Automatic parking
Automatic parking is an autonomous car maneuvering from a traffic lane into a parking place to perform parallel parking, perpendicular or angle parking. The automatic parking 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.
The car is an example of a nonholonomic system where the number of control commands available is less than the number of coordinates that represents its position and orientation.
One of the first experimental prototypes of automatic parallel parking was developed at INRIA on a Ligier electric car in the mid 1990s [1]. It was extended to an automatic perpendicular parking in the early 2000s [2], [3].
Automatic parking systems are being developed by several automobile manufacturers. A commercial version of automatic parallel parking was introduced by Toyota Motor Corporation in Toyota Prius in 2004 [4]. BMW recently demonstrated its Remote Park Assist system on a 730i. This system initiates parking by keychain remote. Lexus also debuted a car, the 2007 LS, with an Advanced Parking Guidance System.
References
- Paromtchik, Igor; Laugier, Christian (1998). Automatic parallel parking and returning to traffic. Video Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Belgium.