Bosch, a German multinational engineering and electronics company and multinational automotive corporation Daimler have collaborated to develop a new community-based parking system that makes finding a parking space faster and easier.

The pilot project was launched in the greater Stuttgart area involving various Mercedes-Benz test vehicles, which are equipped with the sensors that enable them to generate data on available curbside spaces.

The vehicles are also equipped with a communication interface, which is designed to report and receive such data.

Bosch connected parking project head Rolf Nicodemus said: “With community-based parking, finding a space becomes a kind of shared endeavour.

"This lets us shorten the search for parking considerably and guide drivers straight to an available space.”

The vehicles’ existing ultrasonic sensors continuously scan the roadside at speeds of up to 55kmph.

 The collected data is then sent from the Daimler Vehicle Backend via a secure data link to the Bosch IoT Cloud for analysis when the ultrasonic sensors locate available parking spots.

Mercedes-Benz Digital Vehicle and Mobility head Sajjad Khan said: “Nearly all of our Mercedes-Benz cars are connected by a smart network.

"When they are also equipped with the right sensors, they generate data ‘in passing’, so to speak.

"We see using that data for the rapid identification of available parking spaces as the next logical step.”

In the initial phase, the system will calculate the probability of finding an available space on a given street.

"The vehicles’ existing ultrasonic sensors continuously scan the roadside at speeds of up to 55kmph."

Once the community-based parking system becomes more widely established, the availability and dimensions of curbside spaces could be reported in real–time.

Combined with further information about available spaces, the data from community-based parking will be shown on the digital parking-space map on the in-car display or on the 'Mercedes me' app.

The driver can then select the destination in the navigational system and will be guided straight to the available parking space.

Image: A Mercedes driving down a road. Photo: courtesy of Robert Bosch GmbH.