Bosch have developed a new parking assistant system, which relieves the driver of the burden of steering a car while parking.
The new system allows the drivers to park the car without having to steer it.
Ultrasonic sensors precisely measure parking spaces, and then the car is moved into the space.
The system is available for the first time in the latest Mercedes A and B class.
The parking assistant requires a vehicle configuration with electric power steering, a parking aid, and an additional ultrasonic sensor on each side of the front fender.
The two ultrasonic sensors measure a potential parking space as car drives up to 35 km/ h. The lateral distance from the parking space and other parked vehicles should be between 30 and 180cm.
The system is able to detect obstacles in the parking space as well as curbs, and also works in the dark and where there is no curb to orient to.
The system informs the driver if the parking space is large enough, with an audiovisual signal. If the driver switches to automatic parking mode, the system takes just fractions of a second to analyze the data and calculate the optimum path into the space, the necessary steering movements, and the number of parking moves needed.
Bosch will offer a further version of the parking assistant for cars with hydraulic power steering by the end of 2008.