Look ma, no valet! Driverless parking system showcased at IAA 2021: Watch the video to know how it works

At the IAA 2021 Mobility show – or the Munich motor show – there was plenty to see aside from new electric vehicles. Case in point, live demonstrations of an automated valet parking system developed jointly by Bosch and Mercedes-Benz.

VIDEO: Parking is taken to the next level at Munich motor show.

German manufacturer Bosch demonstrates an automatic valet parking service pic.twitter.com/Hr6X2SxdaJ

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 9, 2021

This system – with the help of a smartphone command – can direct cars automatically to their assigned parking bays without the requirement to have someone in the driver’s seat. With the help of new video cameras from Bosch (replacing lidar sensors), the vehicle can identify vacant parking spaces, detect obstacles or people in the aisle and drive all by itself. A dedicated control centre (equipped with sensors) in the parking garage figures out the route the vehicle needs to take to reach an available space and communicates with it accordingly. The vehicle can read these signals and drive itself into the spot. A joint project – involving Bosch, Mercedes-Benz BMW, CARIAD (the automotive software-subsidiary in the Volkswagen Group), Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, tech and infrastructure firms Continental, Valeo, Kopernikus Automotive and Unikie – will see vehicles from different manufacturers be able to communicate with infrastructure technology from various suppliers in the future, bringing this automated valet parking technology closer to mass adoption.