Go park yourself

In the evolution toward the autonomous driving car, French automotive supplier Valeo has taken a large step forward. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Jean-Francois Tarabba, senior vice-president R&D product marketing, announced that Valeo will have ready-for-market by 2016 its Park 4U Remote autonomous parking control.

Several manufacturers such as Lexus and Mercedes-Benz offer self-parking technology and have for years. The limitation, however, is the driver must remain behind the steering wheel.

The Valeo system builds upon the basics of semi-auto parking. While still a long way from a completely autonomous vehicle, the Park 4U Remote system in significant in that the driver will be able to step outside the vehicle while the car parks itself within an identified parking spot. The driver, however, will remain linked to the car via his smart phone or smart watch, and as Tarabba describes, “keep his finger on the virtual red button on your phone’s screen until the car has completed parking itself.”

The technology offers other advantages besides squeezing into a tight parking space. The technology will offer remote start, may even replace the need for keys, tell you where the car is parked and even let you know how much fuel is in the tank. All through your smart phone and within range of a Bluetooth signal.

Tarabba talks in future terms of being able to drive into a parking lot and “the car will then be able to look on its own for a parking space.” Very handy feature, and one that’s full of ifs and maybes. Valeo has the ultrasonic sensor, camera and radar technology in hand to allow a car to autonomously drive itself at up to 8km/h to an empty parking spot and park itself, but unfortunately government regulations lag behind the technology.

“We are waiting for clearance from governments,” says Tarabba. “The politicians could be the delay in bringing autonomous driving features to market.

“We understand that politicians must be confident that the technology is safe and good for the public population.”