Bosch and Daimler announced that they have obtained approval from Baden-Wurttemberg for an automated parking system in the Mercedes-Benz Museum parking garage in Stuttgart. The automated valet parking service is accessed via a smartphone app and requires no safety driver. This makes it the world’s first fully automated driverless SAE Level 4¹ parking function to be officially approved for everyday use, according to statements from the companies.

The Stuttgart regional administrative authority and the state of Baden-Württemberg’s transportation ministry has monitored the project along with experts from the German technical inspection service TÜV Rheinland from the outset.

Their aim has been to assess the operating safety of the automotive and parking-garage technology, the companies stated.

The driverless parking technology works as an automated valet parking service. Once the driver of a vehicle drops off the car in the parking garage, it drives itself to an assigned parking space and parks.

Bosch sensors in the parking garage monitor the driving corridor and its surroundings and provide the information needed to guide the vehicle. The technology in the car converts the commands from the infrastructure into driving maneuvers. This way, cars can even drive themselves up and down ramps to move between stories in the parking garage. If the infrastructure sensors detect an obstacle, the vehicle stops immediately.