Ford and Vodafone co-develop new connected car technology
Ford and Vodafone are internationally working on a new technology called Parking Space Guidance. This is meant to let drivers find parking spots very easily in congested urban areas. This system is being tested as part of the KoMoD (Kooperative Mobilität im digitalen Testfeld Düsseldorf) project in Germany.
Trials are being conducted as part of this project where companies have pumped in EUR 15 million for cross-industry development of new connected vehicles and automated driving technologies. The Parking Space Guidance system will be able to show drivers all the free parking spots around them and also map out a route to get there. This data on parking spots is constantly updated, via a connection to a central server. The system also receives information from nearby dynamic digital road signs. The idea is to reduce the time people spend looking for parking, leading to more efficient driving, less time behind the wheel and less pollution.
"Satnavs are great at helping us to get to our destination but aren't so useful when it comes to helping us to park there especially in city centres," said Tobias Wallerius, Engineer, Product Development, Ford of Europe. "Parking Space Guidance is a connected vehicle technology that could help drivers to complete their journey more quickly, saving them money, time and benefitting overall air quality."
Ford and Vodafone are testing a number of other technologies at KoMoD, including Traffic Light Assistance System, Tunnel Information System, Vario Display, Traffic Control Systems, Smart traffic sign transmission, Bad weather warning and so on.
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