Ford introducing New Park Assist – Better than Lexus they claim
January 4th, 2009
Ford is unrolling a new active parking system that they claim is better than the current Lexus parking system that is the darling of the automotive press. They say they have a parking system that works on ultrasonic waves which makes it more versatile and requires less human interaction from drivers.
Two cars on the Lincoln fleet will start sporting this system in the 2010 models Ford claims with the MKS and MKT models. Ford even makes a claim that possibly all models will have this technology available by the year 2012 which seems very impressive. They also mention that unlike the Lexus GS Advanced Parking Guidance System the Ford technology will be able to park on hills which the Lexus system is not able to do since it is a camera based system.
Ford breaks it down for you like this:
• The driver activates the system by pressing an instrument panel button, which activates the ultrasonic sensors to measure and identify a feasible parallel parking space.
• The system then prompts the driver to accept the system assistance to park.
• The steering system then takes over and steers the car into the parking space hands-free. The driver still shifts the transmission and operates the gas and brake pedals.
• A visual and/or audible driver interface advises the driver about the proximity of other cars, objects and people and provides instructions.
• While the steering is all done automatically, the driver remains responsible for safe parking and can interrupt the system by grasping the steering wheel.
Source (view much larger image of Ford parking graph above):
http://www.luxuryvice.com/images/1280×1280-fordparkassist.jpg
