Firm aims for vehicles to serve as own valet

Self-parking technology in works

In this undated photo supplied by Valeo, a person activates a self-parking vehicle via a smartphone application. Technology being honed by the French auto parts maker uses a dozen ultrasonic sound-wave sensors, 360-degree cameras and a laser scanner to allow a vehicle to safely park within a few centimeters of other vehicles. (AP Photo/Valeo)
In this undated photo supplied by Valeo, a person activates a self-parking vehicle via a smartphone application. Technology being honed by the French auto parts maker uses a dozen ultrasonic sound-wave sensors, 360-degree cameras and a laser scanner to allow a vehicle to safely park within a few centimeters of other vehicles. (AP Photo/Valeo)

DETROIT -- With a thumb swipe on a smartphone, drivers one day will be able to have their car roll into a parking deck, find an open spot and back into a space -- all by itself.

Technology being developed by French auto parts-maker Valeo uses a dozen ultrasonic sound-wave sensors, 360-degree cameras and a laser scanner to safely park within a few centimeters of other vehicles. Then, when a driver is done with dinner or a business meeting, they can have their car return to them with another swipe of the thumb.

The potential benefits are plenty. More orderly parking means less congestion. Drivers are spared the time and frustration of hunting for a spot. Parking lots can squeeze more vehicles into limited space.

The fully automated system called Connected Automated Valet Parking is still about a decade away. More states must permit driverless cars, and regulations have to be crafted. Equipment also needs to be rolled out.

Still, Valeo executives see it as a big step toward a day when cars actually drive themselves with no one behind the wheel.

While other companies have demonstrated self-parking systems, in most cases the driver has to find the spot and activate the system to make it work. The Valeo system, demonstrated recently at an intelligent vehicle conference in Detroit using a Land Rover SUV, allows cars to do tasks currently performed by human valets.

"The car is able to do a much better parking maneuver than we as humans," said Amine Taleb, Valeo's project manager for advanced driver assistance systems.

Here's how it works: Drivers approach their destination and the system finds a deck with an open space. The driver goes to the deck and activates the system. The deck then tells the car where the open space is. The sensors, cameras and laser activate, letting the car drive itself about 3 mph, winding its way to the space and backing in. The system can even find a space on its own without a signal from a deck.

The system won't let the car hit anything, Taleb said. And it can brake and take action on its own to evade a hazard such as another moving car. A driver can even watch the car park through the cameras and software that simulate an aerial view.

Although the technology is already available, there are hurdles. Only nine states allow driverless cars on public roads, and then only for testing purposes, said Scott Belcher, chief executive officer of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the group that held the conference.

Also, parking decks will have to be equipped with systems that communicate with cars. Radio frequencies haven't been allocated yet by the federal government. The auto industry is vying with the cellphone industry for the bandwidth, for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, Belcher said.

Cybersecurity guidelines and government regulations have to be put in place. And legal liability has to be sorted out if the car gets into a wreck.

What's likely within five years is an interim step: The driver finds the space and the car then parks itself. Taleb wouldn't say whether an auto company is interested in buying the self-parking system.

Omno Zoeter, a senior research scientist at Xerox, said some studies show as many as 30 percent of urban drivers are looking for parking at any given time.

Eugene Tsyrklevich, chief executive of Parkopedia -- an app that monitors more than 30 million parking spaces in 45 countries to help drivers park -- predicts a decade of transition as cars and parking garages adopt technology.

"Driving around looking for a space is not dead yet," Tsyrklevich said. "But it will be."

Information for this story was contributed by Dee-Ann Durbin of the Associated Press.

SundayMonday Business on 09/15/2014

Upcoming Events