Car parking platform Parkopedia has launched an indoor mapping service for sat-navs, enabling them to navigate drivers around car parks, where GPS is typically restricted.
Currently, many GPS sat-nav systems ‘black out’ when entering underground parking facilities and users find it difficult to locate EV charging stations in car parks, said Parkopedia. The company bills its indoor car park mapping as a solution to this, as well as enabling other services such as vehicle location and autonomous parking.
A spokesperson for Parkopedia said: “Our high-definition maps give drivers a clear vision of their entire journey, from driving to and entering a parking facility, to finding a parking space.
“Our indoor mapping technology can help guide drivers to the best available spaces with the shortest walking distance based on their final destination.”
Parkopedia has already mapped many “key parking facilities across Europe” and plans to expand to “new regions” in the coming months.
In addition to helping users locate EV charge points, which are often hidden away in remote areas of car parks, Parkopedia’s mapping was recently used in an autonomous car parking trial.
Using a combination of indoor maps, algorithms, cameras and sensors, Parkopedia completed a proof-of-concept trial with a modified Renault Twingo, which was able to park itself with no driver assistance after being left at a designated drop-off point.
Parkopedia’s data is used by millions of drivers and organisations such as Apple, BMW and Ford worldwide and its car parking locator tool is available in 15,000 cities across 89 countries.
It is also integrated into the infotainment system of various production cars. Audi, for example, uses Parkopedia data in its current infotainment systems to provide details about nearby parking facilities to the driver.
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Really going to be a problem in the future, having your car drop you off, then it goes and parks itself and comes back on command I presume?,going to turn us all into unfit, lazy people, I found using the stairs to get back to my car kept me fit enough, along with other daily things we do like walking, bending to do work etc, this idea that autonomous will make our lives easier isn't all that, what about cars that are actually parked by humans, some who can't park properly, the lazy Parker who parks in the space,but at an angle so you can't get in?!