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Almost every kind of vehicle has experienced a growth in size over the past decade. An “entry-level” car by a company such as BMW nowadays might be near the size and weight of a mid-size car ten years ago. As vehicles have gotten bigger, parking has become harder and harder.

Nowhere is this gigantism more visible than in the pickup truck segment, where even previously ’small’ trucks like the Dodge Dakota have inflated until they now dwarf their predecessors. In turn, full-size trucks have fought their own battle of the bulge, getting heavier, wider and taller. Toyota has not been immune to these market forces. The first generation Toyota Tundra was a mid-size pickup marketed to the full-size crowd, and when Toyota realized that they could cram more buyers into a larger vehicle, the 2007 Tundra re-design greatly increased the capacity of 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?

The system works using a set of “eyes”, or special sensors, mounted in the vehicle’s bumpers. The sensors regularly transmit highly focused sound waves from the bumpers, which are reflected back towards the sensor whenever they hit a solid object. Since sound travels at a fairly constant speed through air, a computer can calculate the distance between the bumper and object based on the amount of time it takes for the signal to return to the bumper. Submarines using active sonar underwater employ the same basic principle, although water transmits sound better than air, which results in better range for the submarine sensors.

While the system is effective when dealing with stationary objects like parked vehicles, posts and garage doors, the sensors are not quite sensitive enough to pick up smaller objects moving past the sensors. This means that small children, animals, or all-terrain vehicles might not generate a warning beep - or at least not a consistent warning beep. So, while parking assist - aka parking sonar - is definitely a useful tool, it is not a replacement for caution. Drivers must still do their best to ensure that there is no one behind or in front of their vehicle when parking.

Some high-end luxury cars are beginning to feature the next generation of parking assist systems, which are amazing devices. A video camera and complex computer program are used to enhance the accuracy of traditional sound sensors. Instead of simply emitting warnings when the driver is close to an object, the newer parking assist systems can actually steer and park the car for you. This is an amazing tool for parallel parking - as long as you’re ready to give your car control of the steering, gas and brake. Whatever will they dream up next?

Tags: Auto

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