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This year's Hanover Fair has a live performance by a Volkswagen Passat prototype showing off the manufacturer's latest technological marvel - Park Assist Vision.
This automatic system is able to park the prototype into a perpendicular parking space with absolute precision and the driver does not even need to be in the car.
All the driver has to do is select the available bay on the navigation system's monitor, set the selection lever to P, get out of the car and walk away.
He then has to punch a button on a remote control allowing the car to then park itself in the bay. It even turns off the engine and activates the door locks.
The system operates by using cameras and ultrasound sensors. Two cameras in the left and right exterior mirrors gauge the dimensions of the parking space, while the video signals are transmitted to a computer that analyses them and sends the commands to the steering and drive systems.
Two cameras on either end of the vehicle monitor the process and will stop the car when necessary. The driver may also interrupt the manoeuvre at any time by using the remote control.
This new system is still in the trial phase and a date has not been set for series production.
Volkswagen already has a semi-automatic parking system - Park Assist - for some of its models that helps drivers parallel park.
