Driving can be a stressful experience in busy cities. You can spend hours
sitting in congestion, sometimes only moving a few miles in an hour. More cars
on the road also means finding a suitable parking space can be a nightmare.
And when you finally find a place to park your precious car, the spot often is
so narrow that it’s hardly possible to get out of the vehicle. All of
this is adding significant time and hassle to car journeys.
The stress of parking is coming to an end, thanks to the Remote Controlled
Parking function now available in the new BMW 7 series. The BMW 7 series is
the first car in the world which can automatically park itself without a
person in the driver seat. The feature, demonstrated at the NXP Investor Day,
means a driver can step out of the vehicle and watch as the car safely
and smartly maneuvers itself in to or out of forward-parking spaces or garages
without anyone at the wheel.
Watch it demonstrated in action:
How does it work?
The driver operates the Remote Control Parking function by hitting a button on
the BMW Display Car Key – as many car fans would probably agree,
it’s currently the most innovative car key on the market.
The BMW 7 series has over 300 NXP chips and sensors built in to the car and
the key. Some of which track how far away the car is from pavements, garages and nearby vehicles. Based on this information the vehicle safely maneuvers
its way into the space by automatically supervising, braking, accelerating and
steering. While the car is carrying out the semi-automated maneuver, the
driver watches out for obstacles.
The feature is ideal for drivers who park their car in a garage, and have a
battle every day with the tight space. There is now no need to constantly
worry about the car getting scratched by the sides of the garage or wasting
several minutes each day maneuvering the vehicle into the space. This
innovative feature uses NXP sensors to avoid any obstacles, automatically
folds the wing mirrors into the sides of the car, and drives the vehicle
securely into the space. And when returning to the car, the driver can use the
same process to reverse the car out of the parking space again. This feature
can be used to automatically park in any forward-driving car parking space
within a city.
NXP powers BMW remote parking with smart connectivity, sensing and
processing technologies
This is just the beginning
The automotive industry is getting much closer to fully autonomous driving,
which will be a critical feature in smart cities of the future. Each step
along the way is bringing exciting and convenient new features to drivers all
over the world. The new Remote Control Parking function currently works with
forward driving parking spaces like garages, meaning drivers must remain
seated when it comes to parallel parking, but it won’t be long until
this can be a completely autonomous process too.
Remote Control Parking is just one example of how the automotive industry is
transforming. However, the opportunities are endless and will bring a great
deal of convenience and an exciting new driving experience to car owners
around the world. And beyond that the addition of new sensor systems like
Radar, Vision and V2X technology will help saving lives and optimize traffic flows in cities.
Lars Reger is executive vice president and chief technology officer for NXP Semiconductors. As CTO, Lars is responsible for managing new business activities and
R&D in the focus markets of Automotive, Industry 4.0., Internet of Things, Mobile
and Connectivity and Infrastructure. NXP has the broadest processor portfolio for the
internet of things and is the world's largest chip supplier to the automotive
industry. NXP and its global team of experts drive the development of autonomous,
securely connected vehicles and accelerate the introduction of smart and securely
connected devices for the internet of things through its outstanding edge computing
expertise. Before joining NXP, Lars gained deep insight into the microelectronics
industry with a focus on the automotive sector. He began his career with Siemens
Semiconductors as as a product engineer in 1997. His past roles at Infineon included
head of the process and product engineering departments, project manager for Mobile
System Chips and director of IP Management. Prior to joining NXP as CTO of the
automotive division in 2008, he was responsible for business development and product
management within the Connectivity business unit at Continental. In December 2018
Lars was appointed CTO and has since then been responsible for the overall
technology portfolio of NXP.
