Driver assistance systems.

Park Assist is made up of two main components: two ultrasonic sensors at each side of the bumper and a control unit. Both ultrasonic sensors scan the driver and passenger side while the car is in motion. Drivers don’t even have to drive particularly slowly. Sensors can register gaps and parked cars up to a speed of 30 kilometres per hour and a maximum distance of 1.5 metres. Technically the system is unable to pick up other objects such as trees, pillars or lampposts. To prevent any damage the Park Assist system is not activated in these cases.

The control unit computes the exact size of the parking space and the current position of the vehicle based on data from the wheels. To reverse the car into the space in one swoop the space has to be the length of the car plus 1.4 metres. Drivers flick on the indicator to tell the system on which side of the street they would like to park. Park Assist guides drivers into the ideal starting position for the manoeuvre with an easily understandable intuitive diagram on the display. The parking sequence starts by pressing the Park Assist button, followed by shifting to reverse.

With the information on the angle needed to get into the space (from the power steering system) the control unit now has all required details to compute how the car can be parked perfectly. After shifting to reverse the Park Assist control unit puts the power steering into motion and automatically steers the car into the space. Drivers only have to work the accelerator and the brakes.

Park Assist shuts down if the car accelerates to over 7 kilometres per hour when parking. Drivers can end the process by taking control of the steering wheel. This means that drivers are in command of their vehicle at all times.