A new model maneuvers itself and on occasion picks us up at the garage entrance.
While Tesla's autopilot helps drivers speed through city streets and General Motors has developed a system that allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel, if this is the state of the art in car technology, Ford may have surpassed everyone. The American multinational is moving in an even more innovative direction, one that solves all the problems of those who can't park.
In short, the complex combinations of steering and reversing may be a thing of the past, as well as the stress and nervousness that sometimes go hand in hand with complex parking.
Ford's Detroit store where cars park themselves
In 2020, Ford opened a store in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood with the goal of proving that yes, it sounds like a dream, but it really is possible for cars to park themselves. To make this technology available, the American multinational has partnered with Bosch and has equipped its Ford Escape, the result of precisely a crossover, with advanced sensors and connected functionality, capable of achieving autonomous parking.
How is it possible for a car to maneuver and park itself
For the magic to happen, all you have to do is simply give the command to Escape via a smartphone app. The car would then use its internal hardware to measure distances, avoiding impact with things and people. For the moment, everything takes place in a controlled environment, that is, a garage equipped with sensors capable of "communicating" with Escape.
Through the previous application, the driver can also call the car back to himself, taking advantage of the services of a real electronic chauffeur, in charge of restarting the engine and pulling the car out of the space where it was left to rest, waiting for the next trip.
For the moment, the entire process takes place in the Smart Parking Lab in Detroit, developed thanks to the contribution of the real estate company Bedrock and the state of Michigan. In short, it is an environment built specifically for this type of simulation, but in the future, who knows, it could become the norm.
Giuseppe Giordano