The Curious Case of Parking Assist Systems

Tags: #IoT #MachineLearning #Cloud

Around 40% of vehicle accidents incurring physical loss or damage occur during parking or maneuvering. The vast majority of incidents happen when reversing (amounting to more than 70% of auto liability claims and around 85% of full physical damage claims). In eight out of ten cases, the accident happens when maneuvering out of a parking space (84%); incidents rarely occur when driving into a parking space (16%). These are the findings of a joint research project carried out by the Allianz Center for Technology (AZT) and Continental AG.

With the democratization of Cloud, advent of IoT followed by advances in Machine Learning, it’s high time to simplify Parking Assist Systems and make them available to non-luxury vehicles thus making them safer to drive!

Changes in vehicle shape is the main cause of accidents

The main cause behind the increase in accidents during parking and maneuvering is attributed to changed vehicle shapes and the continual growth of urbanization.

Over the past decades, cars have tended to become wider and longer, whilst the size of parking spaces has stayed the same. Analysis showed that vans, MUVs and SUVs are most frequently involved in accidents during parking and maneuvering. They are responsible for around 30% more of these accidents than small or compact vehicles. In addition, drivers' visibility has been considerably reduced, particularly through the rear and side windows, as a result of changed structure and designs.

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Parking assistance systems can significantly help avoid accidents

Majority of parking warning systems currently installed in vehicles are only of limited use when it comes to avoiding accidents during parking and maneuvering. These systems do not cover the sides of the vehicle, thus missing many hazards. Many drivers rely too heavily on their parking assistance system, and often fail to act quickly enough.

No wonder that almost two-thirds of drivers would be willing to relinquish control of their vehicles during parking maneuvers. As a specific response to such situations, companies such as Bosch, Park Assist etc. have developed automated park assist systems that largely eliminate the need for driver input while entering and exiting parking spaces. Vehicles can autonomously enter and exit the space, no matter if it is on the street, in a parking lot, or in public and private garages.

One such example is Mercedes-Benz Park Assistance System that assists the driver comprehensively in the search for a parking space and can pilot the vehicle into and out of parallel and end-on parking spaces. The reversing camera and the Active Parking Assist PARKTRONIC help to reduce the risk of collisions with obstacles at the front, side and rear of the vehicle. The Parking Pilot can detect parallel and end-on parking spaces on the driver and front-passenger, assists and enables automatic parking with automatic steering and braking interventions.

The Mercedes-Benz Park Assistance System significantly simplifies parking, however it falls short to provide fully automated parking assistance. The driver is still required to operate the accelerator and brake pedals while the steering wheel is controlled and operated automatically. Similar options are available in some high end luxury vehicles, however none exists in non-luxury segment.

This opens up a market opportunity for both non-luxury vehicles – SUVs, MUVs, mid-sized, large trucks etc. and startups focusing on vehicle automation to collaborate and come up with a reasonably priced parking assist solution.

While autonomous or driverless vehicles driven by complex machine learning algorithms and IoT appear compelling, Forbes estimates that they are farther away than expected. Besides road safety, combating cyber security risks is also a major concern for autonomous vehicles as the use of wireless connections is essential for driverless cars to access cloud-based data.

To conclude, I strongly feel that the need of the hour is to have an integrated approach towards parking management and parking assistance systems using a combination of Cloud, IoT and Machine Learning. This will significantly enhance safety and reduce the time spent in parking lots. Such an integrated solution would also generate interest among the insurance companies since it has the potential to reduce insurance claims.

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- Prashant Jhingran @MyCoolVentures / [email protected]

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