WORLD FIRST: BOSCH AND MERCEDES-BENZ’S DRIVERLESS PARKING SYSTEM APPROVED FOR COMMERCIAL USE

This makes it the world’s first highly automated driverless parking function to SAE Level 4¹ to be officially approved for commercial use. The technological advancement of automated driving plays a key role in the mobility of the future. With the vehicle and infrastructure taking over driving and maneuvering, drivers will be able to turn their attention to other things, instead of time spent looking for a parking space and maneuvering in tight parking garages.

The technology behind driverless parking
Drive in to the parking garage, get out, and send the vehicle to a parking space just by tapping in a smartphone app – the Automated Valet Parking service has no need for a driver. Once the driver has left the parking garage – to spend the time just saved on doing something else – the vehicle drives itself to its assigned space and parks. Later, the vehicle returns to the pick-up point in exactly the same way. This process relies on the interplay between the intelligent infrastructure supplied by Bosch and installed in the parking garage and Mercedes-Benz automotive technology. Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle. The technology in the vehicle converts the information it receives from the infrastructure into driving maneuvers. This way, vehicles can even drive themselves up and down ramps to move between stories in the parking garage. If the infrastructure sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle brakes and safely comes to a complete stop. Only once the route is clear does it continue on its way.

It was in 2019 that Bosch and Mercedes-Benz obtained the world’s first special permit to operate Automated Valet Parking using development vehicles without human oversight in everyday operations of the parking garage of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. The approval that has now been issued goes beyond this, allowing commercial operation with privately owned vehicles in the P6 parking garage at Stuttgart Airport. The basis for the approval is a law that came into force in Germany in July 2021, which permits driverless driving in accordance with SAE Level 4¹ for motor vehicles (BMDV – Germany will be the world leader in autonomous driving). Application of this law to the parking system was implemented in close coordination with the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) and the KBA. The AFGBV (autonomous driving directive), passed by the upper chamber of the German parliament on May 20, 2022, clearly specifies the criteria of the German road traffic act that Level 4 vehicles must satisfy.

“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. “Following the market launch of our DRIVE PILOT Level 3 system, we will soon be offering a Level 4 system for parking with our INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT – all of that this year. We really are showing our customers how technology can make life easier and give back precious time.”

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