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A Quick Intro to Vehicle Parking Assist Systems

Author: JasonLancaster
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Vehicles of almost every sort have been getting bigger and bigger over the past decade. In fact, even the "entry-level" cars offered by companies like BMW are nearly the same size and weight as mid-size cars were just ten years ago. As vehicles keep getting bigger, parking has gotten progressively more difficult.

The vehicle growth spurt is most visible in the pickup truck segment, where even such "small" trucks as the Dodge Dakota are now so big that they dwarf earlier models. Full-size trucks too have grown, getting heavier, wider and taller. Toyota vehicles have followed this market trend. When it was first introduced, the Toyota Tundra was a mid-size pickup aimed at the full-size crowd. But when Toyota realized they could fit more buyers in a larger vehicle, the 2007 Tundra redesign ballooned the truck in almost every dimension.

While size does matter, all of that increased mass is nowhere near as easy to park as it used to be. For instance, when you ride in a new Toyota Tundra, you'll probably find it difficult to tell exactly where the truck begins and ends. Vehicle designers, in an effort to make our lives easier, have come up with something called "parking assist" to help overcome this issue.

"Parking assist" is, on most vehicles, a system of sensors mounted on one or both sets of bumpers which beeps as the vehicle approaches an object. The beeps usually begin from about 6 feet away from an obstacle, and increase in frequency as you approach, becoming a continuous tone at about 6 inches from the obstacle. Beeping frequency and onset vary between different systems. The parking assist is a great tool for parallel parking, and can also serve as a warning if a small object such as a fence post or child is near your vehicle. But how does it work?

Basically, a set of eyes are mounted in the vehicle's bumpers. These "eyes", or special sensors, transmit highly focused sound waves at regular intervals from the bumper. When these sound waves come into contact with a solid object, they reflect back towards the sensor. Since the speed of sound is fairly constant through air, a computer uses the time it took for the reflection to be returned in order to calculate the distance between the bumper and the object. This is exactly the same principle employed by submarines using active sonar underwater, except that water transmits the sound waves much better than air, allowing for better range.

The system is effective with detecting stationary objects such as other vehicles, posts and garage doors, but is not sensitive enough to reliably detect smaller moving objects, such as animals, all-terrain vehicles, or children. These small objects might not generate a consistent warning beep, or even any warning at all. Thus, although parking assist systems, also called parking sonar, may be a great tool for parking, they cannot replace driver caution. It's still up to drivers to check that there is no one in the way of their vehicle as they park.

High-end luxury cars have started to move on to the next generation of parking assist systems, which use a video camera and complex computer program alongside the sound sensor system. The result is more accurate input to the vehicle, which instead of merely warning drivers close to an object, will actually steer and park the vehicle for them. This is very useful with parallel parking - you just have to let the car control the steering, gas and brake. What interesting and amazing technology we have these days!

About the Author

The author Jason Lancaster administrates TundraHeadquarters.com, a web site with info, news, and reviews of Toyota Tundra accessories and Tundra parts.