The BMW I3 Comes with Remote Valet Parking Assistant

The unfair jokes around women and their parking skills may cease to exist or at least we’re hoping they do, thanks to BMW. The German automotive company plans to showcase its sensor-filled BMW i3 v2 at the CEs 2015 in January and will demo its driverless parking system that can be operated through a smartwatch known as the Remote Valet Parking Assistant.

According to a BMW spokesperson, the BMW i3 can navigate through multi-level parking garages using information from its laser scanners with the help of a digital site plan of the garage. The parking system will navigate the car autonomously through those multi-levels, while the driver has already got out of the car. The car locks itself, once it has arrived at the parking space.

BMW I3 Comes With Parking Assistant

The locked car, then waits for a voice command or the scheduled pick up time. It can also estimate how much time it will take to reach a particular destination. The i3 used four laser scanners to arrange itself and identify various obstacles. Those lasers can be used at a lower level of automation in order to brake the i3 using the system when it senses that the human driver is going to hit an object or a person on the road. Directing far from the deterrent or changing the direction releases those brakes. The driver can dispatch the car from a place by giving voice-based commands from the smartwatch.

The system doesn’t depend on GPS signals which can get cut off in a bunker-like carports. BMW has not yet revealed how the cars will be provided with the floor plan for the driver’s garage. The Remote Valet Parking Assistant is one of the many robotic systems that are being introduced by carmakers these days who are paving the way for driverless cars.

Remote Valet Parking Assistant

There are various reasons for people to go after fully-autonomous cars. Computers or cars respond much faster to accidents than humans do which is a major incentive for avoiding such mishaps. Using driverless cars, passengers going on a long highway trip, will be able to take a nap, watch a movie or read a book before they arrive to their destination. For humans, it’s the ultimate 21^st century technological advancement. Moreover, computers can operate the vehicle in a more economical fashion than humans.

In 2013, Volvo showcased a similar system. Elon Musk is planning to upgrade sensors in the new Tesla Model S which will allow auto-parking in the near future.

According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, BMW, Nissan, General Motors, Renault, Mercedes-Benz are expected to roll out their autonomous car by 2020. By 2040, 75% of vehicles will be autonomous, with 25% having the auto-parking feature.