Benefits of Self Parking Vehicles

Not so long ago, imagining a car that can park itself, was nothing more than a wild dream. As many times before, technology proved us wrong, by enabling the manufacturing of self-parking cars.

This came as great news for drivers who go through a lot of trouble and waste valuable time in parking their cars on a daily basis. What you need to do now is just to pick a parking place and press a button; the car will do the parking for you. 

During the process, you can sit in the car and enjoy or if you are in a hurry, you can leave the car, as it doesn’t need you for the parking maneuvers. 

This self-parking technology in cars can be quite beneficial in large cities, where people cope with a never-ending traffic jam. A portion of the road congestion happens due to the wasted time of every driver who tries to do parallel parking. While the driver is struggling with the steering wheel, going back and forth with his car, there is a piled queue of cars waiting to pass. 

A self-parking car can take just a few seconds to park, compared with manual parking which can sometimes last up to couple of minutes. In addition, self-parking technology protects your car from scratches, which are likely to happen if there is a person behind the wheel. 

A similar technology is used for parking machines in self parks. There is multitude of companies, such as Amano self parking, which offer information on parking solutions.

Self-parking technology in parallel parking

Parallel parking is causing the most stress when it comes to driving, although it is the actual end of the driving process, when you leave your car and go somewhere or simply go home. 

Drivers who are not keen on parallel parking need plenty of space in order to park their car in line with the other ones. They need to be focused on the curb, to use their side mirrors, turn the steering wheel and the car’s wheels in the right direction if they want to park successfully.

Self-parking technology can definitely help you. Most of the self- parking cars which are available for sale are not entirely automated. This means that you will help the system by controlling the speed while the system will command the wheels and do all the maneuvering. 

The system will send you couple of signals as when to go in reverse, when to release or press the brake. Your job will be to listen to these signals, which are also visible on the computer screen in the vehicle. If you still want to park the old-fashioned way, check this for some parallel parking tips.  

Self-parking car sensors 

Sensors are the key element when it comes to self-parking technology. The system uses these sensors to inspect the surrounding, in order to know how much space and how many objects surround the car. 

Normally, these sensors vary from one technology to another, but they mainly come in three types: ultrasonic, electromagnetic and cameras.  They are most commonly placed on the front and rear bumpers of the vehicle. 

Ultrasonic sensors use sounds which they send to the surrounding space; these sounds reflect from the nearby objects and go back to the sensors. In this way, sensors calculate the time which is needed for the sounds to come back and thus create information about the encircling space.

Electromagnetic sensors serve their purpose by creating an electromagnetic field around the car. When an object enters this magnetic field, there is a notification, as a precaution not to hit the object or the curb. These sensors are more efficient than the ultrasonic ones, because electromagnetic rays have a higher reception rate. Read more about proximity sensors on the following link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking_sensor. 

Cameras cannot be really considered as real sensors. They provide a visual image of the environment, but don’t give a sound signal if there is a possibility of hitting an object. Therefore, they are usually combined with one more sensor, either ultrasonic or electromagnetic. Some cars technologies even use radars for locating objects.

Self-parking technology leads to self-driving technology 

The self-parking technology evolved into something even greater, a self-driving technology; what the world knows as driverless cars. These cars not only perform the parking for you, but they also do the driving.  

Except for using ultrasonic, electromagnetic sensors and cameras, driverless cars use many more sensors in order to maintain the safety of the passengers. For instance, they use radars, as a way of detecting metal objects on the road and calculating the distance between them and the vehicle. 

Self-driving cars also use light detection technology, which sends laser beams to the surrounding. These beams come back with a 3D visual picture, providing information on everything around the vehicles such as: other cars, people, buildings etc. 

This type of sensor is by far the most valuable when it comes to automated driving, but at the same time it is the most expensive. 

These cars have numerous benefits such as their accuracy in the driving process, with no space for mistakes. This accuracy is achieved by using the various kinds of sensors. In addition, self-driving cars ease the traffic as their systems are in accordance to provide smooth traffic flow. 

The only drawbacks would be their extreme price and the slight possibility of technology going wrong. Also they might be a contributing factor to pollution. Read more about their pros and cons on this link. 

Wrap up

Everybody dreams of having an intelligent car, capable of self- parking and even of self-driving. 

This dream is brought closer to us by the unbelievable development of technology. What we once imagined as cars of the future is what we now call cars of the present. 

Perhaps these self-driving cars are still far from your reach, but very soon they will be available for everyone.

Who knows what else technology beholds for us in the future!