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Volkswagen unveils Park Assist Vision

Monday, 21 Apr 2008 15:25
Tight parking spaces a thing of the past if Volkswagen's trials succeed
Volkswagen has unveiled its ambitious parking assistance technology, promising to end uncomfortable squeezes in tight parking spots.

The Park Assist Vision is a system designed to guide a Passat prototype with absolute precision into a perpendicular parking space, such as those available in parking lots and underground car parks.

As many will know, these spaces can often be too narrow, meaning an uncomfortable exit from a parked vehicle is inevitable. Volkswagen hope Park Assist Vision can put an end to that.

The automatic system works using two cameras located in the left and right exterior mirrors, which are responsible for gauging the dimensons of the parking space. The video signals are transmitted to a 2-gigahertz high-performance computer, which then analyses them and sends commands to the steering and drive systems.

If the driver has himself initiated the parking manoeuvre, the Park Assist Vision will reverse the vehicle into the parking space in accordance with the previously computed course and using electromechanical power steering, the electronic parking brake, DSG and the engine power produced by the idling mixture.

Two additional cameras at the front and rear of the vehicle, as well as the system's ultrasound sensors sensors, monitor the operation and stop the vehicle if necessary.

The driver may also interrupt the manoeuvre at any time using the remote control.

The new system is currently in the trial phase of development, with no date having yet been set for introduction to series production.

Volkswagen has already launched a semi-automatic park-steering system in the Touran, Tiguan, Passat and Passat estate to help drivers parallel park.

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