Development of an Objective Evaluation Method for Manual and Automated Parking Maneuvers

For many drivers, parking is a necessary challenge. There are even drivers who avoid certain parking spaces because their parking skills seem to be insufficient. Without doubt, there are drivers who are very good at parking but also drivers who are less good at it. Similarly, in modern vehicles you will find parking maneuver assistance systems (PMAs) which do this task very well and those which do it much worse. In attribute-based development, the pursuit of goals based on objective key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential. To be able to evaluate manual parking maneuvers as well as PMAs, the University of Applied Sciences Kempten (UAS Kempten) in cooperation with MdynamiX has conducted a customer study with 21 participants and different PMAs. The generated data was used to develop a method for the objective evaluation of parking performance in general and to correlate this with a subjective evaluation. The goal of this new evaluation method was to analyze the parking maneuver in its different phases, from the selection of the parking space to the final standstill of the vehicle and even parking out. Different steering, braking and acceleration strategies were examined in their characteristics and the customer experience, too. For example, the question arises as to which shunting speeds are favored and whether it is better to steer when stationary or while driving, which could have a major effect on e.g., comfort experience, tire wear etc. In addition, the question arises which approaching and related braking and acceleration strategy is perceived as more pleasant. The manually driven parking maneuvers define the reference and will be compared to the performance of the PMAs with the developed KPIs.