JLR reveals ‘self-driving valet’ for intelligent Range Rover

MIDLAND car maker Jaguar Land Rover has revealed a vehicle which can find its own parking space.

The firm’s ‘self-driving valet’ means the Range Rover can find a parking space by itself and manoeuvre into it without any driver input.

JLR showcased the technology as part of the UK Autodrive programme, which has already seen autonomous and connected vehicles tested on public roads in Coventry.

The trials took to the public roads and car parks of Milton Keynes to show how connected and autonomous vehicles could make the search for parking spaces much easier in future.

Project partners Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) demonstrated how cars could communicate with each other to notify drivers of available parking spaces – without the need for any additional parking bay sensors.

Upon entering the car park, the cars get an updated heat map showing availability, while real-time updates from other connected cars show spaces filling and becoming vacant.

Joerg Schlinkheider, JLR chief engineer for automated driving, said: “We’re investing heavily in automated technologies to make our customers’ lives safer and more convenient. Reducing the everyday stresses of driving, like squeezing into a tight parking place, means we can focus on the more enjoyable aspects of our cars.”

As well as demonstrating potential future parking solutions, the three car manufacturers also carried out their first public road trials of two connected car safety features.

In times of heavy traffic congestion, it has been estimated that up to 30 per cent of that traffic consists of vehicles looking for parking spaces.

The technology being trialled as part of the UK Autodrive project is intended to take the guesswork out of finding spaces by sending information about available spaces directly to connected or autonomous cars.