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Volvo tech takes pain out of parking

  • Automatic bay and parallel parking
  • Driver gets bird’s-eye view of car
  • 12 ultrasonic sensors around the car

LONDON, England - The new Volvo XC90 has a set of innovative solutions that make tricky parking situations and manoeuvring in tight spaces easy.

Volvo says the IntelliSafe support technologies include an extended park assistant pilot, which now also offers automatic reversing into a parking bay as well as entering and leaving a parallel parking spot. The XC90 can also display a 360° digitally created bird’s-eye view around the car on the large centre screen.

ULTRASONIC SENSORS

Volvo’s senior vice-president for research and development Peter Mertens said: “Several studies by research institutes reveal that up to two-thirds of interviewed motorists feel uncomfortable in tight parking situations.

“Options such as the extended park assistant pilot and bird’s-eye view function turn these potentially stressful situations into comfortable, precise and safe manoeuvring.

According to the automaker, the programme facilitates both parallel and bay parking by taking over and operating the steering wheel while the driver handles the gearbox and controls the car’s speed.

The car is able to manoeuvre based on information from 12 ultrasonic sensors around the car. When the driver activates the park pilot system in a parallel parking situation, the sensors start to scan the side of the car for empty parking slots. When a parking slot measuring a minimum of 1.2 times the car’s length is detected, the driver is notified by an audible signal and a message in the instrument cluster. In a bay parking situation, the slot needs to be the width of the car plus one metre.

The display then guides the driver step by step via texts and animations in the instrument cluster until the car is parked.

BIRD’S-EYE VIEW

The 360° surround view that gives the driver a bird’s-eye view, an overview of the surrounding area, seen from a point above the car. It’s enabled by four concealed fish-eye cameras – one integrated into the front, each of the door mirrors and one fitted above the rear number plate.

Mertens said: “The 360° surround view is useful in situations where the driver’s direct view is obstructed, such as leaving a tight driveway with obstacles on the sides or when reversing towards a trailer or caravan. It also provides great support during parking, for instance when you want to make sure that all parts of the car are within the lines of a parking spot.”

The new XC90 also comes with cross traffic alert, which covers the driver’s back when reversing out of a parking space. It warns of approaching traffic up to 30m on each side, alerting the driver with an audible signal and a warning on the centre screen.
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