The History and Future of Autonomous Parking Systems in Cars

The ability to park a car without human intervention is every driver’s dream. Today, it is gradually becoming a reality as more and more manufacturers are implementing Autonomous Parking Systems (APS) in their vehicles. It is an advanced development whose origins go back to the distant past. In our article, we will tell you about the history of the emergence of parking systems, their development, and their gradual transformation into autonomous options available in many modern cars.

History of APS

The birth of Autonomous Parking Systems

Autonomous Parking Systems in their current form appeared relatively recently. They became a long-awaited discovery and immediately interested many status automakers. However, the origin of APS occurred back in the period when humanity used primitive cars. Of course, the method of simplifying parking was invented and had nothing in common with today’s autonomous system. Still, it became the catalyst for further development in this direction.

This happened in 1934 when a mechanical parking system was proposed. Its principle of operation was the use of special jacks equipped with wheels. With their help, a person could lift his car to a certain height and manually move it to the desired location. If this happened in a parking lot, then with the help of such a system, it would have been possible to safely place the vehicle in a pre-selected place without touching neighboring cars. Such an exciting solution interested many, but no action was taken apart from empty talk about the attractiveness of a mechanical parking system.

During WWII, no one remembered how to simplify the parking procedure. The same situation was in the first decades after the end of the war. Only in the 80s, when cars on the roads became more common, new inventions in mechanical parking systems began to appear. All of them were not very promising, so their chances of becoming popular throughout the world were initially minimal.

APS in the 90s

The first Autonomous Parking Systems appeared at the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century. They were invented by engineers from the French National Research Institute INRIA and tested on a Ligier car. The operating principle of the new system at that time was to automate the parallel parking process. Thanks to a special algorithm, the system identified a suitable parking space on the side of the road that matched the vehicle’s dimensions. The necessary maneuver was performed automatically as soon as the car reached the optimal position. After the vehicle occupied the selected space, the driver only had to turn off the engine. The procedure for leaving the parking lot occurred in reverse order.

The system presented in the early 1990s was a real discovery. Although it worked exclusively in parallel parking, its existence was already a considerable achievement. Subsequently, many well-known manufacturers copied this invention, which became the basis for creating modern APS.

The next stage of development was the appearance in 1992 of a system invented by the German company Volkswagen. It was installed and tested on the Futura concept car, which became one of the most innovative cars of the decade. This model stood out for its ability to control all four wheels, thanks to which engineers could automate the parallel parking process. The APS developed by Volkswagen found a suitable parking space, after which it positioned the wheels perpendicular to the car. This allows the vehicle to be freely parallel parked without changing the body’s position.

Volkswagen’s idea was exciting and innovative but remained available only on the Futura. APS was not used on other company models. A few years later, the German Aerospace Center picked up the idea of ​​Volkswagen. Its engineers have experimented extensively and tried to improve autonomous parking systems. To do this, they created a car called Robomobil, which they used in their tests. The system installed on this model chose a parking spot and stopped the vehicle immediately. Next, the wheels were turned 90 degrees, causing them to be perpendicular to the body (just like the Volkswagen Futura). Once the optimal position was reached, the system activated the car’s movement (sideways), and it slowly occupied a parking space.

In 1999, Toyota developed its own Autonomous Parking System called IPAS (in some countries, it is known as APGS). It was installed on a hybrid version of the Toyota Prius, intended primarily for the US market. Today, this model is even sold at online auctions where you can find damaged cars for sale. IPAS uses modern cameras and sensors in its work. With their help, the system detected various obstacles, calculated the optimal steering angles and independently directed the car to the selected parking space. Human intervention in this case was minimal, and the system’s efficiency was maximum.

APS development in the 21st century

In the 21st century, the process of modernization of APS accelerated significantly. In 2004, Volvo engineers created their system. They took the developments of students from one of the Swedish universities as a basis, slightly improved them, and received an effective working APS. It was adapted for the Volvo S60 and helped its owners park without direct human intervention. Volvo’s development used various sensors to collect information. The received data was transmitted to the system, which, based on them, selected the correct steering wheel movements and also controlled the braking and acceleration processes.

In 2006, Autonomous Parking Systems appeared on the Lexus LS. It was unique, as it could independently perform parallel and corner parking. Three years later, Ford demonstrated its version of APS. It equipped premium models of the Lincoln brand, which has belonged to the famous American automaker for many years. In 2010, BMW joined other companies and released its innovative “Parking Assistant” system. It first appeared on the BMW 5 and helped its owners park the car safely.

Since 2012, Autonomous Parking Systems have been installed on all models of top car manufacturers. Each company tried to get ahead of the competition, offering customers a more advanced version of APS each time. Thanks to this, the system quickly improved and became more versatile. In most cases, it could park the car independently, regardless of its initial location relative to the parking space.

Since 2019, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW have begun to create Autonomous Parking Systems that could work without a person in the car. They allowed the driver to stop near the parking lot, indicate the parking space they liked and activate APS. After that, they could leave the car and do their daily business. At this time, the system independently calculated the optimal trajectory of movement, selected the steering wheel angles, determined the presence of obstacles and other vehicles on the way, and carried out many different tasks. The information received made it possible to complete the parking procedure without damaging the car. Such APS is a priority in our time. It is still far from ideal, but work on its modernization continues.

The Future of Autonomous Parking Systems

APS has a future. This system is constantly changing and becoming more sophisticated. The version used today requires some improvements to help eliminate all problematic issues and improve efficiency. It is easy to assume that APS will make maximum use of artificial intelligence. It will simplify navigation and enable the system to choose more accurate trajectories along which the vehicle will move.

Another innovation in the future will be the integration of Autonomous Parking Systems into the smart city infrastructure. It is predicted that this will make car traffic in and around the parking lot more orderly and predictable. This, in turn, will reduce the likelihood of accidents and injuries to people.

In the future, systems and their various components (such as sensors, cameras, and other devices) will be improved. The main direction of their development is expected to be achieving maximum efficiency and even higher speed of information transfer. Enhancing APS will inevitably be associated with various environmental projects implemented in the automotive industry.

Autonomous parking systems (APS) are an advanced development that is gradually appearing in new car models. Their history is short but eventful, and their origins date back to the distant past. Today, APS is an option that is still being refined and improved. Soon, it will be perfect and permanently relieve drivers of the need to park their cars.

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