Known in some parts of the world simply as a manufacturer of white goods and power tools, Bosch is also involved in the automotive industry, as demonstrated at CES, these days.
It might take a while till driverless cars take over the world, but until then, we could still enjoy other automated tasks that are performed by our cars, such as parking. BMW exhibited such a feature years ago, but Bosch took things even further, by enabling people to park their cars using a smartphone app even when they’re outside of it. Automated park assistance might be the next best thing as far as cars are concerned.
Robert Bosch LLC chairman Werner Struth explained the company’s vision in regard to the Internet of things: “As early as 2015, more than six billion things will be connected to the Internet. Amazing! Some people may be overwhelmed by this, but at Bosch, we feel that this is our time.”
Struth also went on to explain how the automated park assistance system works: “A suitable parking space is identified using Bosch ultrasonic sensors. Even tight spaces will work. You exit the vehicle and command the rest of the maneuver with a special app on your smartphone. The system steers, accelerates, and brakes the vehicle into the space. When the vehicle is parked, the system shuts off the engine, sets the parking brake, shifts the transmission lever to ‘park,’ and locks the vehicle.”
Judging by the date of the following video, Bosch has first announced this smartphone app back in July, so this CES launch must be an attempt to get more attention from the US market. While Google collaborated with Audi, GM and others to launch an Android-based infotainment platform, Bosch focused on the more common problems drivers are facing nowadays.
As a sidenote, parking is part of the test when getting the driver’s license. I’d love to see the faces of traffic cops when this system gets on every car out there.
And now… Adventure Fantasy Time! Given how popular wearables are going to become (if they haven’t already), I think that an automated park assistance app would have been much more convenient to use if it were installed on a smartwatch or a smart wristband. Smartphones can be lost or misplaced, while a piece of wearable tech would be always at hand (and quite literally so).
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