Self Valet Parking By Volvo Car In 2014

Volvo autonomous parking side view

There are plenty of apps out there that make the onerous task of finding parking a little easier. But what if that app not only find the vacant place but with collaborative efforts with the car, park it.

Volvo is developing a smart, driverless vehicle that will park itself in a vacant spot. The car is the “next giant leap” for the automaker in the development of safe cars, the company says, although the vehicle is still just a concept car.

“Autonomous Parking is a concept technology that relieves the driver of the time-consuming task of finding a vacant parking space. The driver just drops the vehicle off at the entrance to the car park and picks it up in the same place later,” said Thomas Broberg, a senior safety advisor at Volvo Car Group.

Volvo autonomous parking with phone

The car would use sensors in the road to find an available parking space in a parking lot. Once done, it automatically sends the driver a notification that the car is parked. Of course, this would only work in a special parking lot equipped with the necessary sensors. But by the time the technology is fully developed maybe road sensors will be commonplace.

What about the risk of collisions with other cars or pedestrians?

The Swedish automaker says detection and auto-brake systems will allow the autonomous car to react safely and smoothly with other cars and pedestrians in the parking lot.

“Our approach is based on the principle that autonomously driven cars must be able to move safely in environments with non-autonomous vehicles and unprotected road users,” Thomas Broberg, senior safety adviser, said in a news release.

Volvo says it’s the first car manufacturer in the world to show a prototype of a self-parking car that interacts with other road users.

Safety adviser Broberg says Volvo will introduce the first features on autonomous steering in the Volvo XC90 at the end of 2014.