Parkingcars

Smart phones seem to be able to do anything these days but how far can they really go? Imagine being able to run your car with an app on your phone. Smart phones are getting better and better all of the time but have you heard about the app that can ACTUALLY control your car? You would be forgiven for thinking that this was just made up but in fact there is such a thing on the market that can do just that. All of your fantasies have come true, ladies and gentlemen you can now control your car with your smart phone! French equipment manufacturer Valeo have now released their "automated parking valet" app which can be used to run a Range Rover vehicle.

Alas we are not all of the way there yet to being able to totaly run our cars with a phone, but this new innovation does take us that one step further along. Not only are the possibilities for it mind boggling but at the very least it will save us time but also help us when parking in awkward spots in the garage. This self drive development not only gives us the luxury of being able to leave our car at the entrace to the car park or garage, it very cleverly then goes and searches out a parking space. It really is just like something from the science fiction comics, it gets better too as once you are done doing what you need to do, you can call it from your phone and the car will make it's way back to pick you up again. That's just awesome!

It all sounds very much like science fiction but this is a real invention. It makes me wonder how far we are away from having completely automatic cars on the road and no more requirement for a driver. You really have to wonder how safe we all would be. Of course safety is paramount and Valeo realize this and have said that although we are still some way down the lineoff from having fully automatic cars (and this is more down to safety than anything else) we are getting there and it really is only a matter of time.

The invention has been described as being like a brain given that it can learn as it goes, if you put the vehicle into the same scenario twice it will most likely not do the same thing again. This is down to sensors and cameras that have been installed onto the car which help it guide it's way through the potentially hazardous maze of car parks and garages.

Although this is a new invention Valeo have actually said that it is just another way of using existing technology and they have in fact simply made use of the sensors and equipment found on other existing self park cars. The leading equipment manufacturer have thrown in a few more gadgets that make this a really cool invention and take it to the next step in automotive technology. Although nothing new these devices are programmed to understand special parking places and difficult ones to get in and out of, so for example it will avoid handicapped parking spaces etc.

Self drive cars that are currently available require the driver to actually be present whilst it is parking, however the new relase from Valeo does not. Valeo have also said that they want this device in as many cars as possible and not to restrict it by placing it in luxury only cars.

One area that Valeo are particularly keen to emphasise that this will be of great assistance to is the elderly. As we get older we all become less manouverable, no matter how good a driver we have been throughout our lives, and this invention will really help not only the existing older generation but also the generations that will follow them.