Remote controlled cars aren’t just for kids anymore. The past few years have witnessed a growing number of developments from OEMs and suppliers alike involving device-controlled parking and manoeuvring, usually through the use of a smartphone or tablet computer.
Nobody likes parking
In fact, all aspects of parking have attracted digital developments as companies seek to reduce the challenges involved in finding a vacant spot and then fitting one’s vehicle into it. “We’ve seen great interest from consumers in parking-related services, but these have been relegated to finding open parking spaces, seeing prices of nearby parking, navigating from the parking spot to the user’s actual final destination, and then finding their vehicle upon returning to the parking garage or lot,” observed Chris Schreiner, Director of User Experience Practice at Strategy Analytics.
Parking using a remote app is a concept that has been around for a few years, he added, pointing specifically to Valeo, which demonstrated this technology at least four years ago. That was launched in September 2011, and smartphone technology alone has advanced significantly since then.
Not just cars
Remote controlled parking is not limited to passenger cars. In July 2014, ZF Lenksysteme – a joint venture between ZF and Robert Bosch now known as Robert Bosch Automotive Steering – adapted a car parking assistance system for heavy commercial vehicles, promising to make reverse-parking of a EuroCombi trailer “easy as pie”. In the app, the truck operator selects the required direction and speed for driving – 4, 2, or 1 kph for forward driving and 0.5, 1, or 2 kph. When reversing, he touches the trailer image on the tablet display with his finger and the truck starts to move. To steer, the operator drags the trailer on the display in the required direction, and the parking assistant automatically does the rest. Once the destination is reached, the operator takes his finger off the tablet and the truck stops moving. The same technique is applied when moving forward. ZF believes the parking assistant could prevent millions of Euros worth of damage typically caused during low-speed manoeuvres.
However, Schreiner suggests there is more useful technology out there for tackling the same problem. “The trailer app is less useful than an on-board trailer assist feature. For instance, Ford on its 2016 F-150s is providing an onboard trailer assist feature called ‘Pro Trailer Backup Assist’ where the driver can more easily do what that app is able to,” he commented.
Roland Greul, Manager Advanced Engineering, Driver Assistance and System Interconnection at Robert Bosch Automotive Steering, told Megatrends that “the biggest advantage is to take a more reasonable position outside of the vehicle, for guiding the vehicle train in a comfortable and easy manner by having a good overview of the surrounding area.”
JLR’s optimism
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) believes there is substantial potential for this sort of technology. In June 2015, it presented its Remote Control Range Rover Sport research vehicle, to demonstrate how an owner could ‘drive’ the vehicle from outside the car using a smartphone. The smartphone app allows an individual to control the steering, accelerator and brakes. JLR has suggested a driver could use the smartphone to reverse the car out of a parking space if someone has parked too close for them to open the door.
The technologies featured on the Remote Control Range Rover Sport clearly represent developments on the road towards autonomous driving. But before we get there, do drivers really want features such as smartphone-controlled parking?
Wolfgang Epple, JLR’s Director of Research and Technology, told Megatrends: “We believe the Remote Control Car has the potential to offer real value to our customers. Sharing such projects at an early stage is all part of the research. It helps us to gauge customer reaction and to assess the demand for the technology whilst the project is at an early stage. We’ve had a really positive reaction so far.”
Such functionality may be regarded more as a nice-to-have extra than a must-have safety essential, but Epple believes it has real merit. “This technology offers huge convenience to our customers. It will help to remove the tedious and stressful parts of driving,” he explained.
Specifically, it allows the driver to check the precise positioning of the vehicle when negotiating challenging terrain or difficult parking situations. In addition to helping drivers out of a tight space it could also be used to provide a better field of view when exiting a narrow townhouse garage, he suggests. “In an off-road environment it will allow the driver to become his – or her – own off-road spotter and control the car while not actually sitting in it to guide the car remotely over off-road obstacles,” Epple added.
What about the near-term feasibility of these projects? Are we likely to see this system make it into a production car in the next few years? “This is a research project at this stage, but you will see these sorts of technologies beginning to launch post 2020,” predicted Epple.
Other OEMs working on remote parking concepts include BMW, which has been developing its Remote Valet Parking Assistant; Audi, and Daimler, which in July 2015 released the latest information on its Remote Parking Pilot smartphone app. And on the supplier side, in addition to the aforementioned Valeo system, Continental has developed a surround-view camera-based automated parking system which can be operated from a smartphone when the driver is outside the vehicle.
Legal, and other, hurdles
Like many new technologies under development today, these systems may require the support of new legislation. Schreiner cautioned that “legal hurdles remain with regards to allowing vehicles to be operated with no one in them.” Epple observed that the global car industry is currently lobbying for a change in the law and is optimistic on the outcome. “With the major benefits that remote or autonomous features can bring, we don’t expect this to be a problem,” he added.
While Schreiner admits that there are situations in which these technologies could prove useful, he doesn’t anticipate a widespread global uptake any time soon. “These types of remote control parking features have much more niche use cases, which means there will be less consumer interest,” he told Megatrends. “Certainly there are situations, particularly in dense European urban areas, where extremely tight parking spaces would warrant the use of this type of feature. But we don’t see strong consumer demand, particularly in the US, for this feature. There is also consumer apprehension and using the remote aspect that would need to be overcome.”
The real potential, believes Schreiner, is in fleets. At International CES 2015, Ford announced its Remote Repositioning experiment; using Georgia Tech-owned golf carts, a person sitting in a remote location can ‘drive’ the cars using real-time video streamed over LTE. The purpose initially could be to park or reposition vehicles once the occupant has reached the intended destination, and longer term offers an interesting means of returning a hired or shared car to its original destination.
“Remote control features are better suited for fleets and in particular car rental and car sharing services,” Schreiner elaborated. “Being able to move fleets around remotely to where they are most needed from a remote station would save a significant amount of money.”
