To make finding vacant parking spaces easier for drivers, German engineering and electronics company Bosch and automaker Daimler have entered a partnership to develop a new community-based parking system.

As part of the deal, a pilot project involving Mercedes-Benz test vehicles equipped with sensors and communication interface was launched in Stuttgart, Germany.

The sensors will scan the roadside at speeds of up to 55kmph to find vacant curbside spaces, while the communication interface reports the collected data, which will then be sent from Daimler Vehicle Backend through a secure data link to the Bosch IoT Cloud for analysis.

The information about vacant spaces will be displayed in the digital parking-space map on the in-car display or on the 'Mercedes me' app allowing the drivers to select a particular space. The car’s navigation system will then guide the driver to the available space.

In a move to create the world’s first map-to-car platform for self-driving cars, Chinese web services provider Baidu and visual computing technologies developer NVIDIA have announced a collaboration at the Baidu World Conference held in Beijing, China.

"Pursuant to the agreement, the companies will use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an autonomous car platform for both Chinese and global car makers."

Pursuant to the agreement, the companies will use artificial intelligence (AI) to develop an autonomous car platform for both Chinese and global car makers.

They will combine Baidu’s cloud platform and mapping technology and NVIDIA’s self-driving computing platform to develop products / solutions such as high-definition (HD) maps, Level 3 autonomous vehicle control and automated parking, which will enable safe driving.