Ford testing self-parking cars – with or without a driver (video)

Ford are testing cars that can park themselves – with or without a driver in the car – and swerve round obstacles to avoid collisions.

It seems we’re heading to the point where cars can do more and more for the driver, and fully autonomous cars seem to be less than a decade away.

On the way to the fully autonomous car, car makers will be offering stages on the way as the ability of cars to be self-controlling moves along, and Ford are heading in that direction with their new systems for parking and obstacle avoidance.

Ford are running prototypes with Fully Assisted Parking, a system that manages to sense a space, control the steering, gearbox and brakes to park the car at the touch of a button, even if the driver isn’t actually in the car.

That means parking spaces that are too small to park in and get out of the door become usable and drivers who struggle with parking will no longer need to stress over tight spaces in car parks.

Also in testing is Obstacle Avoidance technology which warns the driver if it senses slow moving objects, stationary objects and pedestrians ahead and, if the driver fails to react, brakes and steers to avoid a collision.

Barb Samardzich, Ford’s Product Development VP, said:

The future for Ford means developing innovative products and technologies – including Fully Assisted Parking Aid and Obstacle Avoidance – that help deliver a safer, more convenient, more desirable, more personalised and greener driving and ownership experience.

All very clever stuff.