The car that parks itself
COVENTRY car maker Jaguar Land Rover has been showing off a vehicle which can park itself as part of a programme to develop the autonomous and connected cars of the future.
The firm’s ‘self-driving valet’ means a car can find a parking space by itself and manoeuvre into it without any driver input.
Jaguar Land Rover was showcasing the technology as part of the UK Autodrive programme, which has already seen autonomous and connected vehicles tested on public roads in Coventry.
Last week 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.
Speaking about Jaguar Land Rover’s latest self-driving vehicle technology, Joerg Schlinkheider, Jaguar Land Rover chief engineer, 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 that we can all 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.
The first involved an Emergency Vehicle Warning (EVW) system, which alerts drivers when an emergency vehicle is approaching and also indicates which direction it is coming from.
The second trial demonstrated an Electronic Emergency Brake Light (EEBL) feature which gives a warning when another connected car further up the road brakes heavily – potentially giving drivers several additional seconds to avoid a possible collision. In times of heavy traffic congestion, it has been estimated that up to 30% 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.
Tim Armitage, Arup’s UK Autodrive project director, said: “Connected and autonomous vehicles are expected to bring a large number of social benefits, from improved road safety to an easing of traffic congestion due in part by a reduction in accidents.
“The possible benefits in terms of parking should also not be overlooked.
“In the future connected features will alert drivers to empty car park spaces and autonomous vehicles will be able to drive straight to them.
“Valet parking systems will enable autonomous vehicles to drop passengers at convenient points, after which the vehicle will leave by itself to undertake a further journey, or park out-of-town.
“As well as making parking less of a hassle for individuals, these new ways of parking and drop-off will allow cities to radically redefine their use of space in the future – with far less land potentially needed for parking spaces in city centres.”