BMW’s parking assistant works on laser technology as GPS can be inaccurate in built up areas. The Remote Valet Parking Assistant has been developed in collaboration with German company Continental and it does not require any sort of changes to the infrastructure of existing parking garages.
 
There is no clarity on that when BMW will introduce Remote Valet Parking Assistant on its regular production models. However, there are possibilities that BMW will introduce elements of the new system assisting physical drivers soon. These systems will provide automatic braking when hazards are detected in parking maneuvers.