Automatic parking

The automatic parking system aims to enhance the comfort and safety of driving in constrained environments where much attention and experience is required to steer the car.

The parking maneuver is achieved by means of coordinated control of the steering angle and speed which takes into account the actual situation in the environment to ensure collision-free motion within the available space.

[1][3] The underlying technology has been adopted by major automobile manufacturers offering an automatic parking option in their cars today.

[4] The key concept behind automatic parking is to plan and parameterize the basic control profiles of steering angle and speed in order to achieve the desired shape of the vehicle's path within the available space.

The parking maneuver is performed as a sequence of controlled motions using sensor data from the car servo systems and range measurements about the environment.

The vehicle stops in front of an empty parking spot and re-orients its four wheels in the perpendicular direction (leaving rubber marks on the road) to prepare for subsequent sideward motion.

The Evolve car can automatically perform parallel parking by using sensors and a computer to control steering, acceleration and braking of Volvo S60.

Other systems use cameras, e.g. omniview technology, or radars to detect obstacles and measure the parking space size and distance from the roadside.

[20] Multiple car manufacturers have added limited versions of an Automated Valet Parking (AVP) system to their vehicles.

The shift from manual parking technology to reliance on automatic computer systems draws concerns to liability issues these companies may face.

Highlighting the ethical and legal challenges surrounding autonomous systems, some argue for a shared liability model between users and developers to incentivize safety improvements while protecting consumers from undue burden.