
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 28, 1991                   TAG: 9103280327
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

VOLKSWAGEN PARKS IT - ALL BY ITSELF

The old Volkswagen Beetle had an advantage in parking - it was small. But a new Volkswagen concept car goes a long step beyond that: It parks itself.

Researchers at the world's No. 4 carmaker have developed a Look-Ma-no-hands parking system that can do it all, even parallel park.

Volkswagen officials and media doubters gathered in Central Park on Wednesday for a demonstration of the automatic parking system in Volkswagen's Integrated Research Futura concept car.

The sleek, gull-wing car was driven out of its parking spot by a Volkswagen engineer. At the point most drivers begin craning their necks and twisting their bodies into unnatural positions, he simply got out.

With a push of a button the steering wheel turned, and the car moved backward, forward, backward and forward again until it was neatly parked a hairsbreadth from the curb.

Heiko Barske, head of research for the Volkswagen Group, joked that "The next generation of car will be able to drive itself - and the driver can just stay home."

The automatic parking system works via a battery of laser sensors and supersonic sensors on the front and sides of the car.

The sensors read how far the car is from the curb and from cars in front and back of it. They then transfer that data to a computer, which makes the correct calculations.

Barske said the automatic parking system could be incorporated into Volkswagen models in as little as five years. But it would add $5,000 to $10,000 to the sticker price of a car - if the sensors were already included, Barske said.

Besides push-button parking, Barske said the sensors could set off an anti-tailgating warning signal telling motorists when they're getting too close to another car. He said they were also toying with the idea of having the car automatically brake itself.

by CNB