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Power-Sliding Passat Wagon Parallel Parks Itself

by Caleb Johnson on May 14, 2010 at 08:20 AM

Power-sliding Passat
Based on observations made during our daily commute, people have trouble parallel parking. But, thanks to a project between Volkswagen and Stanford University, humans might not have to worry about squeezing into those small spots anymore.

Our friends at Autoblog report that engineers have developed a car that can autonomously reverse power slide into a parking space. Originally part of the DARPA Urban Challenge, the modified Passat wagon, dubbed Junior, is equipped with a bevy of GPS devices, radars, lasers and optical and inertial sensors. The video demo below shows the car speeding backwards at 25 mph, spinning 180 degrees and sliding right in between two orange cones. It's straight from the 'Fast and the Furious,' but there's no stunt driver -- or for that matter, any driver.

While we can't wait to see these things on the road, the car would first have to account for and adapt to many external factors. Right now, for instance, Junior couldn't do its job if there were a pedestrian in the way, or if the street were slick with rain. Until those kinks are worked out, you'll just have to repeatedly reverse and pull forward, inch by inch, until you've squeezed into that half a spot your neighbors inevitably leave for you. [From: Auto Blog, via: DVICE]

Tags: autonomous, car, car tech, CarTech, darpa, junior, parallel parking, parallel parking car, ParallelParking, ParallelParkingCar, passat, Stanford University, top, volkswagen

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